Tench Coxe, delegate to the Continental Congress in the Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788

The power of the sword, say the minority..., is in the hands of Congress. My friends and countrymen, it is not so, for The powers of the sword are in the hands of the yeomanry of America from sixteen to sixty. The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be tremendous and irresistible. Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress has no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every terrible implement of the soldier are the birthright of Americans. The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments but where, I trust in God, it will always remain, in the hands of the people.

America is More Than a Country

Holding up all that is noble, virtuous and true midst the cynicism of the passing age amongst those who return home broken by the horrors of war amongst those who reach our shores with the hope of reaching for the impossible dream amongst those who ridicule a simple patriotism, I will still rise when I hear the call of the anthem played, the prayer sung and the flag waved. I will still rise to honor those comrades fallen on battlefields soon forgot as we soldier on for the invisible republic that lives yet in the hearts of men.