Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s October, 1774. I’m inside Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. The Continental Congress has just finished the Declaration of Rights. Many of the founding fathers still have questions about the contents. I’m with Samuel Adams.
JG: “Mr. Adams, sir, what’s your advice at this point?”
SA: “John, I advise persisting in our struggle for liberty. Though it be revealed from heaven that 999 men were to perish and only one of 1000 to survive and retain his liberty, one such freeman would possess more virtue and enjoy more happiness than 1000 slaves.”
Samuel Adams and hundreds of patriots like him were willing to give all to ensure freedom for one and all.
Read the full text of the Declaration of Rights.
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
