Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s April 18, 1775, almost midnight. The King of England wants to hang Samuel Adams and John Hancock. I’m at the church of Reverend Jonas Clarke, leader of the local minutemen.
JG: “Reverend Clarke, what can be done to protect our families?”
JC: “John, I’ve secretly enlisted every able-bodied man in the area to respond to our call when we come under attack. Many have only pitchforks, but our passion to live in a free land will eventually overcome the rifles of our oppressors.”
PR: “The British are coming! The British are coming! The British are coming!”
Paul Revere and William Dawes went on to warn hundreds of minutemen, preparing them for the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Read the full text of the sermon preached by Reverend Jonas Clarke on April 19, 1776, commemorating “the murder, bloodshed, and commencement of hostilities between Great Britain and America in that town, by a brigade of troops of George III, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith on the nineteenth of April, 1775.”
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.
