I hereby proclaim an act of rebellion. In commemoration of our forefathers who on December 16, 1773, threw his majesty’s tea in Boston Harbor, I reclaim the honorable name of the sons of liberty.

On that storied day of long ago, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and others, dressed as Mohawk Indians broke the law by illegally tossing someone else’s tea in the water, helping to set off a rebellion, a revolution that still is heard around the world.

John Quincy, Jr. sang the rallying cry of the Tea Party

“Rally, Mohawks! bring out your axes, and tell King George we’ll pay no taxes

On his foreign tea; His threats are vain, and vain to think to force our girls and wives to drink his vile Bohea! Then rally, boys, and hasten on to meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.

Our Warren’s there and bold Revere, with hands to do, and words to cheer, for liberty and laws; Our country’s “Braves” and firm defenders shall ne’er be left by true North-enders fighting freedom’s cause!

Then rally, boys, and hasten on to meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.

Ten thousand pounds sterling of the East India Company’s tea was destroyed that night. Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, said it best, “The flame was kindled.” Yes, the flame of liberty was kindled, not because the King was going to charge more for the tea. No, it was going to be cheaper than before, but because there was a tax on the tea that the colonists, loyal subjects of the crown had no say in the matter. “No taxation without representation ,” became a rallying cry after the Intolerable Acts.

I’m afraid that Americans today would just say, okay, our tea will be cheaper, and let it go at that.

For one day, let us hope that we can forget our differences and remember we are not red and blue states. We are Americans! From Maine to the redwood forest of California, from the Delta of Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, America is an amazingly beautiful country with citizens from every corner of the globe. But even though, we may be different in many ways, we share the fact that we are one, indivisible country. Let us not allow anyone to divide us and cherish our past with its faults and greatness and look forward to the future. Let us turn away from extremism and remember that we have to live together as one nation. Let every American, whether they be from a small town in Kansas or whether they live in the city of Big Shoulders,  be united as Americans for at least one day. Let freedom live on in our hearts and in our actions. Rally boys and let us meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon. Let us be the sons and daughters of liberty.