"in defence of the freedom that is our birth-right"

"In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birth-right, and which we ever enjoyed until the late violation of it; for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before."--Thomas Jefferson, from the original draft of "A DECLARATION By the Representatives of the United Colonies Of NORTH-AMERICA, Setting forth the CAUSES and NECESSITY Of their taking up ARMS. July, 1775.