When creating the Bill of Rights, the Founders believed meetings to discuss vital issues of the day were essential to a republican form of government. The right to peaceably assemble allowed people to gather, discuss ideas, and formulate their requests, and the right to petition allows these requests to be taken directly to elected officials.

Henry Knox served as Secretary of War from 1785 to 1795, the longest in our nation’s history. When Knox began his term, this critical post had been vacant for sixteen months, in part because Congressional leaders were nervous about a standing army.

American colonies had suffered with oppressive policies under English rule. Prior to the First Amendment, the right to say and print what whatever one wanted, including making negative comments about the government, did not exist.

Henry Knox was one of the greatest soldiers in our nation’s history, with an amazing record of success. By age 32, he had gone from little-known Boston bookseller to Major General of the Continental Army, the youngest soldier to attain that rank.

Nothing can be more fundamental to our pursuit of happiness than the ability to freely practice what we believe in and not be forced to violate our conscience.

Henry Knox is one of our nation’s most under-appreciated military leaders, involved in many critical battles of the American Revolution. He went on to serve as the first Secretary of War for the United States.

After the proposed Constitution was circulated to state legislatures for approval, it came under criticism for its lack of a bill of rights. As a result, although the proposed Constitution was quickly ratified by five states, it bogged down in other assemblies.

When the Constitutional Convention met in the summer of 1787, the primary goal of the delegates was to fix the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. Most of the discussion focused on how our new government would operate, not on the individual rights of the people. George Mason of Virginia introduced a motion to adopt a Bill of Rights, but the suggestion was quickly dismissed.

The siege of Boston was the longest in our nation’s history, running from April 19, 1775, to March 17, 1776. The guns brought from Fort Ticonderoga by Colonel Henry Knox gave General George Washington what he needed to force the British to evacuate.

The siege of Boston, which began after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, could not have been broken by the colonists without long range artillery. Fortunately, the Continental Army had a large supply of these guns 300 miles away at Fort Ticonderoga.

During the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major battle against the British, the American militia showed a grit and determination that impressed all. Although the colonists did not hold the field, the Redcoats paid dearly for their gains.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, marked the start of the American Revolution and colonists’ armed struggle to control their destiny. Brave Minutemen demonstrated that the strong words spoken and written up to that point had not been idle talk. As John Adams remarked, the die was cast and there was no turning back.

The Articles of Confederation were the foundation for our nation’s first unified government. However, the inherent weaknesses in the Articles gave our Founding Fathers insight into what America needed in its federal government.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, marked the start of America’s war for independence and were the culmination of a series of troubles between England and her American colonies.

Forty-three years after Paul Revere’s death, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published “Paul Revere’s Ride,” moving Revere and his midnight ride from obscurity into the pantheon of American legend.

The evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes began a long ride through the countryside, telling every house along the way “the Regulars are coming out!” Amazingly, before the British were on the march, towns 25 miles away were aware of the pending action.

In 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together many influential leaders from colonial America. 56 men, including George Washington and John Adams, met to formulate a response to England’s Coercive Acts, which closed the port of Boston and revoked Massachusetts’ colonial charter in response to the Boston Tea Party. This historic gathering was the first time complete separation from England was openly discussed.

One of the most iconic moments in American history, the Boston Tea Party was emblematic of the colonies’ resistance to British oppression. Taxes imposed by the Townshend Acts and the Tea Act would lead the Sons of Liberty to toss 92,000 pounds of tea, valued at almost $2 million today, into the Boston Harbor.