"The Appalachian range was the frontier, and the settlers who lived there were rough-hewn highlanders, predominantly Scots-Irish, who had little but the confidence that they and their God were the sole authors of their fate.
"This in turn imparted a zealous belief in their own liberty: they might be poor, but they were free as only frontiersmen were free. So when the call came to stand against the hated British in the American Revolution, these men and women answered
"with the enthusiasm of a people who loved freedom and a good fight — and weren’t too careful in distinguishing the two.
"In an Appalachian region called the Waxhaws, so wild no one was sure whether it was North or South Carolina, three brothers left their mother’s home to fight for American independence.
"The oldest died fighting the Redcoats at Stono Ferry, outside of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1779. The next oldest died in British captivity.
"The youngest survived as a prisoner of war, and emerged with scars imparted by a British officer who slashed him with his saber after the young American refused to shine the Briton’s boots.
"The boy, hardened beyond his years, had as the grim postscript to his terrible war the death of his mother, made ill by her own service tending to American prisoners aboard British prison hulks.
He was fourteen years old.
He was fourteen years old.
"The price of liberty is high. It is paid in the lives of those who fight, and in the sacrifices of those who love them. On this Independence Day, surrounded by friends, family, and freedom, take a moment to remember what, and who, brought us here.
"We are a people who walk in the achievements — and the triumphs, and the sorrows — of men and women like those three brothers. They had nothing but their future, their faith, and their willingness to fight for liberty.
It was enough. And it is enough to guide us.
It was enough. And it is enough to guide us.
"That fourteen-year old boy, in his childhood, endured hardships for our freedom that most Americans will never know. And when Andrew Jackson grew to be a man, he did still greater things for his country.
"It is the Fourth of July, and so long as we walk in the the spirit of Jackson, and Washington, and Jefferson, and Hamilton, and Monroe, and every American who stood tall for liberty — it is just the beginning."
