Ramblings of an American Legacy

My family has been there from the beginning and I am extremely proud of my Nation and my heritage. 234 years my 4th Great Grandfather John Moore took up arms against a government that did not represent the people. The Declaration of Independence states, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” He fought for 5 years under the command of General George Washington to form a nation with powers derived from the people. He was at Yorktown when the British surrendered. That was when Independence truly came and he saw it in person.

After the war he moved west to the Appalachians and started a Farm called Pretty Hole in 1782. While he was tending his new farm the Founding Fathers took the best of the British heritage made it uniquely American and wrote our Constitution. Our Constitution promised a limited government where the individual could keep the benefits of their labor. In 1804 my ancestor discovered coal on his land and sold it to Blacksmiths in Winchester, VA some 70 miles away hauling it over the Northwestern Turnpike by wagon. He worked to make a better life for himself and his family, because his new government didn’t interfere.

The Nation was in Civil War a battle over states rights that in many ways was never truly settled and is now coming to the forefront. We fought amongst ourselves in bloody battles, but even then we never lost sight of our founding principles of a government by the people. Consider that the American Civil War is unique in the fact it is the only civil war fought were both sides were democratic republics! My Great Great Grandfather Jefferson Howell joined the Union Army in 1861 to help save the nation.

In the 1930’s a mad man came to power in Germany. A good speaker he sold people a socialist bill of goods and grabbed power. He put together the Axis and attacked the free world. By 1940 Great Britain stood alone, but we began to supply the mother country with arms to save the last Democracy in Europe. On a December Sunday we were openly attacked. The unique thing about our Republic is that it is truly a government of the people. Few of the dictators or socialist of the world understand that. Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto did, after the Pearl Harbor attack he said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." It woke us up. My grandfather Glenn Howell joined the Navy in 1943 and helped save the world.

Today we are the worlds only Super Power and I stand at the end of a long line of American Patriots. My family has been there from the beginning. We have formed, shaped and saved the nation. We have helped liberate others from the chains of totalitarianism around the world. While there are many external threats to our nation, none is greater than our government’s deviation from the vision of our Founding Fathers. Today it falls on me and my generation to protect the Founder’s vision, not by force of arms, but from within the vary system they created, shaped and saved. I’m on the ballot November 2nd, 2010 to add my name to an American Legacy of Patriots pushing for limited government and personal responsibly. My God Bless America!