ran 3.7 miles
On this day in history, American patriot Robert Barnwell was born in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1761. Barnwell resiliently and boldly served in each step of America’s revolution and it’s success.
At age sixteen, he joined the Patriot militia as a private. During the Battle of Matthew’s Plantation on St. John’s Island in June of 1779, his supplies were taken and he was left for dead on the battlefield. Discovered and brought back to health by a stranger and his family, Barnwell rejoined the militia as a lieutenant the following spring. He was soon taken prisoner by the British during the siege of Charleston in May of 1780. Barnwell spent the next thirteen months imprisoned on the ship “Pack Horse”. Relentless, after his release he once again rejoined the Patriot militia, eventually reaching the rank of a lieutenant colonel by the end of America’s war for independence.
Barnwell’s great bravery and resilience paved his path to becoming a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1787, and then a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1788 to 1789. In 1788, he also served as a member of the South Carolina convention that ratified the United States Constitution. He served in the second U.S. Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from 1791 to 1793. Robert Barnwell continued to serve America in various political seats until 1806. He died at the young age of fifty-two on October 24, 1814.
Robert Barnwell was one of the old iron links forged from the original American spirit, which many citizens of this great nation have lost sight of and appreciation for. What he risked his life to fight for, like so many others of that time, was the simple opportunity to reach his own full potential, free from the tyranny of a government who wanted nothing more of him than to pay exorbitant taxes and to remain silent.
That sounds very familiar, 234 years later. Somewhere along the way America, like a young man seduced by temptation, greed and vice, lost sight of what was truly important and assumed a role all but familiar to what it was intended to be. It is time for the prodigal son to come home to Washington and make things right.
1,799.6 miles to go.
On this day in history, American patriot Robert Barnwell was born in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1761. Barnwell resiliently and boldly served in each step of America’s revolution and it’s success.
At age sixteen, he joined the Patriot militia as a private. During the Battle of Matthew’s Plantation on St. John’s Island in June of 1779, his supplies were taken and he was left for dead on the battlefield. Discovered and brought back to health by a stranger and his family, Barnwell rejoined the militia as a lieutenant the following spring. He was soon taken prisoner by the British during the siege of Charleston in May of 1780. Barnwell spent the next thirteen months imprisoned on the ship “Pack Horse”. Relentless, after his release he once again rejoined the Patriot militia, eventually reaching the rank of a lieutenant colonel by the end of America’s war for independence.
Barnwell’s great bravery and resilience paved his path to becoming a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1787, and then a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1788 to 1789. In 1788, he also served as a member of the South Carolina convention that ratified the United States Constitution. He served in the second U.S. Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from 1791 to 1793. Robert Barnwell continued to serve America in various political seats until 1806. He died at the young age of fifty-two on October 24, 1814.
Robert Barnwell was one of the old iron links forged from the original American spirit, which many citizens of this great nation have lost sight of and appreciation for. What he risked his life to fight for, like so many others of that time, was the simple opportunity to reach his own full potential, free from the tyranny of a government who wanted nothing more of him than to pay exorbitant taxes and to remain silent.
That sounds very familiar, 234 years later. Somewhere along the way America, like a young man seduced by temptation, greed and vice, lost sight of what was truly important and assumed a role all but familiar to what it was intended to be. It is time for the prodigal son to come home to Washington and make things right.
1,799.6 miles to go.
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