Revolutionary War Slogans?

December 29, 2005 11:25 AM

Revolutionary War Slogans? I' know "No Taxation without Representation", but what other authentic revolutionary war slogans were out there? I've tried Wikipeda, and google-fu, and have seen quotes, but no rallying cries, ala "Remember the Maine" and "54 40 or fight".
posted by Philbo to Society & Culture (13 answers total)

You mean statements that soldiers would have shouted as they were going into battle? Or just slogans that became popular/legendary during or shorty after the era? If it's the latter, how about:

"I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."
"Give me liberty or give me death."
"Don't Tread On Me"
posted by soiled cowboy at 11:31 AM on December 29, 2005

Don't Tread On Me. Also the best Revolutionary War flag.
posted by InfidelZombie at 11:33 AM on December 29, 2005

Adding to soiled cowboy list, I always liked "I have not yet began to fight".

soiled cowboy : "You mean statements that soldiers would have shouted as they were going into battle?"
I don't think so, because it would look a bit ridiculous for a bunch of grown man to run into the enemy crying "No Taxation without Representation".
posted by nkyad at 11:37 AM on December 29, 2005

Flags of the American Revolution.
posted by ericb at 11:47 AM on December 29, 2005

"United we stand, divided we fall."
posted by soiled cowboy at 12:11 PM on December 29, 2005

"Join, or Die."
posted by Fat Guy at 12:13 PM on December 29, 2005

"If we don't hang together, we'll all hang seperately."
posted by sdrawkcab at 12:19 PM on December 29, 2005

"A republic, if you can keep it." Well, I guess that's more post-war.

I love sardonic patriots.
posted by vetiver at 12:54 PM on December 29, 2005

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." (allegedly) Winston Churchill.

On a more topical note, I'd guess the best known revolutionary slogan would come from the French Revolution: "Viva la Revolucion!".
posted by planetthoughtful at 1:31 PM on December 29, 2005

I'm not sure if it held the place of a true revolutionary slogan, but central to the Communist revolution (or perhaps central to the ideology that came afterwards) was the phrase: "From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs." It doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd chant while storming a castle, though.
posted by planetthoughtful at 1:37 PM on December 29, 2005

I like Patrick Henry's "If this be treason make the most of it"...not really slogans but also: "The British are coming!" and "One if By Land, Two if By Sea", and also "Don't Shoot Until You See The Whites Of Their Eyes" from the Battle of Bunker Hill.
posted by modernist1 at 1:44 PM on December 29, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm looking for specifically American Revolutionary War slogans (Didn't make that clear in the text, but only in the tags... my bad). Soiled Cowboy's and modernist1's suggestions are the closest to what I'm looking for...
posted by Philbo at 4:38 PM on December 29, 2005

Washington's troops shouted out lines from Tom Paine's just-published pamphlet American Crisis - including the opening line, "These are the times that try men's souls" - as they attacked the Hessian garrison at Trenton the morning after crossing the Delaware.

About as authentic a Revolutionary War slogan as you'll ever find, I'd say. Paine (who'd published Common Sense a year earlier, travelled and wrote with Washington's Army during that awful winter campaign.

Sources: Scott Liell's great short book 46 Pages: Thomas Paine, Common Sense and the Turning Point to Independence and David Fischer's wonderfully detailed history of the Trenton campaign, Washington's Crossing, both of which present the above story as fact.
posted by mediareport at 10:57 PM on December 29, 2005