It’s not every day I get the chance to visit with a TEOTWAWKI survivor – but when I do, I listen up. That opportunity presented itself yesterday, when I was privileged to interview Paul.
An individual of small frame yet sizeable strength of mind and determination, Paul experienced the end of the world he knew and lived to help create a new one. Not only did he survive the collapse, but he proved to be a key leader and connector in his community as it struggled through the extended period of political upheaval, economic failure, widespread violence, and nefarious pillaging. Paul also dealt with treachery from friends and neighbors, epidemic disease, death threats, cessation of trade, prolonged lack of necessary supplies, and international contempt – as well as the death of two children.
Fortunately for me, he was not shy about sharing his story.
Exceptional leadership grabs my interest, and I had many questions for this extraordinary gentleman. Right away, I wanted to know: to what do you credit your survival? What were the most important things you did to ensure that you, your family, and your community would make it through the collapse? What lessons can you teach us?
His answer was most unexpected.
Preparing for Liberty
When I think of how I’d survive a collapse, my mind jumps to things like stockpiling supplies, starting a garden, learning to shoot, being able to live off-grid, or having a strategic bug-out location. All of those did indeed come into play, and were critical components of survival for Paul and his community. However, I soon realized he had a completely different perspective than most preppers with whom I’ve spoken.
As I heard Paul’s story, it became obvious to me that while we often have a laser focus on preparing to survive the impending collapse, his community had gone farther and made preparations for survival after the collapse. In other words: yes, he had to have practical necessities and skills to make it through whatever came his way – but what then? After the world as he knew it ended, was his community prepared to help create a new one?
As it turns out, they were indeed as well prepared as they could be, for they had men among them who knew very well what they were about. They wasn’t preparing merely for survival; they were preparing for liberty.
I wish you could all sit down in a room with Paul and listen to him relate his own story and the lessons learned from it. Unfortunately, that will not be possible. Paul died in 1818, 43 years after his famous midnight ride warning the colonists that the British Regulars were out to seize their gunpowder. However, we can still hold conversations with him, and the others in his community who survived the end of the world as they knew it, if we become students of history.
Liberty: Dead or Alive?
The spirit of liberty was alive and well in the hearts and minds of Paul Revere and his fellow American colonists in the 1770s as they endured the horrors of war and worked hopefully, against great odds, toward a new future, seeking to preserve freedom and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity.
What about now, and what about us? As you look around in your family, your neighborhood, your city, your state, and your country, do you see the spirit of liberty alive and well? Quite frankly, I don’t.
This begs the question: how do we plant and nurture the seed of liberty in the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans?
Allow me to present to you the LibertySeed, a branch of Project Appleseed of the Revolutionary War Veterans Association.
From Appleseeds to LibertySeeds – A New Option
Project Appleseed, a national organization and activity of the 501(c)(3) Revolutionary War Veterans Association (RWVA), is gaining recognition for its rifle marksmanship clinics held all over the country. In addition to learning the best fundamentals of traditional marksmanship, participants at an Appleseed shoot are treated to a re-telling of the events of April 19, 1775 – the day the American Revolutionary War began, and the day our heritage was born.
Until recently, those interested in hearing the history presented at an Appleseed event had to attend the two-day clinic at the range. Now, you have a 90-minute alternative option: the LibertySeed.
A LibertySeed is an indoor event consisting of the history portion of an Appleseed shoot. An RWVA instructor will come, free of charge, to your location and present the events of April 19, 1775 in a manner suitable for your group. You can request a presentation at a church retreat, a Boy Scout troop meeting, a gun club luncheon, a grassroots political meeting, a homeschool book fair or conference, or even a group of your family and friends gathered in your home.
Think of a LibertySeed presentation as a conversation with a TEOTWAWKI survivor: you get to hear vivid accounts of the preparations made, the networking put into place, the brilliant minds who sparked fires of liberty, and the faithful men who carried on and endured more pain than we can imagine. As you hear this fascinating history – your story – you will begin to understand why our nation’s government was set up the way it is. You will regain motivation to make the best possible use of the freedoms you have been given. You will come to understand that our forefathers used the bullet box to set up a system of government which we can influence in much easier forms: through the ballot box and the soapbox .
All this you get at a LibertySeed, as you hear of men who “knew very well what they are about.”
Men Who Know Very Well What They Are About
Before April 19, 1775, Lord Hugh Percy of the British forces held the colonials in disdain, considering them inept, uncouth backwoodsmen. However, after observing their skill and resolution that day, he wrote home with a completely different opinion: “Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob, will find himself very much mistaken. They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about.”
He was talking about men like John Parker, captain of the Lexington Training Band – a man dying of tuberculosis who chose to spend his last days burning resolute determination into the souls of his men as they faced off against far superior forces, instead of considering himself exempt from serving…
Men like Isaac Davis, captain of the Acton Minutemen, who raised his sword at the North Bridge when a charge was deemed necessary and declared, “I have not a man who is afraid to go!” – and women like his wife, 29-year-old Hannah, who let him walk out the door that morning leaving her with four deathly ill children and a sickening premonition that was realized a few hours later when his corpse was carried into her parlor, a musket ball having pierced his chest and taken his life…
Men like 80-year-old Deacon Josiah Haynes, who turned out with the militia and set a rapid pace on the road, leaving the young minutemen panting behind him, until he was killed during the Regulars’ nightmarish retreat from Concord – killed while leading his townsmen from the front…
And men like Paul Revere, who became famous for words he never spoke (instead of, “The British are coming!” he actually called out, “The Regulars are out!” since everyone at that time was British), while key facts about his midnight ride– such as his capture by a British patrol before he reached Concord—remain unknown to most Americans…
As a LibertySeed presentation offers the gripping stories of these and many other men and women, it helps you to educate your children and your community on their nation’s heritage. You can play an important role in the survival of the spirit of liberty in our country simply by scheduling a LibertySeed presentation.
How To Schedule a LibertySeed
To schedule a LibertySeed presentation, simply contact the RWVA through the site LibertySeed.org. A volunteer instructor in your area will work with you to organize the details of the presentation, creating an event tailored to your needs.
A typical LibertySeed presentation is often 90 minutes long and includes all Three Strikes of the Match – the three encounters between the colonial militia and the British Regulars on April 19, 1775 that culminated in the beginning of the Revolutionary War. However, the timeframe and contents can be adjusted.
For example, the RWVA has conducted LibertySeed presentations at elementary and junior high schools, political club meetings, church retreats, convention workshops, prepper expos, gun shows, backyard picnics, or even around a restaurant table after a ladies’ range day. You may request a luncheon speaker who will give a condensed history in 20-30 minutes, or a female volunteer who can address your women’s group, or a presenter who is experienced at working with children to tell the Three Strikes in an engaging and interactive format for a homeschool co-op. Your event can be private – only for you and your friends, or public – posted on LibertySeed.org for your community to attend.
There is no charge to you or your guests for a LibertySeed event. RWVA volunteers consider it a pleasure and an honor to reawaken their fellow Americans to our shared heritage of liberty, and they give their time generously in an effort to bail out the sinking ship that our nation has become.
How Are You Preparing for Liberty?
Perhaps it’s too late to save America. Perhaps the ship has already sunk too far and a complete national collapse is inevitable. Or perhaps not, if we are zealous to reawaken the spirit of liberty in ourselves and our countrymen.
As you’re preparing for the survival of TEOTWAWKI, consider a conversation with those who’ve been there already. Sure, learn survival skills and be wise about stocking up necessary supplies for whatever may come your way. But don’t forget about the real goal of prepping – not just getting through, but keeping the spirit of liberty alive and well. It may be that, among all the seeds you want to have for your survival, the LibertySeed is the most important. Be sure to get yourself one.