Colonel Christopher Gadsden: The Essence of American Defiance

Christopher Gadsden was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence and a staunch resistor of England’s interference of the Colonial way of life. Also inventor of the Gadsden Flag depicting a timber rattle snake ready to strike with the words Don’t Tread On Me, Gadsden was captured and imprisoned in St Augustine ,Florida (the oldest town in the United States)at the infamous Castillo de San Marcos. Because he would not give his word to not escape the town, he was put in solitary confinement there for 42 weeks. It is a dark and awe full place to be a prisoner. The State of Florida recently adopted a license plate commemorating Gadsden’s American exceptionalism. There is Valor in keeping your principles true, even when it costs you.