A Little Rebellion Now And Then

In Paris, November 13, 1787, Thomas Jeffersonś wrote the "Tree of Liberty" letter to William Smith. In the letter the famous quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants."

Music ByAi Song Maker, SuperImposedLyrics ByThomas Jefferson

In Superimposed x2|April 10, 2026

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IntroThe tree of liberty must be refreshedFrom time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.It is its natural manure, a reminder of the costThat freedom demands, if it is ever to endure. Verse 1In the course of human events, one people may riseAnd dissolve the bands that bind them to another’s ties.To claim their station, equal and just,As Nature and God intended, in liberty they trust.Liberty, a plant that grows so fast,Its roots must be strong if it is to last.The spirit of resistance, a flame to keep alive,In every age, so freedom may survive. ChorusA little rebellion now and then is a good thing,A medicine for the health of government’s wing.Let rulers beware, let citizens not yield,For the spirit of freedom must always be revealed. Verse 2The tree grows only with courage and care,And struggles endured, too heavy to bear.Freedom is not given, it must be defended,Its value is tested when tyranny is offended.Keep vigilant, and let the warning ring,That liberty thrives when people resist everything.From patriots’ courage, and tyrants’ defeat,Springs the health of a nation, strong and complete. OutroSo remember, the tree of liberty livesOnly when nourished by the vigilance it gives.A little rebellion, a reminder so true,That freedom is earned by the brave, by the few.

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The "Tree of Liberty" letterFrom Thomas Jefferson to William SmithParis, November 13, 1787

DEAR SIR, -- I am now to acknoledge the receipt of your favors of October the 4th, 8th, & 26th. In the last you apologise for your letters of introduction to Americans coming here. It is so far from needing apology on your part, that it calls for thanks on mine. I endeavor to show civilities to all the Americans who come here, & will give me opportunities of doing it: and it is a matter of comfort to know from a good quarter what they are, & how far I may go in my attentions to them. Can you send me Woodmason's bills for the two copying presses for the M. de la Fayette, & the M. de Chastellux? The latter makes one article in a considerable account, of old standing, and which I cannot present for want of this article. -- I do not know whether it is to yourself or Mr. Adams I am to give my thanks for the copy of the new constitution. I beg leave through you to place them where due. It will be yet three weeks before I shall receive them from America. There are very good articles in it: & very bad. I do not know which preponderate. What we have lately read in the history of Holland, in the chapter on the Stadtholder, would have sufficed to set me against a chief magistrate eligible for a long duration, if I had ever been disposed towards one: & what we have always read of the elections of Polish kings should have forever excluded the idea of one continuable for life. Wonderful is the effect of impudent & persevering lying. The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, & what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of Massachusetts? And can history produce an instance of rebellion so honourably conducted? I say nothing of it's motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, & always well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. We have had 13. states independent 11. years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in a century & a half for each state. What country before ever existed a century & a half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure. Our Convention has been too much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts: and in the spur of the moment they are setting up a kite to keep the hen-yard in order. I hope in God this article will be rectified before the new constitution is accepted. -- You ask me if any thing transpires here on the subject of S. America? Not a word. I know that there are combustible materials there, and that they wait the torch only. But this country probably will join the extinguishers. -- The want of facts worth communicating to you has occasioned me to give a little loose to dissertation. We must be contented to amuse, when we cannot inform.

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