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July 4, 2023
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I’ve been astounded recently by the way the left has been so successful at using the phrase “hate speech” and the fear of school shootings to convince young people to demand that their own First and Second Amendment rights be taken away.

Somehow, they have managed to bamboozle a large slice of the young generation into simultaneously believing that they are wise and mature enough to start voting and even writing laws at 16; yet they are so childish and irresponsible, they can’t be trusted to touch a firearm until they’re 21, or to hear an opposing opinion without rushing to a safe space to cuddle a puppy and schmoosh Play-Doh.

When young people don’t know their rights, where those rights came from, and how much was sacrificed to secure them, it’s easy to convince them to trade them away for empty promises of comfort and security. This is the basis of all those quotes warning not to sell your birthright for a mess of pottage, a bit of advice so ancient and universal that it dates back to Esau in Genesis 25: 29-34. But leftists are still counting on young people not knowing it (no wonder they want to ban the Bible from schools.)

These days, students are taught an ugly, twisted and totally negative perversion of American history. They’re taught to hate their own magnificent heritage, and they don’t learn the most basic facts (or even what the word “pottage” means), let alone all the great stories you discover when you dig into real American history. This seems like the perfect week for a lesson in how America came to be born. And I’ll try to put it into terms they can relate to.

Maybe – possibly – today’s students vaguely recognize the name Paul Revere (although they might believe he was a slave trader. I certainly doubt they had to memorize the poem, the way we did.) But how many know there was another heroic midnight rider who warned that the British were coming, only this one was a teenage girl from Duchess County, New York?

She’s just one of many American heroes that kids don’t learn about because modern textbooks scrub history of everything interesting or inspiring in favor of leftist social and political agendas that downgrade America. They depict this as a land of nothing but racism and oppression, not as a land where people of good will have struggled and sacrificed for generations, constantly working to improve things by establishing justice, securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity and creating a “more perfect union” (note that in the original foundational document, the writers made it clear that nothing’s perfect, but we would strive always to keep working together toward perfection.)

Kids, American history is not a list of personal grievances against people who’ve been dead for 200 years. It’s everything that ever happened to everyone before you came on the scene. Seek it out. It can be pretty interesting, and you can actually learn things from it.

For instance: listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of…Sybil Ludington? Movies these days are filled with unrealistic fictional depictions of "girl power," but Sybil was the real article. As the oldest of 11 children, she had to take on a lot of responsibility at a young age. She was barely 16 on the night of April 26, 1777. She had just tucked all her siblings into bed when, suddenly, there came an urgent knock at the door. It was a messenger, coming to warn her father, Col. Henry Ludington, that British troops were invading.

His troops weren’t expecting an attack and were scattered all over the countryside. Gathering them meant a dangerous ride over pitch black roads, through enemy soldiers, wild animals and hostile Indians (sorry: “Indigenous Peoples.”) Understandably, the messenger refused an order to go. But Sybil volunteered. Her father protested, but she pointed out that only she knew where all his men lived. As any father of a strong-willed daughter will recognize, he’d long since learned that arguing with her was futile. So Sybil mounted up and rode off.

It was a rainy night. The British had already set nearby Danbury, Connecticut, on fire, and the flames cast an eerie, red glow on the fog. It spurred Sybil on as she galloped from house to house, banging on doors and shouting that the British were coming. According to legend, at one point, a highway robber tried to intercept Sybil, but she raised her father’s musket and sent him running. Yet another reason why teenagers should think twice before demanding that the Second Amendment be taken away from them.

By dawn, Sybil and her horse were cold, wet and exhausted. She’d roused over 400 troops, who joined the Battle of Ridgefield and helped drive the British all the way back to Long Island Sound. Gen. Washington personally honored Sybil for her heroism.

Today, there are historic markers all along her route, and statues of her in New York and Washington (if they haven’t been torn down by historical illiterates.) But I’ll bet most young people never even heard of Sybil Ludington, a teenager much like them, except she knew what really happened during the American Revolution. Maybe it’s because nobody wrote a famous poem about her midnight ride -- even though her ride was over twice as long as Paul Revere’s. Let’s hope someone turns her story into a hip-hop musical so they’ll finally learn about it.

(Since originally writing this, I decided I should mention that some revisionist historians have labored mightily to try to debunk this story, but the best they’ve come up with is to claim they can’t find documentation of her ride. Too bad Sybil didn’t record it on her iPhone. In a comment that says more about contemporary “historians” than it does about actual American history, one wrote, “Sybil's ride embraces the mythical meanings and values expressed in the country's founding. As an individual, she represents Americans' persistent need to find and create heroes who embody prevalent attitudes and beliefs.” I’d say that when you start out with the attitude that our nation’s Founders’ values were “mythical,” it tends to give you a persistent need to tear down American heroes. But that’s not actually history, now, is it?)

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Comments 1-10 of 48

  • Ed Thompson

    07/05/2023 08:26 PM

    Interesting story. If it’s true it would change history in a good way, add more information about what happened on that fateful night. Who knows, maybe someone will find proof positive to support it. 16 year old girl rides her horse and helps establish America vs becoming crushed under by the British! Move over Paul Revere,make room for another hero, and a girl (woman) no less!! Please find more information please!

  • James Dennis Johnson

    07/05/2023 02:35 PM

    Mike,

    "Sybil's Ride" depicts the ideals of all true Americans. The sad thing is that Leftists have nothing like this in their history. That is why they attempt to diminish everything like this innocent little "true story. It works on their nerves. Please keep writing about stories like this. They'll be spewing their hearts out (Oh, excuse me for telling the truth. They will punish me with abusive language and tell people I'm a TROLL or something like that. Oh, well.

    James Johnson

  • Kaye Sartin

    07/05/2023 11:38 AM

    What a great piece of history regarding Sybil that I’ve learned today. What a brave little girl at 16 years of age. Talk about courage and strength: wow, what an amazing young woman. Thank you for sharing this beautiful story!

  • Barry L Miller

    07/05/2023 07:26 AM

    I’m 76 years of age and never heard of Sybil Ludington. Thank God for using a young girl to fulfill His purpose and thank you Gov. Mike for sharing this encouraging story (a fact of history)!

  • Susan Conway

    07/04/2023 06:46 PM

    I had no idea that there was another rider to warn the people the British are coming other than Paul Revere. And I from the old school when we were actually taught history.

  • Laurel Young

    07/04/2023 05:26 PM

    Thank you for sharing this story- I found it informative and interesting! A very positive role model!

  • David G Tippens

    07/04/2023 05:13 PM

    Thanks for sharing this Gov. Huckabee. The little known stories of our fight for independence need to be taught. Maybe some young people will catch on and start learning more about our wonderful country. Tara Ross does a good job of doing just that in case you haven't heard of her. Thanks for all you do! Happy 4th!

  • Jeanne M Lundgren

    07/04/2023 05:08 PM

    Perhaps there is a record of George Washington giving her the honor? I remember reading about her phenomenal ride but it was long after I left school.

  • Mary Beth Sheehy

    07/04/2023 04:35 PM

    Governor Huckabee, thank you so much for sharing this bit of history. I am 76, so I remember when history was actually taught in school. I have not heard of this young heroine before, but I don't doubt the story. There are so many unsung heroes and heroines. We wouldn't remember Paul Revere if not for the poem. I enjoy reading history. Thank you again for sharing this. God bless America!!

  • Patricia S. Wheaton

    07/04/2023 02:53 PM

    Great American hero!