OK, I had no idea where to put this post since we don't have a section for "interesting history" so I will post it here. If any of the moderators think this belongs somewhere else feel free to move it.
I came across this story while I was reading John Ross's excellent book Unintended Consequences which is a fictional story about an out of control government that keeps stripping people's gun rights away from them piece by piece...actually maybe it isn't fiction at all
:
Anyway I digress.
He references a historical battle that took place in Tennessee in 1946 dubbed "The Battle of Athens" where a local government was totally corrupt and the Federal government, Justice Department failed to do anything to stop it. An election was held by the corrupt officials who were running against GIs who had just returned from WW II. In short a literal gun battle broke out between the corrupt Sheriff and his cronies and GIs who eventually won by force of arms and proved they had actually won the election.
They were able to restore liberty and justice back to the county. It is often cited as a case for the right to bear arms against tyranny in government. I thought it was very educational, but didn't know a thing about it. The one character in Unintended Consequences tells another character that everyone in the "gun culture" knows of this piece of history. I would say I am part of that "gun culture" but had never heard of this so I suspected many of you haven't either.
I thought it would be very educational and instructive for all of us fighting against corrupt government who are always infringing on our rights to know and read about this if you also haven't heard about it. So I thought I would share a link to the original group who brought this to light. Who knows maybe we can make this prominent piece of history again to a whole new generation of gun culture enthusiasts. Anyway here is the link...
http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/athens.htm
Here is also another link to the same story on Wikepedia, but the link above is from the organization that first brought national attention to the issue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
I came across this story while I was reading John Ross's excellent book Unintended Consequences which is a fictional story about an out of control government that keeps stripping people's gun rights away from them piece by piece...actually maybe it isn't fiction at all
:Anyway I digress.
He references a historical battle that took place in Tennessee in 1946 dubbed "The Battle of Athens" where a local government was totally corrupt and the Federal government, Justice Department failed to do anything to stop it. An election was held by the corrupt officials who were running against GIs who had just returned from WW II. In short a literal gun battle broke out between the corrupt Sheriff and his cronies and GIs who eventually won by force of arms and proved they had actually won the election.
They were able to restore liberty and justice back to the county. It is often cited as a case for the right to bear arms against tyranny in government. I thought it was very educational, but didn't know a thing about it. The one character in Unintended Consequences tells another character that everyone in the "gun culture" knows of this piece of history. I would say I am part of that "gun culture" but had never heard of this so I suspected many of you haven't either.
I thought it would be very educational and instructive for all of us fighting against corrupt government who are always infringing on our rights to know and read about this if you also haven't heard about it. So I thought I would share a link to the original group who brought this to light. Who knows maybe we can make this prominent piece of history again to a whole new generation of gun culture enthusiasts. Anyway here is the link...
http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/athens.htm
Here is also another link to the same story on Wikepedia, but the link above is from the organization that first brought national attention to the issue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
