Unconditional Release Quotes
See {587287} for a later complementary statement.
This verse is inscribed on the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty base.
The American sailors had been captured and were being held for ransom by the Barbary Pirates in terrible conditions. The pirates stated that they were slaves and would be sold if the United States did not come up with enough ransom money. After much debate in America, a squadron of Naval Troops had been dispatched to the Mediterranean where they would “negotiate” with cannon—attacking the ports of the Barbary States.
