Live Free or Die
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the state motto. For other uses, see Live Free or Die (disambiguation).
"Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the General Court in 1945. It is possibly the best-known of all state mottos, partly because it speaks to an aggressive independence inherent in American political philosophy and partly because of its contrast to the milder sentiments usually found in such mottos.
The phrase comes from a toast written by General John Stark on July 31, 1809. Poor health forced Stark, New Hampshire's most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington and to send his toast by letter:
- Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.
It may have an earlier origin, as mentioned in Burke's 1758 The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year, q.v. at google books.
The motto was enacted at the same time as the state emblem, on which it appears.
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[edit] Legal battle
In 1971, the General Court, the state legislature of New Hampshire, mandated that the phrase appear on all non-commercial license plates, replacing "Scenic." In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, that New Hampshire could not prosecute motorists who chose to hide part or all of the motto.
That ruling came about because George Maynard, a Jehovah's Witness, cut off "or die" from his plate. He found the phrase offensive because according to his faith, Jehovah's Kingdom offers everlasting life and it would be contrary to that belief to die for an earthly government. He was convicted of breaking a state law against altering license plates. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in his favor, saying the law required people to "use their private property as a 'mobile billboard' for the State's ideological message," and that the state's interest did not outweigh free speech principles. "We conclude that the State of New Hampshire may not require appellees to display the state motto upon their vehicle license plates." [1]
[edit] Similar mottos
A possible source of such mottoes is Patrick Henry's famed March 23, 1775 speech to the House of Burgesses (the legislative body of the Virginia colony), which contained the following phrase: Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
A medal struck at Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint, as tokens of exchange for the Paris firm of Monneron Freres, 1791-92, has on its obverse the motto Vivre libres ou mourir (Live free or die in French). A mention of "vivre libre ou mourir" occurs in 1754 Memoires by Chalopin.
[edit] National mottos
- "Ελευθερια η Θανατος" (Eleutheria i thanatos — "Liberty or Death") is the national motto of Greece and comes from the motto of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830).
- "Слобода или Смрт" - "Sloboda ili Smrt" - "Freedom or Death" is the national motto of the Republic of Macedonia and is derived from the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising.
- "Libertad o Muerte" - "Liberty or Death" is the national motto of Uruguay
- "Independência, ou morte!" - "Independence or death", was the national motto of Brazilian Empire
- "Eala Freya Fresena" - "Rise up, Free Frisians", spoken at the Upstalsboom in Aurich in the early first millennium, and it is traditionally answered with "Lewwer duad üs Slaav", or "Better dead than a slave"
[edit] Other uses
[edit] Unix
Live Free or Die is popular among Unix users, a group which also cherishes its independence. The popularity dates to the 1980s, when Armando Stettner of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) had a set of Unix license plates printed up and given away at a Usenix conference. They were modeled on the license plates in New Hampshire, where DEC's Unix Engineering Group (UEG) was headquartered. Stettner lived in New Hampshire at the time and owned a Toyota Celica Supra with the vanity license plate UNIX.
When DEC came out with their own Unix version, Ultrix, they followed Stettner's lead and printed up a legion of Ultrix plates that were distributed at trade shows.
[edit] In popular culture
[edit] Books
- Live Free or Die is the title of a 1990 novel by New Hampshire writer Ernest Hebert.
- In the early 2000s, Avengers comics had a storyline called "Live Kree or Die". It featured the alien race called the Kree.
- Live Free or Die is a book by Gardner Goldsmith.
[edit] TV
- On the animated TV series Futurama, the motto of the "Neutral planet" is "Live Free or Don't".
- "Live Free or Die" is the title of the sixth episode of the sixth season of the TV show The Sopranos. It concerns a character who hides from mobsters in New Hampshire and who at one point stares in sadness at the motto on the license plate.
- On The West Wing, Josh routinely makes cheese-related jokes about Donna's Wisconsin roots. In one episode, he jokes that Wisconsin's state motto is "Live Brie or Die." In another episode it was proclaimed by Sam in reference to the state: "New Hampshire. Live free or cheap."
[edit] Other
- "Live Free or Die" is the name of Vancouver punk group D.O.A.'s 2004 album.
- Live Free or Die Hard is the fourth Die Hard movie, released on June 27, 2007. The movie prints were shipped to cinemas under the name "New Hampshire".
- At the Kabul, Afghanistan airfield, the motto "live free or die" has been spraypainted onto the back of a crashed Soviet Antonov An-12
[edit] External links
- New Hampshire state law creating motto
- The History of the UNIX License Plate according to The Open Group
- The motto is one of the 101 Reasons cited by the Free State Project for their choice of New Hampshire as the targeted "Free State"
- Boston Globe article about the use of the motto in popular culture
