National Public Radio reported yesterday on the adoption of the yellow “Don’t Tread On Me” flag by Tea Party activists.  They spoke to historian (and former ICJS research fellow and advisory board member) Joseph Ellis about the history of that flag and its symbolism:

• Text of and audio link to the NPR story.
• Bill Barker, portraying Thomas Jefferson, reads the famous 1787 letter to William Stephens Smith in which Thomas Jefferson suggests “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”