Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
United we stand, divided we fall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"United we stand, Divided we fall" is a phrase that has been used in mottos, from nations and states to songs. The basic concept is that unless the people are united and one people, it is easy to destroy them. This is a counter to the maxim 'divide and conquer' or Divide and Rule.
Contents |
The phrase has been attributed to Matthew Walker, both directly in his fable The Four Oxen and the Lion[1] and indirectly from The Bundle of Sticks[2].
The first attributed use in modern times is to John Dickinson in his revolutionary war song The Liberty Song. In the song, first published in the Boston Gazette in July 1768, he wrote: "Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!" Another modern time use that is well known would be in [3]'s famous song, [4]. Stating together we stand, divided we fall
Patrick Henry used the phrase in his last public speech, given on March 1799, in which he denounced The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. Clasping his hands and waving his body back and forth, Henry declaimed, “Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.” At the end of his oration, Henry fell into the arms of bystanders and was carried almost lifeless into a near-by tavern. Two months afterward he was dead.
Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby, was particularly fond of the stanza from the Liberty Song. Since 1942, this phrase is the official non-Latin state motto of Kentucky. In 2002, the Kentucky legislature approved an official Latin motto: "Deo gratiam habeamus", which stands for "Let us be grateful to God".
On the Missouri flag, the phrase is also stated around the center circle.
This statement was also a commonly used political phrase used to garner support within India during its struggle for independence from the British Empire.
- ^ The Four Oxen and the Lion Bartleby's famous quotations
- ^ The Bundle of Sticks Bartleby's famous quotations
- ^ [1] Pink Floyd
- ^ [2] Hey You