Obama Plucking Tree of Liberty Bare

This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” May 5, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now tonight we bring you a special first segment of the show in lieu of our usual “Hannity Headline.”

In 1765 parliament passed the Stamp Pact provoking outrage among the American colonists. Now the leaders of the tax uprising were the Sons of Liberty who met in August of 1765 under an old elm tree in Boston to air their grievances against the tyrannical King George.

The Sons of Liberty will become an early voice for the rights of an oppressed citizenry and included some familiar names from the annals of American history including Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, John Hancock and John Adams.

At the end of that first protest in 1765 the Sons of Liberty hung two tax collectors in effigy from the branches of elm and from that day forward it became known as the Liberty Tree.

• Video: Watch Sean’s report