Give Me Liberty: Patrick Henry’s Speech That Ignited A Revolution

Following the increasingly tyrannical actions of the British government, including the Boston Massacre and British Parliament’s imposition of the Coercive Acts, which colonists called “The Intolerable Acts”, the Second Virginia Convention assembled in 1775 to deliberate the future of the American colonies and discuss the prospect of war.

Meeting at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Patrick Henry, a respected lawyer who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, arrived at the Convention with the goal to galvanize militiamen into securing “our inestimable rights and liberties, from those further violations with which they are threatened.”  Some members were wary of such decisive action, instead insisting that a peaceful resolution was possible. Growing impatient, Henry rose and delivered a powerful call to action to his fellow Virginians: “If we wish to be free…we must fight!”

At a moment when courageous action was needed, Henry’s address was delivered before more than 100 delegates, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many of the statesmen that would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence.  By a narrow margin, the Convention passed the resolution to begin plans for defending the colony—the first critical step to independence.

Henry’s famous words spoken at the pulpit of St. John’s Church—“Give me liberty, or give me death!”—remain instilled in the hearts and minds of every American citizen.