Patrick HenryOn March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry signaled the coming revolution when he spoke at a Virginia convention and allegedly implored: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
Patrick HenryJohn's Church in Richmond, Virginia, that Patrick Henry delivered his most famous speech. With war against Great Britain looming, Henry proclaimed, "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Who said “Give me liberty, or give me death!” and what did it mean for the Patriots? To Loyalists? Patrick Henry said this. It meant that the Patriots were willing to fight for their freedom and they wanted to unite as a country, instead of as seperate colnies.
Patrick Henry"Give me liberty, or give me death!" Patrick Henry delivering his great speech on the rights of the colonies, before the Virginia Assembly, convened at Richmond, March 23rd 1775, concluding with the above sentiment, which became the war cry of the revolution.
In saying, "Give me liberty or give me death," Patrick Henry is strongly expressing that he would rather die than live without liberty.
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry signaled the coming revolution when he spoke at a Virginia convention and allegedly implored: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
On the 23rd, Henry presented a proposal to organize a volunteer company of cavalry or infantry in every Virginia county. By custom, Henry addressed himself to the Convention's president, Peyton Randolph of Williamsburg.
In this speech Patrick Henry (1736–1799) uses powerful rhetoric to convince influential, affluent, landed men of Virginia with much to lose to move past their current diplomatic posture opposing British aggression to the more treasonous one of open military preparedness.
Immortalized by his famous remark, “Give me liberty or give me death,” Patrick Henry inspired many to support the cause of American independence. This acclaimed orator was also a member of the Continental Congress and a five-time Governor of Virginia.
But of the 1,217 words in the “Liberty or Death” speech, more than a thousand came from Wirt. He did the best he could to rely on firsthand sources and to construct, for posterity, the Revolution's most-galvanizing speech (which was never contemporaneously recorded in its entirety).
Patrick Henry, (born May 29 [May 18, Old Style], 1736, Studley [Virginia]—died June 6, 1799, Red Hill, near Brookneal, Virginia, U.S.), brilliant orator and a major figure of the American Revolution, perhaps best known for his words “Give me liberty or give me death!” which he delivered in 1775.
In his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, Patrick Henry compared the plight of the colonists to that of black slaves, proclaiming that peace should never be “purchased at the price of chains and slavery” (Henry in Willison, p.