GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH

"'Give me liberty or give me death'" is a famous quotation from a speech made by Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
The speech was given March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is credited with having single-handedly convinced the Virginia House of Burgesses to pass a resolution delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War. In attendance were Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Reportedly, the crowd, upon hearing the speech, jumped up and shouted, "To Arms! To Arms!"
Patrick Henry was a slave owner, and some of his slaves fought for the British in the American War of Independence because the British promised liberty for slaves who fought with them. Simon Schama argues in Rough Crossings that the fear that the British would liberate slaves following the Somersett Judgement was a motivating force for many Patriots.
A main idea of this speech is that the British are doing the Colonists wrong by putting taxes on tea and paper, etc. Patrick Henry believes that the Colonists should fight the British and try to gain their independence.

Contents

External links

External links

★ Libertyonline - Full text of the speech

★ Text of Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses

★ Audio of the speech by Richard Schuman who interprets the character of Patrick Henry for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

★ Audio of the speech, by Mark Smith & from LibriVox via Project Gutenberg