On this day in 1775, Patrick Henry gives a stirring speech. You’ve almost certainly heard of this one! Henry closed the speech with the unforgettable words: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
At the time, Henry was a delegate to the Second Virginia Convention. The convention had been assembled in Richmond, away from the Capitol, where it was thought the British would be less likely to undermine the proceedings. The Convention was trying to decide what to do about the increasingly tense situation between Britain and the American colonies. Some still wanted to find a way to reconcile with Britain. Others were ready to go to arms.
Henry fell in the latter camp. On March 23, he presented his proposal to raise volunteer militias throughout Virginia. He did so in a fiery speech that was unforgettable.
The roughly 120 delegates who filed into Richmond’s St. John’s Church were a veritable “who’s who” of Virginia’s colonial leaders. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both in attendance, as were five of the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Independence. Prominent among the bewigged statesmen was Patrick Henry, a well-respected lawyer from Hanover County. Blessed with an unfailing wit and mellifluous speaking voice, Henry had long held a reputation as one of Virginia’s most vociferous opponents of British taxation schemes.
After several delegates had spoken on the issue, Patrick Henry rose from his seat in the third pew and took the floor. A Baptist minister who was watching the proceedings would later describe him as having “an unearthly fire burning in his eye.” Just what happened next has long been a subject of debate. Henry spoke without notes, and no transcripts of his exact words have survived to today. The only known version of his remarks was reconstructed in the early 1800s by William Wirt, a biographer who corresponded with several men that attended the Convention. According to this version, Henry began by stating his intention to “speak forth my sentiments freely” before launching into an eloquent warning against appeasing the Crown.
“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided,” he said, “and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves, and the House?”
Henry then turned his attention to the British troops mobilizing across the colonies.
“Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation?” he asked. “Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? …Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other.”
As he continued speaking, Henry’s dulcet tones began to darken with anger. “Excitement began to play more and more upon his features,” the minister later said. “The tendons of his neck stood out white and rigid like whipcords.”
“Our petitions have been slighted,” Henry said, “our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne…we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!”
Henry stood silent for a moment, letting his defiant words hang in the air. When he finally began speaking again, it was in a thunderous bellow that seemed to shake “the walls of the building and all within them.” His fellow delegates leaned forward in their seats as he reached his crescendo.
“The war is actually begun!” Henry cried. “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”
As he spoke, Henry held his wrists together as though they were manacled and raised them toward the heavens.
“Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty”—Henry burst from his imaginary chains and grasped an ivory letter opener—“or give me death!”
As he uttered these final words, he plunged the letter opener toward his chest, mimicking a knife blow to the heart.
For several moments after Henry sat back down, the assembled delegates seemed at a loss for words. “No other member…was yet adventurous enough to interfere with that voice which had so recently subdued and captivated,” delegate Edmund Randolph later said. A hushed silence descended on the room. “Every eye yet gazed entranced on Henry,” said the Baptist minister. “Men were beside themselves.” Colonel Edward Carrington, one of the many people watching the proceedings through the church windows, was so moved that he stood and proclaimed to his fellow spectators, “Let me be buried at this spot!” When he died decades later, his widow honored his request.
While some of the Convention’s delegates clung to their loyalist stance—one even called Henry’s words “infamously insolent”—the “Liberty or Death” speech tipped the scales in favor of defensive action. After Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson both lent their support, the resolution passed by only a few votes. Henry was appointed the head of a new committee charged with readying the Virginia militia for combat.
Henry’s call to arms came at a pivotal moment. Less than a month later, skirmishes between British troops and colonial minutemen at Lexington and Concord resulted in “the shot heard round the world” and the first casualties of the Revolutionary War. In Virginia, scores of colonials—many of whom had embroidered the words “Liberty or Death” onto their shirts—flocked to join local militias. “The sword is now drawn,” wrote the Virginia Gazette, “and God knows when it will be sheathed.”
Patrick Henry would go on to serve as both a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and as Virginia’s governor. He played a crucial role in securing men and arms for George Washington’s Continental Army, but many would credit his silver tongue as having been his most indispensable contribution to American independence. “It is not now easy to say what we should have done without Patrick Henry,” Thomas Jefferson later wrote. “He was before us all in maintaining the spirit of the Revolution.”
Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were my two favorite patriots when I was a kid, learning history in elementary school. When they used to teach real history, back before the wheel was invented. I always did have a love for the rabble rousers.
More seriously though, I think my interest in those two particular figures taught me that the skill of using words is never to be underestimated. Even as a kid, I understood that words skillfully used played as much a part in our choice to found a nation, and the war that followed it as the weapons and fighting.
The trouble with that now is that people no longer demand those words to be truth, nor extend the effort to test, challenge, judge them. Therefore politicians understand that they have only to tell people what they want to hear to get elected and usurp power.
I believe President Trump very much understands the power of words and using them as weapons. I do not always agree with him, but I sure am glad he knows how to bring the fight to them.
Hitler, Billy Graham, Lenin, Churchill, and many others had one thing in common. They knew the power of words. Words can be used for good and evil, the choice is the speakers
A Nice bit of History
Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless America” on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.
Here are the facts; The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of “God Bless America.”
But before you watch it you should know the story behind the first public showing of the song.
The time was 1940.
America was still in a terrible economic depression.
Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we’d have to go to war.
It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.
This was the era just before TV when radio shows were HUGE and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.
Kate was also large; plus size as we now say and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her; “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”
Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
Kate was also patriotic.
It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring.
She had hope for America, and faith in her fellow Americans.
She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer Irving Berlin (who also wrote White Christmas) and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country.
When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her.
He went to his files and found a song that he had written but never published, 22 years before – in 1917.
He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio orchestra.
She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America.
Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America .
Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience.
She introduces the new song for the very first time and starts singing.
After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, You’re In The Army Now.
At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it’s Ronald Reagan.
You will recognize other old stars but have forgotten their names.
You may remember George Murphy near the end, though.
To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country.
Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry… and for many generations of Americans to follow.
As the British monarchy/’democracy’ learned throughout their long tyrannical rule ’round the world, there are always those who’d rather fight and die free than live under their thumbs. Something the US progs/elites would do well to remember.
Stella's Place 
Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were my two favorite patriots when I was a kid, learning history in elementary school. When they used to teach real history, back before the wheel was invented. I always did have a love for the rabble rousers.
More seriously though, I think my interest in those two particular figures taught me that the skill of using words is never to be underestimated. Even as a kid, I understood that words skillfully used played as much a part in our choice to found a nation, and the war that followed it as the weapons and fighting.
The trouble with that now is that people no longer demand those words to be truth, nor extend the effort to test, challenge, judge them. Therefore politicians understand that they have only to tell people what they want to hear to get elected and usurp power.
I believe President Trump very much understands the power of words and using them as weapons. I do not always agree with him, but I sure am glad he knows how to bring the fight to them.
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Excellent comment, Menagerie !
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@ Menagerie, Great and Well Written Comment.
Hitler, Billy Graham, Lenin, Churchill, and many others had one thing in common. They knew the power of words. Words can be used for good and evil, the choice is the speakers
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess history does repeat itself! 🇺🇸
LikeLiked by 2 people
https://youtube.com/watch?v=TnQDW-NMaRs%3Frel%3D0
God Bless America
Kate Smith in 1940s on radio
A Nice bit of History
Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless America” on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.
Here are the facts; The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of “God Bless America.”
But before you watch it you should know the story behind the first public showing of the song.
The time was 1940.
America was still in a terrible economic depression.
Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we’d have to go to war.
It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.
This was the era just before TV when radio shows were HUGE and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.
Kate was also large; plus size as we now say and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her; “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”
Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
Kate was also patriotic.
It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring.
She had hope for America, and faith in her fellow Americans.
She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer Irving Berlin (who also wrote White Christmas) and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country.
When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her.
He went to his files and found a song that he had written but never published, 22 years before – in 1917.
He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio orchestra.
She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America.
Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America .
Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience.
She introduces the new song for the very first time and starts singing.
After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, You’re In The Army Now.
At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it’s Ronald Reagan.
You will recognize other old stars but have forgotten their names.
You may remember George Murphy near the end, though.
To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country.
Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry… and for many generations of Americans to follow.
LikeLiked by 4 people
joshua, Great and well-written comment.
The Communists in the Soviet Union were also threatening to take over the world. The world was fraught with danger.
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sorry about the link….here
https://youtube.com/watch?v=TnQDW-NMaRs%3Frel%3D0
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ok maybe this one
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As the British monarchy/’democracy’ learned throughout their long tyrannical rule ’round the world, there are always those who’d rather fight and die free than live under their thumbs. Something the US progs/elites would do well to remember.
LikeLiked by 7 people
Along with the reminder stated here a couple of weeks ago: politicians are our representatives, not our leaders!
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