Give Me Liberty or Death: Henry's Call to Arms

Patrick Henry never wrote down the speech. The words "Give me liberty, or give me death!" come entirely from a reconstruction published 40 years later by William Wirt, Henry's biographer, who cobbled it together from the recollections of elderly attendees. What is certain is that on March 23, 1775, Henry addressed the Second Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond and persuaded the delegates to arm the Virginia militia against British forces. Virginia's political leadership was divided. Many delegates, including powerful planters, hoped for reconciliation with Britain and feared that military preparation would provoke an irreversible break. Henry, a self-taught lawyer who had made his reputation arguing the Parson's Cause case in 1763, argued that Britain had already made war inevitable through military buildup in Massachusetts and the passage of the Intolerable Acts. Henry presented resolutions calling for Virginia to organize a militia and place the colony "in a posture of defense." The debate was fierce. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee supported Henry's position, but moderates led by Robert Carter Nicholas argued for continued negotiation. Henry's speech, delivered without notes to a packed church, reportedly left delegates stunned. Judge St. George Tucker later recalled that Henry's final words made him feel "sick with excitement." The convention passed Henry's resolutions, and Virginia began organizing its militia. Three weeks later, British regulars marched on Lexington and Concord. Henry became the first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1776. Whether his exact words were "liberty or death" or something close to it, the speech crystallized a colony's decision to choose resistance over submission.