“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”— Patrick Henry’s Appeal to Arms, March 23, 1775
atrick Henry was one of the foremost Virginians of his day in an era teeming with genius and exceptionalism. Often referred to as our forgotten founding father, Henry was a self-educated lawyer, an incredible autodidact, one who served as the first governor of the state of Virginia and became a member of the First Continental Congress. But it was for his extraordinary power as an orator that Patrick Henry is best remembered, earning him the moniker, “The Trumpet of the Revolution”.
Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Henry’s extraordinary “Give Me Liberty” speech—delivered on the 23 of March, 1775, at Richmond’s historic St. John’s Church—remains one of the single most famous instances of rhetoric in our nation”s history. Delivered a year before the fateful signing of the Declaration of Independence, Patrick Henry”s dire address to his fellow displaced delegates of the Second Virginia Convention remains one of the most passionate enunciations of the American ideal ever articulated, and a warning of Shakespearean eloquence against willing blindness to the threats of our times.
Many artists’ renditions exist of this famous speech
An unlikely revolutionary, Patrick Henry was known to be a deeply conservative man, one who was moderate in action and practice. He was demonstrably loathe to indulge in any kind of radicalism that might erupt into violence—be that rhetorical, political, or martial. Indeed, he was the faithful heir of the settled colonial gentry, devoted to conventional Whig principles embodied in the rule of law, noblesse oblige, and the maintenance of corporate order. While a practicing Anglican, Henry was a devout Calvinist from childhood, and his theology imbued him with a rightful suspicion of humanist ideals. He espoused belief in man”s inherit depravity and the rigorous necessity of constraining it by judicial means; he was the perpetual champion of small government while eschewing the alternative of democratic anarchy.
The view from Henry’s pew box at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, VA
Naturally gifted with the power of persuasion, Henry was an early driving force behind the appeals and petitions for leniency in colonial matters sent to King George III and his parliament back in England. For a decade he labored alongside his fellow representatives in begging for a peaceable, legal and honorable resolution of the disputes surrounding representation and taxation.
His fellow Virginian delegates—who included famed names such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, among others—were gathered on this March day in St. John’s Church to yet again rehash possible appeals to the crown, after having been barred from using their own House of Burgesses to convene. After hearing the stale proposals given by his fellow representatives, Henry rose and gave his own fiery rebuttal. In it he referenced both the long-suffering patience of the last decade spent in striving for peace, and the “phantom hope” of there being any honorable negotiation with a tyrant so obviously bent on subjecting his citizenry.
Henry was already renowned for his persuasive oratory skills
The exterior of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia, where Henry’s famous speech was made
Henry sympathized with chilling accuracy that “it is natural for men to indulge in illusions of hope” in the face of a strife that might exact from them an unimaginable price, but he pointed to their chains, those chains which were already forged: “their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come”. He cited with strong conviction the existence of “a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
The interior of St. John’s Episcopal Church from an 1896 young people’s history book titled The Century Book of Famous Americans—the caption reads: “Patrick Henry made his famous speech standing in the pew on the left, near the door, marked by a tablet”
Henry’s speech is credited with galvanizing the Virginia delegation and leading to a resolution that committed Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War—not a moment too soon as Henry’s prophetic words came true in April of the same year with the “shot heard ’round the world”—the first militia engagements of the war at Lexington and Concord. According to G.K. Chesterton, “the real hero is not he who is bold enough to fulfill the predictions, but he who is bold enough to falsify them.” When the inevitable conflict escalated into all-out-war, Patrick Henry would go on to dutifully take the helm as wartime governor of Virginia, and lend his hand to the creation of its constitution.
A royal proclamation issued against Patrick Henry and others for their defiance against the Crown of England
This year we illuminate the 250th anniversary of the many precursors leading up to our nation’s Semiquincentennial that will be celebrated next year, not least of which was this great call to action by the Trumpet of our revolution. Let us praise God for His merciful raising up of men of great vision in our nation’s time of trial, and bold, sturdy men capable of seeing that vision through to fruition.
The grave of Patrick Henry and his second wife, Dorothea—Henry’s epitaph reads: “His fame his best epitaph”
Image Credits: 1 Bronze bust of Henry (wikipedia.org) 2 Henry speaking (wikipedia.org) 3 View of St. John’s from Henry’s pew box (wikipedia.org) 4 Orating (wikipedia.org) 5 Exterior of St. John’s (wikipedia.org) 6 Interior of St. John’s (wikipedia.org) 7 Royal Proclamation (wikipedia.org) 8 Henry’s Grave (wikipedia.org)