Give me liberty or give me death!
St. John’s Episcopal Church is the oldest church in Richmond, Virginia. In its graveyard are buried many persons who contributed to the history of Richmond and the United States, such as George Wythe, signer of the Declaration of Independence and teacher of law to Thomas Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall, and Henry Clay; Elizabeth Arnold Poe, mother of Edgar Allan Poe; and Dr. James McClurg, a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. But its lasting fame comes from the fact that this peaceful site witnessed one of the fieriest speeches of the American Revolution.
As tensions between England and its North American colonies grew in the 1770s, colonial leaders met to discuss possible courses of action. In March 1775, the Second Virginia Convention was held in St. John’s Church, the largest available public building in Richmond. Attendees at the convention included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and other prominent Virginians, including Patrick Henry. Debate centered on whether a militia should be raised to resist encroachments on civil rights by the British Government of King George III. It is believed that the tide of the debate turned after Henry uttered these famous words:
There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--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!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is 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. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are 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.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! 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? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Any liberty loving person reading these words immediately understands the concept that rebellion to tyrants, even armed rebellion, is obedience to God. Among all of Patrick Henry’s contributions to the American Revolution, this realization is his greatest gift and lasting legacy.
From Chapter 3 of No More Patriots
Copyright © 2015 by Howard T. Uhal
All Rights Reserved
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