“Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death”: An Analysis

Speeches that are memorable typically have an intellectual and emotional appeal to the audience. Such movable speeches have the ability to obtain public support for a cause, and their legacies can endure the test of time. Hundreds of years after the United States gained its independence from Great Britain through winning the Revolutionary War of Independence, the quotation “Give me liberty, or give me death!” is synonymous with the American Revolution, and the freedoms that American citizens now possess as a result. The aforementioned quote is generally associated with Patrick Henry’s speech given at the Richmond Virginia Convention in 1775; although there is some controversy as to whether Patrick Henry actually is responsible for authoring the speech that he is credited with giving, and whether or not the speech is an accurate verbatim of what Henry actually said at the convention, the documented speech is a riveting argument in favor of standing up for one’s beliefs in the face of adversities regardless of consequences.

In 1774, the American colonies had yet to fight for their independence from Britain – but events were beginning to take place that would set the stage for the War of Independence. Following the Boston Port Act, (or more commonly – the Boston Tea Party) the first elected representatives of the colonies, known as the House of Burgesses of Virginia (Gutzman 94) was dissolved. The colonies’ representatives had called for support of Boston Post-Port Act, and the Royal Governor of Virginia, John Murray 4th Earl of Dunmore issued Dunmore’s Proclamation declaring martial law (and dissolving the House of Burgesses), in an attempt to stifle the impending rebellion of the colonies against the English government. The representatives then relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia to discuss a congress of all the united colonies. (Gutzman 91) The first meeting of the Virginia convention established the standard of banned trade with England, in 1774. By the next year in Richmond Virginia, the Virginia convention opened with Patrick Henry presenting a riveting speech, proposing a call to arms of the Virginian troops against the British. His convincing testimony for the Virginia militia to engage in militant activity against the British government is cited as the deciding factor in Virginia troops being deployed in the Revolution. (Raphael 147) There are numerous accounts of Henry giving a speech of such profound consequence, but it is called into question as to whether the speech was original material authored by Henry, or by his associate Lemuel Riddick. (Raphael 148) The written account of the speech was transcribed by memory, by George Tucker who was present for the speech; the text was then published by William Wirt in 1816. (Raphael 147) Whether the text was material authored initially by Riddick, or a mere interpretation by Tucker and Wirt - the analysis of the text still conveys a compelling contention of the omnipotence of personal liberties to an audience of men attempting to determine the fate of the American Colonies.

The text cites Henry as placing such a significant amount of importance in sharing his views with the Virginia convention representatives, that he likes the thought of stifling his calls for rebellion against the British to an act of “treason” to God. He calls upon the representatives to consider actions of the British government to reign in revolutionary conduct, as not acts of “love” but of militant “force”. (Wirt 121) These dramatic interpretations of British action served as a persuasive (and successful) tool to sway the representatives to deploy Virginian militia.

The appeal to arms that is conveyed in the text uses dramatic and oftentimes religious analogies to appeal to the representatives of the Virginia conventions. As the colonies were still considered to be under British rule at the time, the desperation of the author’s appeal can be sensed in the analysis of the text. These representatives were, in fact, considering a very real act of treason, by rebelling against the British. (A crime punishable by death.) But the fervor that is alive within the words of the interpretation of the speech associated with Henry, asserts that the life of “slavery” (Wirt 121) that the crown had thrust upon the colonies, was worth the very real possibility of death to attempt to escape from.

The document, rather than serving as a reliable verbatim account of the speech Patrick Henry gave at the second Virginia convention – is more an accurate depiction of the intensity and importance of the decisions made by the colonial representatives in 1775. The historical ramifications of the speech Henry made, are documented as a pivotal event in the American Revolution. The memorable text analyzed may not be a direct likeness of what Henry actually spoke, but still serves a purpose as a profoundly patriotic piece.

Works Cited

Gutzman, Kevin Raeder. Virginia's American Revolution: From Dominion to Republic, 1776-1840. Lanham: Lexington, 2007. Print.

Raphael, Ray. Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic past. New York: New, 2004. Print.

Wirt, William. Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry. New York: M'Elrath & Bangs, 1835. Print.