Discover Patrick Henry’s Legacy, Beyond His Revolutionary ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ Speech

Tourists frequently cram themselves into the seats of a plain white church in Richmond, Virginia, to witness a reenactment of a speech that was first delivered there on March 23, 1775, 250 years ago. Here, in front of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry spoke to his fellow Virginia colonists, concluding with the famous quote, "Give me liberty or give me death!" That sentence, a passionate appeal that Americans have often used to express their dedication to freedom, has reverberated across the ages.

However, not many Americans are familiar with Henry. Henry isn't one of the most well-known founding fathers, despite Jefferson recognizing him as "the man who gave the first impulse to the ball of revolution." This is partly due to the fact that his speech in 1775 was the pinnacle of his influence throughout the American Revolution; he was mostly involved in state rather than federal posts and had little involvement in the actual waging of the war. When he pushed for a Bill of Rights in the late 1780s, he temporarily regained his position as a pivotal player in the constitutional discussion. However, by

When Henry passed away in 1799, his partisan rivals were so furious that they successfully blocked a motion in the Virginia assembly that aimed to pay tribute to him.

The fact that Henry left behind a little paper trail makes it difficult to get to know him. Although his grandson published the majority of Henry's known writings in a collection in 1891, historian Mark Couvillon claims that undiscovered letters are still being offered for sale. Even though Henry was a well-known orator, no written records of his talks have survived from his lifetime; instead, academics must depend on audience members' memories taken years later.

Patrick Henry was who?

Born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1736, Henry did not get much formal education. He married 16-year-old Sarah Shelton when he was 18 years old and struggled to make ends meet as a merchant. After a brief period of study, he changed his focus to law and narrowly passed the bar test in 1760. But he soon achieved success, especially for his advocacy in court. Judges and juries were influenced by his gift for public speaking rather than his legal expertise. In his 1974 biography of Henry, historian Richard R. Beeman said that county officials probably chose him for a seat in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765 because of his reputation as a lawyer.

Soon after taking his seat, Henry, by his own account “alone, unadvised and unassisted,” introduced resolutions opposing Great Britain’s recent Stamp Act, which taxed paper goods like newspapers, playing cards and legal documents. Henry’s five resolutions rejected the crown’s right to unilaterally tax the American Colonies; his speech defending the resolves was so fiery that some in the audience accused him of treason. But most of the delegates were persuaded and supported his resolutions. The resolves also inspired other Colonies to take similar action.

Henry was not very active in the House of Burgesses over the following decade, but he took on a greater role in the push for revolution beginning in 1773. He helped coordinate boycotts of British goods and was selected to represent Virginia at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the fall of 1774.

While in grief for his recently departed wife, Henry was as adamant about fighting for the Colonies when he appeared for the Second Virginia Convention the following spring. The party gathered in the biggest public structure in Richmond, a little town at the time, a 34-year-old Episcopal church now called St. John's, in order to avoid the royal governor in Williamsburg, the Colonial capital. As they discussed whether to mobilize troops against the British, the roughly 120 delegates occupied the pews.