In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we\u2019re focusing on key events in the history of our nation\u2019s independence.\u00a0<\/em>This edition provides deeper insight into Patrick Henry and his famous proclamation: \u201cGive Me Liberty or Give Me Death.\u201d Today\u2019s post comes from Tracy Baker, an intern in the National Archives Office of the Executive Secretariat.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Following the Seven Years\u2019 War (1756\u201363), the British Crown needed to raise money to account for the massive accumulated debt. The Crown decided that increasing taxes on the North American colonies would serve as a sufficient solution. Specifically, Parliament enacted various taxation acts, including the Sugar Act (1764) and the Stamp Act (1765). The colonists, many of whom fought alongside the British military just a few years prior, were outraged by the onset of taxation without representation, deeming it a violation of British constitutional law.<\/p>\n As a newly selected member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the first democratically elected legislative body in the British American colonies, Patrick Henry gained popularity as an outspoken opponent of Parliamentary taxation. In May of 1765, Henry introduced the Stamp Act Resolves, protesting the Stamp Act and asserting colonial rights. In a speech delivered to the House of Burgesses, Henry warned that King George III risked the fate of the backstabbed Julius Caesar if he continued to disregard American liberty.<\/p>\n Tensions between the Crown and the colonists continued to escalate and culminated in the Boston Tea Party<\/a>. Following the rebellion in Massachusetts Bay, the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) in 1774, aimed at punishing the colony for their blatant insubordination. In response to the Intolerable Acts, the Virginia House of Burgesses called for a day in June to be set aside to mourn the \u201cdestruction [of] Civil Rights.\u201d <\/p>\n As a result of the \u201cDay of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,\u201d the Virginia colony\u2019s royal governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the House of Burgesses. Feeling as though their personal liberties were under attack, colonists throughout America called for a boycott of British goods.<\/p>\n All of the colonies, except for Georgia, sent delegates to set up the terms and means for the enforcement of the boycotts, in what we now know as the First Continental Congress<\/a>. Patrick Henry, among the seven representatives sent from Virginia to attend the Continental Congress, proclaimed, \u201cThe distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.\u201d<\/p>\n When the Congress adjourned, Henry and the other delegates returned to their respective colonies, with plans to reconvene the following year if their grievances were not addressed satisfactorily. Back home in Virginia, Henry began working to organize a volunteer militia company for Hanover County and dealt with the tragic death of his first wife, Sarah Henry.<\/p>\n In March 1775, Henry resumed an active leadership role in the Revolution, serving at the Second Virginia Convention, which had been set up following the British termination of the House of Burgesses. On March 23, 1775, the fourth day of the Convention in the Henrico Parish Church (St. John\u2019s Church<\/a>), Patrick Henry introduced three resolutions. The resolutions called for the preparation of a \u201cwell-regulated militia,\u201d condemned the royal governor for failing to call the House of Burgesses into session, and called for the Virginia \u201ccolony to be immediately put into a posture of defense.\u201d<\/p>\n During the succeeding debate over the resolutions, concerns arose regarding whether the move would invite conflict. The emboldened Patrick Henry rose from his seat and delivered his most famous speech in support of his resolutions. Henry warned delegates not to let false hope cloud their judgment, stating there \u201cwas no way of judging the future but by the past,\u201d and urged the delegates to understand that \u201cthe war [had] actually begun,\u201d thus necessitating the need for a posture of defense.<\/p>\n The transcription of Henry\u2019s speech is accredited to William Wirt, former United States Attorney General and American author. In the 1817 publication Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry<\/em>, Wirt reconstructs the speech given by Henry to motivate his fellow Virginians toward militia preparations for the looming war. In the speech, Wirt describes a dramatic ending to Patrick Henry\u2019s speech in which, with \u201cboth arms extended aloft,\u201d his \u201cbrows knit,\u201d and \u201cevery feature marked with the resolute purpose of his soul, [Henry\u2019s] voice swelled to its boldest note of exclamation,\u201d and proclaimed \u201cgive me liberty, or give me death!\u201d<\/p>\n The intense description of Patrick Henry\u2019s speech in Wirt\u2019s publication has led some historians to question the accuracy of the transcription. Wirt\u2019s quest to depict Henry\u2019s life 19 years after the death of the revolutionist was difficult. Wirt used a variety of media to gain insight into what happened in the Henrico Parish Church, including Henry\u2019s personal collection and interviews with those who had heard Henry deliver his speech. Despite this, Wirt admitted to embellishing the speech as there was no extant written copy.<\/p>\n Although the famous Liberty or Death speech accredited to Patrick Henry may not be a verbatim transcript, it is well known that the delivery of the speech was powerful enough to carry Henry\u2019s proposed resolutions to pass by a majority of 65 to 60. <\/p>\n As a result, a committee was established to organize and present militia plans to the other delegates. Two days later, the Second Virginia Convention unanimously passed the committee\u2019s model for the militia, and less than a month after the convention\u2019s March 27 conclusion, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord on April 19.<\/p>\n Want to know more? Come visit the <\/em>Road to Revolution<\/em><\/a> exhibit in the National Archives Building. The series features National Archives records that tell the story from colonial resistance to American independence and the diverse experiences of the nation\u2019s founding generation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
National Archives Identifier 535746<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
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