On This Day: Patrick Henry Delivers Liberty or Death Speech

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry spoke at St. John's Church in Richmond, Va., and called on his fellow delegates to bear arms against the British in self-defense. In his speech, Henry urged the members of the second Virginia Convention to join and ready for a war against the British:

“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!”

Henry’s speech is credited for inspiring the delegates to take up arms against the British. On the same day as his speech, the Provincial Congress of Virginia passed a resolution creating a militia for self-defense.

Less than one month later, the American Revolution began outside Boston. According to the Patrick Henry National Memorial, in a pre-emptive move, British Gov. Dunmore of Virginia sent royal soldiers to remove gunpowder from Williamsburg so that colonialists would not be able to use it against the British.

Henry gathered 150 men to march in Williamsburg and demand the return of the gunpowder. After Dunmore left Virginia, Henry was elected colonel of the First Virginia Regiment and commander-in-chief of the Virginia militia.

One year later, in 1776, Henry was elected governor of Virginia and served five one-year terms in this office. The Independence Hall Association explains that Henry was a vocal critic of the U.S. Constitution and argued in favor of strong state governments instead of a powerful central government. 

Even before giving his liberty speech and acting as a militia leader, Henry was known as a radical. After being elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765, Henry proposed the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions, which were considered treason at the time. In the Resolves, he argued that the British should not be able to tax the colonists without direct representation in legislature.

The Library of Congress reports that Henry “concluded his introduction of the Resolves with the fiery words ‘Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third—’ when, it is reported, voices cried out, ‘Treason! treason!’ He continued, ‘—and George the Third may profit by their example! If this be treason make the most of it.’”

The Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions eventually led to protest throughout the colonies, and to the creation of the slogan, “No Taxation without representation!” The Resolves are considered to be one of the first steps toward the American Revolution.

Henry was born to John Henry and Sarah Winston Syme Henry on May 29, 1736, in Hanover County, Va. At the age of 18, he married 16-year-old Sarah Shelton with whom he would have six children.

After several failed business attempts, and with a young family to provide for, Henry studied to become a lawyer. According to the Patrick Henry National Memorial, he established a “thriving practice in the courts of Hanover and adjacent counties.” His political career was launched in 1763 with a victory in the Parsons’ Cause, a controversy that grew out of Virginia’s tobacco-centered economy. He would go on to become a crucial figure in the colonists’ opposition to British authority, delivering fiery speeches that established him as an uncompromising crusader for independence.

After his first wife died, Henry married Dorothea Dandridge in 1777 and had 11 more children. Two years later, President George Washington appointed him secretary of state, but Henry declined the position, citing poor health.

Henry died on June 6, 1799, at the age of 63.