“Give me liberty, or give me death!” On the 251st anniversary of Patrick Henry’s iconic speech that unofficially marked the beginning of the American Revolution, Mary Kate Cary, Assistant Vice President of the University of Virginia, enlightened the audience on Patrick Henry’s lasting legacy in America. Professor Cary formerly taught classes on Political Speechwriting, Democracy Out Loud, and Election 2024. She served as the White House speechwriter under President George H.W. Bush and was the Executive Producer of “41ON41,” a documentary about the former President. She is currently the Director of Think Again at UVA.
On March 23, 1775, a full 251 years ago, Patrick Henry delivered his speech before the Second Virginia Convention at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, uttering the enduring phrase “Give me liberty, or give me death.” It was this defining moment that sparked the so-called “shot heard ‘round the world” at Lexington and Concord four weeks later.
Henry was born to a Scottish immigrant father in Hanover County, Virginia on May 29, 1736. After unsuccessfully working as a storekeeper and farmer at a young age, he married Sarah Shelton in 1754 and started working at Mr. Shelton’s tavern in Hanover where he taught himself law and was admitted to the bar. His mother brought him to witness Presbyterian preachers from the First Great Awakening where he learned how to use pathos and logos to persuade an audience.
It was his victory in the Parson’s Cause in 1763 — after giving a provocative speech challenging the King’s authority and labeling him as a tyrant — that launched his political career. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765.
His speeches often contained quotes from Caesar, Charles I, George III, and others, to which his audience would yell, “Treason!” out of fiery rage. In the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party, Henry, as a delegate to the First Continental Congress, spoke words that ignited an impending revolution: “I am not a Virginian, I am an American.”
To analyze Henry’s effectiveness as a speaker, Professor Cary employed Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, a psychological framework that was developed by Professor Allen Monroe of Purdue University after investigating what aspects all speeches had in common. Patrick Henry’s liberty-or-death speech seems to fit the bill.
First, there’s the “Grabber,” which in Henry’s speech equates to “The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery,” where “freedom or slavery” is used to invoke passion, patriotism, and a desperate desire for freedom. He uses his ethos to warn his fellow Virginians that they should shield themselves against the siren song of the British while complimenting fellow delegates as wise men, and reminding them of their shared values for the love of liberty. He also goes on to quote from the Book of Matthew, Psalm 119, and Homer, appealing to the shared ethos of the time: freedom in democracy and faith in Christianity.
Then, one must address the problem, followed by a sensible solution. “We have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne.” Henry touches upon the oppression imposed by the British government and outlines the failures of the British to address the colonies’ grievances, arguing that the time for diplomacy has passed. To this, he proposes a solution to fight for freedom: “There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free … We must fight! … An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!”
Henry then employs pathos to allow his audience to visualize the idea of freedom he has in mind. “The millions of people, armed in the holy cross of liberty … Besides, sir, we shall not 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.”
As his grand finale, he concludes, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? … I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” The language of his speech seems to have inspired the language of the Declaration of Independence. It is unfortunate, however, that the speech was never officially transcribed. It was, however, recreated in US Attorney General William Wirt’s biography on Patrick Henry, “Sketches on the Life and Character of Patrick Henry” (1817), that collected eyewitness accounts of his speech.
His legacy and reputation after this speech remains clear. Such pathos and logos inspired future leaders’ remarks throughout history, such as Frederick Douglass at the 150th anniversary of the Declaration and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech, among many others.
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