While some of the Convention’s delegates clung to their loyalist stance-one even called Henry’s words “infamously insolent”-the “Liberty or Death” speech tipped the scales in favor of defensive action. John’s Church in Richmond, where Henry gave his speech. “Men were beside themselves.” Colonel Edward Carrington, one of the many people watching the proceedings through the church windows, was so moved that he stood and proclaimed to his fellow spectators, “Let me be buried at this spot!” When he died decades later, his widow honored his request. “Every eye yet gazed entranced on Henry,” said the Baptist minister. “No other member…was yet adventurous enough to interfere with that voice which had so recently subdued and captivated,” delegate Edmund Randolph later said. “Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty”-Henry burst from his imaginary chains and grasped an ivory letter opener-“or give me death!” As he uttered these final words, he plunged the letter opener toward his chest, mimicking a knife blow to the heart.įor several moments after Henry sat back down, the assembled delegates seemed at a loss for words. “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?” As he spoke, Henry held his wrists together as though they were manacled and raised them toward the heavens. “The war is actually begun!” Henry cried.

When he finally began speaking again, it was in a thunderous bellow that seemed to shake “the walls of the building and all within them.” His fellow delegates leaned forward in their seats as he reached his crescendo. Henry stood silent for a moment, letting his defiant words hang in the air. According to this version, Henry began by stating his intention to “speak forth my sentiments freely” before launching into an eloquent warning against appeasing the Crown. The only known version of his remarks was reconstructed in the early 1800s by William Wirt, a biographer who corresponded with several men that attended the Convention. Henry spoke without notes, and no transcripts of his exact words have survived to today. A Baptist minister who was watching the proceedings would later describe him as having “an unearthly fire burning in his eye.” Just what happened next has long been a subject of debate. Word that King George had rejected the Continental Congress’s petition for redress of grievances was yet to reach the colonies, and some still held out hope for a peaceful reconciliation with Britain.Īfter several delegates had spoken on the issue, Patrick Henry rose from his seat in the third pew and took the floor. Nevertheless, many in the audience balked at approving any measure that might be viewed as combative.

Other colonies had passed similar resolutions, and Henry had already taken it upon himself to raise a volunteer outfit in Hanover County.

On March 23, he put forward a resolution proposing that Virginia’s counties raise militiamen “to secure our inestimable rights and liberties, from those further violations with which they are threatened.” The suggestion of forming a militia was not shocking in itself. Henry was convinced that war was around the corner, and he arrived at the Virginia Convention determined to persuade his fellow delegates to adopt a defensive stance against Great Britain. As a recent delegate to the Continental Congress, he had sounded the call for colonial solidarity by proclaiming, “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. During the Stamp Act controversy in 1765, he had even flirted with treason in a speech in which he hinted that King George risked suffering the same fate as Julius Caesar if he maintained his oppressive policies. Blessed with an unfailing wit and mellifluous speaking voice, Henry had long held a reputation as one of Virginia’s most vociferous opponents of British taxation schemes. Prominent among the bewigged statesmen was Patrick Henry, a well-respected lawyer from Hanover County. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both in attendance, as were five of the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Independence. John’s Church were a veritable “who’s who” of Virginia’s colonial leaders.

The roughly 120 delegates who filed into Richmond’s St. Amid these mounting tensions, the Second Virginia Convention convened to discuss the Old Dominion’s strategy in negotiating with the Crown.

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