Here, here.
Here, here.
"Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry's speech is just as relevant now as in 1775 “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!”
Patrick Henry’s speech, given on March 23, 1775, has rarely been more relevant than it is now. He gave this speech in a petition to create a Virginia militia to fight for liberty. Just as today, many Virginians were torn between continuing peaceful protest and rising to arms. The parallels between this period and today are uncanny.
Here is Patrick Henry’s take on the issue:
“Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain... Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, 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, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted... In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.”
We cannot continue to deceive ourselves into believing that this can be resolved through peace. A Virginia court just shot down VCDL’s appeal, despite Northam’s executive order being clearly illegal and unconstitutional. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title44/chapter3.2/section44-146.15/
The government has openly declared that they will not follow the laws that govern them. They no longer represent the people; thus they no longer derive their power from the consent of the governed. The Declaration of Independence says: “that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it”
We’ve seen the fences, which resemble killing fields, they have erected in the Virginia capital. We’ve seen the armored vehicles mobilized by Northam. The Democrats have floated the idea of using the National Guard against us. With regard to the mobilization of British troops, Patrick Henry said:
“Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission?”
I want a peaceful resolution, but liberty will not be achieved with submission. We need an open display of force. We don’t have to be violent, only to show that we are willing to fight if Northam wants a war. Finally, I will close with this quote for all who say we are not strong enough. Those who say we cannot find victory over what military and police forces would not defect to our cause.
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?”
Source: https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm
"Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry's speech is just as relevant now as in 1775
“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!”
Patrick Henry’s speech, given on March 23, 1775, has rarely been more relevant than it is now. He gave this speech in a petition to create a Virginia militia to fight for liberty. Just as today, many Virginians were torn between continuing peaceful protest and rising to arms. The parallels between this period and today are uncanny.
Here is Patrick Henry’s take on the issue:
“Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain... Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, 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, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted... In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.”
We cannot continue to deceive ourselves into believing that this can be resolved through peace. A Virginia court just shot down VCDL’s appeal, despite Northam’s executive order being clearly illegal and unconstitutional. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title44/chapter3.2/section44-146.15/
The government has openly declared that they will not follow the laws that govern them. They no longer represent the people; thus they no longer derive their power from the consent of the governed. The Declaration of Independence says: “that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it”
We’ve seen the fences, which resemble killing fields, they have erected in the Virginia capital. We’ve seen the armored vehicles mobilized by Northam. The Democrats have floated the idea of using the National Guard against us. With regard to the mobilization of British troops, Patrick Henry said:
“Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission?”
I want a peaceful resolution, but liberty will not be achieved with submission. We need an open display of force. We don’t have to be violent, only to show that we are willing to fight if Northam wants a war. Finally, I will close with this quote for all who say we are not strong enough. Those who say we cannot find victory over what military and police forces would not defect to our cause.
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?”
Source: https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm
(post is archived)