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Article: "Give me Liberty or Give me Death!"
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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"GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!"
"GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!"
concluded Patrick Henry's rousing speech delivered to the Virginia Convention on 23 May 1775. In the days leading up to Henry's speech, the colonies' breach with Britain had become critical. To many Virginians, war seemed imminent. However, false rumors of the British ministry's willingness to back away from unpopular policies such as the Coercive Acts had spread, causing some to consider reconciliation again. The immediate occasion of the speech was the convention's proposed positive response to the Jamaica assembly's 1774 petition to the king, which asserted colonial rights but also emphasized the colony's ...