Give me Liberty, or give me Death!

Patrick Henry during his famous speech in 1775 in a picture by Peter Frederick Rothermel

The St. John's Episcopal Church , site of the Convention and of speech

“ Give me Liberty, or give me Death! "(German:" Give me freedom or give me death! ") Is the final sentence of a speech by Patrick Henry at the Virginia Convention, which went down in American history. Henry reinforced the effect of the sentence by pretending to commit suicide with a letter opener .

Henry delivered the speech on March 23, 1775 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond , Virginia . She is said to be the reason that the Virginia Convention voted to send Virginia's troops to the American War of Independence . It is believed that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were in the audience. According to contemporary reports, the crowd jumped up and shouted “ To Arms! To arms! ”(German:“ To arms! To arms! ”) When the famous words had faded away.

The speech first appeared in Life and Character of Patrick Henry by William Wirt in 1817 . However, apart from the quotation that has been handed down to us, its exact wording has not been historically proven. A modification of the motto, namely Live Free or Die , is the motto of the US state New Hampshire .

literature

• Richard R. Beeman : Patrick Henry . McGraw-Hill, New York 1974.
• S. Stephen T. Olsen: Patrick Henry's “Liberty or Death” Speech: A Study in Disputed Authorship . In: Thomas W. Benson (Ed.): American Rhethoric: Context and Criticism . Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale 1989, pp. 19-66.

Web links

Wikisource: Give me Liberty or give me Death  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Amy Kukla, Jon Kukla: Patrick Henry: Voice of the Revolution . PowerPlus Books, 2002, ISBN 0-8239-5725-X , pp. 45-46.