Remembering: Patrick Henry and 'Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death'

March 23, 1775, in a speech at the Second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry makes one of the most remembered statements of American history. As he speaks against the increasingly oppressive rule of Britain, he concludes with, "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 had been one of the first in the colonies to speak for colonial independence. He began his rise to fame in 1763. In 1765, during the Stamp Act, he said, "Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third ....may he profit by their example." From then

Before the constitution would serve twice as governor of Virginia. Later, Henry was a leader of the anti-federalists in Virginia, who opposed the Constitution, fearing that it endangered the rights of the States, as well as the freedoms of individuals. His role in the anti-federalists put him in a position to help shape the Bill of Rights.

Ironically after seeing the fate of France, after their revolution, Henry would switch to the side of the Federalists. He was especially against the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which called for the rights of a state to nullify a federal law it considered unconstitutional. Henry stated that it would only lead to civil war.