Program Information

Patrick Henry is a man who is a great mobilizer in Virginia and without Virginia, there is no America Revolution. Patrick Henry’s activities on the Virginia stage has national implications, and will culminate American independence and the successful waging of the war for that independence.

Liberty or Death is a production of the Community Idea Stations and the St. John's Church Foundation. When England taxed the American colonies to pay for the French and Indian war, the colonists became enraged and ardently resisted. What was at odds was the right of the colonists to govern and tax themselves versus Britain's absolute authority over its empire. In Virginia, Patrick Henry brought this issue to the forefront through many impassioned speeches to the colonial leaders in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Henry is most noted for the speech in which he decrees "give me liberty or give me death." Henry's immortal words spread throughout the colonies and became a rallying cry for revolution.

Transcript

ALAN TAYLOR
“Patrick Henry is a man who is a great mobilizer in Virginia and without Virginia, there is no America Revolution. Patrick Henry’s activities on the Virginia stage has national implications, and will culminate American independence and the successful waging of the war for that independence.”

RHYS ISSACS
“I think Patrick Henry should be remembered as a courageous man who would stand up when he first started speaking defiance of the King in uncompromising tones. He was a great role model for politicians in his reaching to the people, feeling their pulse.”

BRENT TARTER
“Thomas Jefferson agreed that he understood the people better than anybody else. He shared the same fears and hopes …that he put people own thoughts into persuasive, powerful words for them. That is another legacy of Patrick Henry, bringing in the rest of the people into the political process, speaking to them, speaking for them…that’s democracy.”

Virginia Standards