‘Liberty or death' wasn't Patrick Henry's most important advice for Americans

Washington Post

31-03-2025

On March 23, I went to Historic St. John's Church in Richmond to travel back in time. That Sunday marked the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry's speech to the Second Virginia Convention. Henry believed war with Britain was inevitable and punctuated his call for Virginia to establish an independent militia with his declaration 'I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!'
I wanted to see what it felt like to hear those words from the pews where the delegates would have absorbed them 2½ centuries ago. And in collaboration with St. John's Church, I also wanted to ask attendees what Henry's words mean to them today.
The Letters and Community team will be posing questions like these in the run-up to July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of the Independence, as America looks back to its founding — and forward, as we consider how those original ideals, conflicts and words carry us into the future.
Alyssa Rosenberg, letters and community editor
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The conversation we need
We tend to overlook how fraught the Revolutionary period was. Those colonists who spoke for revolution, who otherwise supported and fought for revolution, risked everything. It is hard to fully grasp all they stood to lose: property, stature, livelihood and lives. Everyone understood that the British crown had the money, the power and the army to crush any resistance.
We can convince ourselves that such courageous choices in the face of real personal danger were made easier because there was such camaraderie and consensus among the individuals involved. But that is not the real story.
There were many bitter rivalries among the principals. Thomas Jefferson was pea-green with envy about Patrick Henry and considered him a braggart who nevertheless could move a crowd. George Mason and George Washington came to disagree intensely about a Bill of Rights for their fledgling nation and went to their dying days never speaking again.
Deep divisions existed throughout all the colonies over religion, politics, ethnicity, status and class, slavery. Colonists were divided over whether resistance to the crown, much less revolution, was treasonous.
The truth is that the revolutionary movement, like all great movements forward in this country, did not occur because everyone agreed. Great movements forward occur because a common cause becomes more important than individual differences and disappointments.
Great courage was required by men such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Washington, George Mason and James Madison. And so were forbearance and tolerance, patience and perspective.
Throughout all time and across the face of the Earth, ours is the only nation not founded on ethnicity or territory or religion. Ours is the only nation in human history founded on ideas, ideals and a system of government. When we do not know our history, when we do not care who or what came before us, when we no longer understand the foundation upon which our nation is built, then we do not know why we are Americans. And our differences — which have always existed — tear us apart, because we have no national identity that holds us together.
We must reconnect Americans to who and where we come from. We must reengage Americans who do not think our founding ideals or system of government has anything to do with them. We must reinspire our fellow citizens and remind them what it means to be an American.
Carly Fiorina, Lorton, Virginia
The writer is the national honorary chair of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission. This letter is adapted from her March 23 remarks at Historic St. John's Church.
A forgotten line
I had the privilege of portraying Patrick Henry at our reenactment of the Second Virginia Convention at Historic St. John's Church on March 23. One of the lessons that I and others in the cast hope to impart to our audiences is reflected in the first line of Henry's speech: 'No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house.'
The delegates at the convention engaged in a civil but passionate debate on Henry's resolutions to create a militia. The delegates respected one another, recognizing that all of them, even the ones who did not support Henry's resolutions, were patriots risking their lives and property simply by being present.
In my opinion, civil and respectful debate is lacking in today's political discourse. I and other cast members hope the audience understood that there was a time when big ideas were discussed and debated openly without personally offending or belittling people on the other side. Henry believed it was his duty to express his opinion. He stated that otherwise, he would consider himself 'guilty of treason toward [his] country and an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven,' whom he revered above 'all earthly kings.'
Anyone who was offended by the peaceful demonstrators who stationed themselves on the streets outside the church and on the church grounds during the reenactment and commemoration to express their opinions about how they want to be governed might have missed the point of Henry's speech: It is our duty to be active and engaged citizens to maintain our republic and not return to a monarchy, as Benjamin Franklin cautioned in 1787 after he signed the Constitution. Witnessing the peaceful and passionate demonstration before entering the church to recreate a 250-year-old moment and speaking to attendees and others after the presentation left me hopeful that Americans are still ready to fulfill that obligation.
Christopher Dunn, Richmond
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The fight for freedom
That speech means the same thing to me today as the original meant to Patrick Henry 250 years ago. We the people have an obligation to defend our rights when they are being trampled on. Thank God that we don't have to do it with bayonets and muskets anymore! We are free Americans! We do it through the peaceful protests I saw outside the church, through the respectful speeches and reenactment I saw inside the church, and most important, through the ballot box. God bless America!
William Benedetti, Midlothian, Virginia
Freedom was very important to Patrick Henry, who lived in a time with a lot of self-governance and liked it. Unfortunately, people today take freedom for granted. Henry knew it would be very valuable, and needed to be nourished and protected vigilantly. We need to be reminded that freedom is not free.
Doug Rucker, Richmond
Patrick Henry was willing to take great risk and make sacrifices for the cause of liberty, and thus he played a major role in the birth of this nation. It inspires me to ask: Do we have the same courage today to stand up for liberty?
H. Benson Dendy III, Richmond
The writer is a member of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission.
The leaders we miss
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry and some of the delegates to the Second Virginia Convention knew the war had already started; others, such as Edmund Pendleton, were urging patience. Henry spoke directly about the threat of tyranny. He embraced that Boston's fight was Virginia's fight. He inspired delegates to act in the name of their fledgling country.
Today, a conflict is underway. It seems so sad that our leaders, whether Democratic or Republican, lack the individual courage to act with the resolve and clarity Henry displayed. Collectively, they act like sheep running to the shepherd or away from the wolf. Ultimately, the shepherd might want to eat his lambs for dinner. And the wolf might want the warmth or company of another being. These are sad times.
Billy McGuire, Manakin Sabot, Virginia
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A forgotten legacy
Patrick Henry's famous speech was certainly a rouser. In the Virginia history textbook I studied in my seventh-grade public school more than 60 years ago, Henry was depicted as a great hero. But it's interesting that the speech is probably a reconstructed pastiche.
One line of the peroration, though unattributed, is probably borrowed, whether by Henry himself or the people who reconstructed his speech after the fact: 'Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace.' This is an almost verbatim echo of two prophets of the Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
But it might be too harsh to call Henry a plagiarist. He tended to wear his religion on his sleeve, to the irritation of Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the bill that became the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Jefferson said his bill attempted to assure religious liberty to 'the Jew, the Gentile, the Christian, the Mahometan, the Hindoo, and [the] infidel of every denomination.' The legislation barred compelled worship, religious discrimination and public funding of religion. Henry in turn offered a bill that would have provided tax funding for 'Teachers of the Christian Religion,' though taxpayers would have been able to select the recipients of their taxes. Jefferson's ally James Madison secured passage of Jefferson's bill in the legislature. Jefferson was so proud of his statute that he named it on his tombstone as one of his three greatest accomplishments.
It remains in the Virginia law books today, while Henry's famous speech is shrouded in doubt. And what might the Prince of Peace have thought of his would-be promoter's warmongering, even in service of independence? I'll go with Jefferson and real religious liberty for all.
Tom Edmondson, Alexandria