“Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death”

A revolutionary mindset does not mean violence, it means principled resistance to what is patently wrong, what does not fit with our understanding of fairness, freedom, and history. Many years ago, Patrick Henry swayed the cause of what would become “America” to freedom. He used free speech rights not yet in the Constitution, as it was not yet written. Speaking truth, his words moved people.

In a Virginia church, he brought every person to silence in March 1775, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, young John Marshall, and a room full of patriots.

His throwdown was about freedom of everything, speech, worship, movement, family … freedom from unfair treatment by government, unfair targeting, captivity, punishment, and limits on power because …unchecked power is tyranny.

To revisit that incredible moment, after which the entire church fell still – and people contemplated the implications of Patrick Henry’s speech – here is part of what Henry said:

“If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late … to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace.”

Henry, speaking 16 months before the Declaration of 1776, continued: “The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!”

He concluded with words that ring still: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

So, why is this speech, are these words, so timely? Are we likely to see a domestic war? No, not likely, not like that one. Nor is that desirable, as it would destroy civil order, shaken as it is. 

Constitutional Republicans, those who believe in the Constitution, the rule of law, and ideas like separation of powers, three co-equal branches, an executive, legislative, and judicial, cross-checking each other at federal and state levels, then vertically with states’ rights, should never want violence to replace civil order.

So, why are Patrick Henry’s words, then, spoken with such force, foresight, and conviction in 1775 so fitting? Review the first line above. We must mount principled resistance to untruth, as he did.

In our day, we must use the Bill of Rights – made possibly by his 1775 speech. We must use educational, electoral, and moral power, persuasion, electoral engagement, and courts, and insist on fairness. We must defend principles sidelined by those who care nothing for truth, integrity, law, history, limited government, accountability, morality, or individual freedom.

This is a war, but not the kind fought to found this Republic, instead an “all hands on deck,” war of ideas. This is a conflict where we must be unafraid to “speak truth to power,” a phrase, coined by black Quaker Ayard Rustin in 1942, who said that is the role of religious groups and all of us. We must not back away from, shade, minimize, or distort the truth.

So, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” is about integrity of the soul, being equal to our time, understanding the stakes at the moment – and having the courage to be counted, to step up.

In the broadest sense, we are back there again – basic liberties being challenged, speech to fair administration of laws, accountability to loss of freedom, a test of our moral character. Will we abide by truth, or allow it to fall away?

I think we all know the right answer, and so the real question is whether – like the ears who heard Patrick Henry’s ominous words from those hard church pews in March 1775 – do we have the courage to be who we say we are, stand up for rights hard-won, speak fearlessly to preserve language, lives, laws, and society? Are we willing to risk life and limb for honest dialogue?

He was, and his conviction moved others. Patrick Henry died 225 years ago, not by hanging but of “old age,” at 63. Before done, he was Virginia’s governor twice, in the Continental Congress, Colonel in the Revolution, helped save Washington at Valley Forge, and turned down offers by Washington to be Secretary of State and a senator. In his view, speaking truth was the big thing – and acting on it.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.