More from Patrick Henry
I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, St. John’s Church, Richmond (23 March 1775), as given in William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (1817). Nothing was written down at the time: Wirt rebuilt the speech from listeners’ recollections four decades later, so how much of the wording is Henry’s is disputedGuard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.
Speech on the Federal Constitution, Virginia Ratifying Convention (5 June 1788)
More about war and peace
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson1743–1826Letter to William Stephens Smith (13 November 1787). Manuscript at the Library of Congress.The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
