Patrick Henry
Don’t Give in to Fear: Patrick Henry’s Anti-Federalist Speech No. 3
Responding to Federalist claims that rejecting ratification would lead to danger, chaos and potential ruin, Patrick Henry took the other side, “it is the fortune of a free people not to be intimidated by imaginary dangers” and urged the addition of a bill of rights...
Liberty or Empire: Patrick Henry’s Anti-Federalist Speech No. 2
Centralization of power, standing armies, an elected king – would lead to a mighty empire, rather than a land of liberty. That’s what Patrick Henry warned about in his 2nd speech during the Virginia Ratifying Convention – June 5, 1788. Path to Liberty: May...
We the People or We the States: Patrick Henry’s Anti-Federalist Speech No. 1
In his first speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry challenged the legitimacy of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, warned against consolidation, and argued that a federal system should start with We the States. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday...
Patrick Henry: Give me Liberty or Give me Death!
On March 23, 1775 – less than a month before Lexington and Concord and the “shot heard round the world,” Patrick Henry offered a set of resolutions before the Second Virginia Convention to establish a provincial militia and put Virginia in a posture...