TODAY ONLY

March 23

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"

On this day in 1775, US revolutionary and lawyer Patrick Henry delivered a moving speech before the second Virginia Convention.

Tough Times in the Colonies. British rule of the colonies had become more and more oppressive. Patrick Henry wanted to arm the Virginia militia against the English.

What Did He Say? In his speech, he said: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."

And The Rest Is History. The American Declaration of Independence was signed the following year. Patrick Henry was appointed governor of Virginia.

Back In Time. What Caused All the Problems? Back in 1765, the British signed the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was a tax intended to raise the funding for a standing British army in America. The American colonists objected. They were being taxed without being represented in their own government ~ taxation without representation.

Taking Steps. Colonists opposed to the tax met for the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765. They called for a boycott of British goods and organized attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors.

Parliament Backs Down. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and the colonists settled down to British rule.

Tea Time. Then, in 1773, Parliament enacted the Tea Act. The Tea Act gave the East India Company a monopoly on the American tea trade.

Tea Brewing. The colonists saw this as another example of taxation without representation. Patriots in Massachusetts organized the Boston Tea Party. Badly disguised as Natives, they dumped ten thousand pounds worth of tea into Boston Harbor.

Just For That. Parliament, angry over the Boston Tea Party and destruction of British property, came up with the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts.

The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.

Uniting Against the British. The colonists called the first Continental Congress. Massachusetts led the resistance to the British, forming a revolutionary government and establishing an army to resist the British army in the colony.

The March to Concord.

  • In April 1775, Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, ordered British troops to march to Concord, Massachusetts.
  • On April 19, 1775, the British regulars met up with a group of American militiamen at Lexington. The first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired.