Patrick Henry Speech Summary

The people of the colonies want representation when it comes to issues about them. Having someone else tell them what rules they have to follow without any say in the matter is what angers many colonist. The voice of the people must be heard so there is cooperating with the colonies and Great Britain. Without having cooperation the nation will have many problems and issue will not be fixed unless both sides come to an agreement.
Patrick Henry speech, “Give me Liberty or Give me death”, brings up one side on how to fix the issue. His solution to the problem is to go to war with Great Britain, so they can become free and create their own choices to govern the colonist. Many colonist are frustrated and angered with how they have been treated.

For example, in Patrick Henry’s speech he says, “Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?” ( 1). This shows how he does not want to follow those who do not listen to them or even care for them because they do not live in the colonies. Furthermore, Henry says, “And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House.” ( 1). They have tried for years to allow the British Parliament to listen to their proposals but they never do, so the only option is to stop trying to negotiate. Patrick henry said, “Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?” ( 1) even though the British Empire have not listen to them they are still loyal to Britain. Years of no progress being made has made colonist to change their views from trying to make the British ministry to listen to their demands peacefully to starting a war with them.
The need to go to war with Great Britain would have been a solution if only the colonist were being mistreated. Colonist did not need to go to war with Great Britain when there were other solutions to their problems. In Gregg Frazer’s article “The American Revolution: Not a Just War” it says, “The Americans were not an oppressed people; they had no crushing imperial shackles to throw off” (Frazer 36). If the British ministry would treat the colonist like slaves than that would be a reason for the colonies to declare war. One example that shows that the king of Great Britain was a tyrant was forcing taxes on the colonist without out representation which was a major point for the colonist to go to war with Britain. Forcing taxes upon the colonist caused for the colonist to rebel like the Boston tea party which cause further tension between the two sides.
Another solutions for the problem is to continue on asking for better representation when it comes to governing the colonies.

Even though, there has been years of trying to make them hear the colonist after a while the British Parliament will listen to the request of the colonies In Robert Allison article “The American Revolution: A concise History” he says,”…though each colony would continue to govern itself. The king would appoint a president-general, to ensure that the council did not conflict with British policy.”(Allison 5). The king allowed for the colonies to govern themselves, so it shows that the colonies could make decisions for the colonies as long as it does not interfere with British policy. The colonies already have representative if they work harder than they can convince the king to change policies that benefit the colonies. For example, in Jack Greene’s article “The Constitutional Origins of the American Revolution” he says, “… no new parliamentary taxes and guided through Parliament a repeal of most of the Townshend duties, they retained the tax on tea to stand as a symbol of Parliament’s colonial authority” (Greene 113). Colonist and Great Britain came to a compromise on issues before, so they both can still come to a compromise on future

policies.
Instead of going to war with Great Britain the colonist should have just continue to try and come up with a compromise with British parliament. Going to war will only result in lives being lost for both sides. Great Britain is one of the biggest empires and the colonies are small compared to them, so there is a very small chance that the colonies united can win against Britain. David Dzurec author of "Prisoners of War and American Self-Image during the American Revolution" said, “It is estimated that between one-third and one-fifth of Americans chose to remain loyal” (Dzurec 432). Even though, there is a small minority that still support Britain it is better to be united with Britain. Resisting British rule will only escalate for Britain to send more troops and make British parliament not take the colonist side serious when they are destroying there property like in the Boston tea party. Following British rule and doing what they ask will show that they are loyal, and will result in them listening to the colonies when they request something.