Patrick Henry Tell Me Liberty Or Give Me Death Speech

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What does the term liberty mean? Liberty is one thing most Americans take seriously, and rightfully so. By definition, it is the state of being free within a society and is viewed as a basic human right. However, before America became the superpower it is today, Liberty did not exist. Before America became independent, the nation was ruled by Great Britain. In order to be free from the rule of Great Britain, Colonials had to fight back. One of the reasons the colonials came together and fought for Liberty is Patrick Henry’s speech, “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death”. This speech given by Patrick Henry on March 23rd, 1775 was later written out and published in 1816. Without “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”, America would still be under British …show more content…

When henry says “If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us”, He is saying that the only way to get Britain from treating Colonial Americans like slaves is to fight back. Another quote that is similar to this is “Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace, but there is no peace. 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?” Although the first shots of the war would come later, the war to stack up arms as well as build a military was happening. Henry is only trying to persuade the leaders of the colonies to use this military to metaphorically put its foot down on Britain’s abuse. He is saying that the US has done everything it can to make peace with Britain. The only other option is war. This was a scary thought to most colonials because the only military they had was a …show more content…

An article written by Sheeffah Shiraz explains a current civil war. The article states that the war has now lasted 6 years with no end in sight, and that More than 12 million have been displaced. IamSyria.org has kept a record of the number of deaths due to the conflict, and that toll has now reached over 500,000. Both of these facts show how devastating this war has been for the country. The article goes into detail about the causes of the civil war as well as gives important dates of the six-year civil war. In March of 2011, protesters gathered to fight against corruption under President Bashar al-Assad, as well as fight for a democratic government. The Syrian government retaliated by killing protesters which caused people demanding the resignation of Bashar al-Assad. The violence increased drastically leading to a civil war. This is relevant today because the Syrian people are in a similar predicament that the colonials were in; Fighting against corruption and mistreatment. It is impossible to keep a tyrannical government from unjustly treating its citizens, which is why retaliation from its people is a necessary effect. Fighting for a democratic government and fighting against corruption within government is the main idea that this current event and American history have in common. However, instead of protests by the colonials, a very persuasive speech was made to convince the colonies to fight back against Great

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