Skip to main content

Secondary sourceSpeech23 March 1775 (text reconstructed 1817)

Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!

Patrick Henry · 23 March 1775 (text reconstructed 1817)

The famous speech attributed to Patrick Henry urging Virginia to arm its militia against Britain, delivered in March 1775.

This is Henry's own speech, the most famous statement of his revolutionary oratory, though its wording comes from a later reconstruction.

Ask Patrick Henry about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black-and-white lithograph of a legislative chamber with Patrick Henry standing center, one arm raised, addressing seated and standing men in period dress. Other delegates raise their hands, and a man in a robe sits at left. A printed document labeled 'Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly' lies on the floor. Caption below reads 'Give me liberty, or give me death!'
Lithograph depicting Patrick Henry delivering his 1775 speech, published later as a historical illustration.

About this source

What it is

This is the text of a speech Patrick Henry is said to have given on March 23, 1775, to the Second Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond. The version read today comes from William Wirt's 1817 biography of Henry, written more than forty years after the speech and based on the memories of elderly witnesses.

Why it matters

Henry's speech helped convince the convention to prepare Virginia's militia for war, a resolution that also involved future presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The pictured lithograph shows Henry addressing the delegates, a scene imagined long after the event. Historians still debate how much of the famous wording, including its closing line, was Henry's own and how much Wirt invented or embellished.

Look closer

  • Why might no exact transcript of the speech from 1775 have survived?
  • What does it mean that the most famous version was written by someone else, decades later?
  • How might the lithograph's dramatic pose shape how we imagine the moment?

This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Patrick Henry on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Patrick Henry sources

Meet the AI Patrick Henry →
Document

Primary source

Virginia Stamp Act Resolves

Patrick Henry · 29 May 1765

Speech

Primary source

Speeches Against Ratification at the Virginia Ratifying Convention

Patrick Henry · June 1788

Letter

Primary source

Letter from Patrick Henry to Robert Pleasants on Slavery

Patrick Henry · 18 January 1773

Aged, yellowed parchment page with handwritten calligraphy in brown ink. The heading reads 'Congress of the United States' in large script, followed by the opening lines of the document below.Document

Primary source

Bill of Rights

25 September 1789

Photograph of the original parchment of the United States Constitution. The large handwritten text begins with the words 'We the People' in ornate script, followed by the article headings and dense lines of brown-ink writing on aged, yellowed parchment.Document

Primary source

United States Constitution

Constitutional Convention · 17 September 1787

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Patrick Henry now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions