Patrick Henry's Speech and Historical Context

Greetings and welcome. We are in Junior English and we now turn to a text in your hymnal on page 98, uh, 99, uh, Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia Convention. Now, the first thing that obviously we want to do in terms of our annotative work is we want to write down Patrick Henry's dates on page 99. 1736 to 1799. Now, as we are... preparing to do a series of studies, beginning with a text by Henry, then a text by Franklin, then a text by Jefferson. I just want to give a little bit of background information to make these texts more understandable for you. So in your notes, you might want to call this an introduction to the revolution, an introduction to the American Revolution. So if you're at all tainted... notes and I recommend that you are, an introduction to the American Revolution. That's where we're headed. Alright? There's two things I'm going to do on my white board to kind of help set this up. The first is timeline driven and the second has to do with the political dynamics of the day, of the time. Alright? So we've got a sense of it. Alright? So very simple in terms of timeline you're just going to draw a line like that and got our zero point. We talked about before the common era. We talked about common era or sometimes referred to as AD. Remember we sit out here in 2014 as I'm giving this lecture, right? And remember that we divide these years up into 100 years that we call centuries, correct? Now what we are doing is we are now wanting to pay attention to an important date, 1776. Okay, 1776. Now that will be for us, of course, a pivotal year. Right? We will, of course, mark July the 4th, 1776, as what we will argue the beginnings of our nation. Now, of course, we've been doing enough reading out of our hymnal to recognize there's all kinds of history prior to 1776 that we will call American history. No doubt there are native voices. There are, of course, Puritan and Pilgrim voices that we've... already looked at. But now all of a sudden we're going to shift to this really important time period. Now if I'm in 2014, I'm in what century? The 21st century, and that's how we write it. So if I'm in 1776, I'm in what century? Don't say it, write it. I'm in what century if I'm in 1776? Well I'm 2014, 2-0, I move up a number to 2-1 for this century. So I'm in what century? Well that's right, this is the 18th century. Now we will say, watch this, we will say Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and we teach our children this little ditty, don't we? Columbus sailed the ocean blue in what? Go ahead and write it on your timeline because that's a significant date as well. When does Columbus get in his boat and decide he's going around the world to the Indies and ultimately a discovery is made? We will call that 1492. Eight years away from 1500, the 16th century, correct? So if you want to call it 1500, which is easier to do the mathematics with, right? Then we're talking about a difference in time. Well, you can see it there, can't you, right? From 1500 to 1700 is 200 years, right? And so if you're talking about the beginnings of America in terms of Columbus's Salem, right? Then obviously we've got quite a bit of history. But now we turn... to this time roughly 1776 and what we will call for your notes the time of the American Revolution. American Revolution. Now I've had students that say I've always heard that term but I guess I never really was totally sure what it meant. So can we now work a little bit to try and get a little sense of what that's even about. What do we mean when we're talking about the American Revolution? Revolution. And the challenge for us now is to actually work with some, you know, a little bit of history here that some of you will know, some of you maybe will not know so well. So let's work through it, shall we? I'm sorry, I'm not the artist in the family, and my map making or cartography work is not always so great, so please forgive, all right? But let's go ahead and do a little drawing, okay? We're going to constitute that right there as the... eastern seaboard, right? We're going to constitute this as Europe, and then we've got this little piece of rock that sits just right there that we're going to call England. Or, sometimes referred to as Britain. Put it in your notes. Two different words for the same place. England, Britain. Okay? Now, we call... These small gatherings of people here, the 13, and then what word do we use? The 13 colonies, correct? Colonies. now we gotta define that term or much of what we're gonna talk about is not gonna make a lot of sense to us colonies what in heaven's name does that even mean well we need to understand the term colonial Colonialization. Colonialization. This is where our word colonies comes from. Well, what does that project even mean? Watch my whiteboard. It works something like this. First of all, you have what's called the mother country. Okay? In this case, England. Right? This country will send people into a target country. Extract natural resources from that country, send it back to the mother country. Fundamentally, the idea of colonialization is for one primary purpose. Bank. And, if successful, a lot of money. A lot of money. Got me? England is engaging in this kind of colonialization, where there are certain kinds of understandings from England that what is happening in these colonies is... is that there are certain kinds of resources that are being extracted and brought back to the mother country. The first thing we should point out about that, then, is this. The people living in the colonies are... you want to write it down, British. They are English citizens. This is crucial. They belong to England and England has total power over them and what they do. Now to be fair, England sends troops who will stand on street corners and keep the peace and all those kinds of things. We should point out, England is not the only one doing this project. the channel. Here is France, right? And then further south, this is Spain. And guess what? France is doing the same project up north in an area that we will later call Canada, correct? And Spain is doing the same thing down south in an area that we will later call Florida. Europeans are doing this all over the world. They're not just doing it here. They're also doing it, of course, in Africa. Later they will do it, of course, in the area we know of as India. And in Burma, all over the world, this is happening. And again, for one primary reason. It's not that the English people, by and large, are looking for new places to live as much as they're looking to try and make money. And this is the easy way for it to happen. The governing body in England, Parliament, makes the rules. We will call them laws. And the understanding is very simple. English people live in the colonies. Their job is to help make money, and they themselves make money. And everybody's making quite a bit of bank. That's important for your notes. Everybody's making money. Okay? However, you knew that was coming, right? There is a moment in time. It's easy to use 1700 as a working date because it's a round figure. There's a moment in time when these colonies start to ask questions of England in regards to laws made, more particularly taxing laws. Now, what is a tax? Well, a tax is simply what you pay... to the mother country to be able to engage in this project of making money, right? And this taxing for some of the colonists starts to be a little bit questionable. There were rumblings back in England that these colonists would at some point try to declare independence, and when that was spoken of back in England, we're told that the king George III just laughed out loud. He said those people wouldn't survive three weeks if we got in our ships and just went back to the mother country. No way! First of all, look at my map. on the board. If Boston all of a sudden has no military force by the English. He said it and it was true and all the colonialists knew it was true right away. The French would come down from the north The Spaniards would come up from the south and try and do the same game of colonialization. Colonialization usually means, in the end, we show up in some place, we tell you that you can't run your own country, and if you don't like it, that's why they're bullets. Done. It's an end of discussion. It's over. But wait a minute. There were people living here when all these English people showed up. Remember? Those are our Native Americans. They might want some of that property. land back in those resources, correct? So the argument was a simple one. Why in heaven's name would these people ever declare their independence because we are going to leave them unprotected? And immediately there would be chaos, not only political chaos, but there would as well be physical chaos. There would be all kinds of fighting in the major streets of major cities. Now I sometimes have struggled to help students really complete their studies. comprehend what's going on during this revolutionary time period. By the way, revolution coming from our word to revolt. You want to write that down. To revolt means what? Well, it means to say no more. Now I am not suggesting that you try this this evening, but I want you to have a sense of the courage that is involved by the individuals who participate in this revolution. And so I've always worked with a word picture with my students to help them get, to help them understand what's going on. Because here's the deal for me. Old timers will often tell me, those kids you teach are not very patriotic. To which I will respond, respond usually is the following. You're not born a patriot like the color of your eyes. You are made a patriot by the country in which you live. And the only reason that you ever choose to be a patriot is because that country gives you a reason to be patriotic. I'm convinced we haven't heard enough reasons to be patriotic. And once we start looking at some of these texts, we're going to go, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me give you an example. What if tonight you went home to the people you live with and you were to say to them, I need you to sit down in the kitchen. We're going to have a conversation. Sit. And already they're kind of like, oh, okay. Two things that I need you to hear me clearly, I don't have a lot of time. One, I really appreciate what you've done for me in my life. You've given me a place to live. You've given me food to eat. You've given me clothes to wear. You've provided for my education. First thing I want to say to you is thank you, and I really mean that. And I do, I really mean that. But number two, I think it's time for you to leave. No, I need you to leave. I have decided that it's time for us to separate. And so two things are about to happen. One, you're going to walk out of this house and everything in this house now belongs to me. Two, this thing that you used to call being my parent, my authority figure, that's over with. I've lived long enough on this planet, I do not need you telling me what to do anymore. From here on out, once you leave and you walk out that door, door, we are equals in every way. I need you to go. Now just for a second in your mind's eye, I'd like for you to just play this one out. Can you imagine what the adults in your life would do? First of all, think about Think about the range of emotions they would go through. First of all, they'd probably laugh, wouldn't they? They'd be like, dude, are you videotaping this or something? What's going on? Is there something up? Are you on drugs or something? What is going on? And you go, wake up. I need you to listen to me. I said two things to you. One, thank you. And two, goodbye. You're leaving. You're leaving. No, I'm serious. You are leaving. You are no longer living in this house. It's no more. Oh, and the car too. I appreciate it. Oh, and by the way, I'll let you take one or two personal items, but I need you out of here because I'm going to throw a party this weekend and I don't want you around. Right? Think about it. And then, of course, what's the next step? The parents would go, that's good. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Honey, you need to just back it up one more time. What are you saying? Okay, I realize you're a little bit old, probably don't follow things so well, so I'm gonna say it one more time really clearly. I appreciate what you've done for me, but I need you to go. This is all mine now. I'm taking it all and I need you to leave. Would you agree with me that in your mind's eye, if you play this game out long enough, there would probably at some point be somebody who would finally step up from the table and say, now it's my turn. I don't know what you think you're doing here. but this ain't gonna fly. I am going nowhere. This house belongs to, the car belongs to, and the fact that you get to live here is a privilege. The very idea that you think you're gonna throw me out. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don't throw me out. me out, I throw you out. Would you agree with me? And probably if the conversation went much longer, there would probably be violence. Would you agree with me? In other words, can you imagine in your wildest dreams that the people you live with would go, oh, we are so great, this day has finally come. We've been waiting for you to grow up and to mature, to become an adult and to take over everything. We are so, it's here, well, okay. Hey, can we at least have 30 minutes so we can at least get one or two items? Is that okay? Okay, 30 minutes. And then we're probably going to need you to drive us somewhere because we don't have a car anymore because we're going to give you the vehicle or vehicles. And so, yeah. Can you imagine in your wildest dreams that a parent would ever say, No, it's on the whiteboard. You even wrote it in your notes. Wait a minute. We call it the mother country. When there was talk, that initially, among these colonists, of doing this project, of saying, well watch my whiteboard, this is what they're going to say, hey, thanks, but no thanks, we're done. What do you mean you're done? Yeah, we're done. We appreciate all you've done for us. Now it's time for you to go. Oh, and by the way, two things. We're going to go ahead and take everything that's left, that is to say, all of the resources. And, oh yeah, the next time we meet... We're going to be equals. No longer will we be subjects of yours. No longer will we be children to you, the mother. Hey, guys, I don't care what kind of house you live in, and I don't care what kind of personal holdings your family has. or hopes to have, they got nothing compared to the billions of dollars that potentially that England knew existed, right? And was only going to get not only going to get fatter wallets. Can you for a moment imagine that there would be anybody here who would say, yeah, dude, let's just pull the plug on these guys. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot one other small part in the puzzle that will make you sit up and go, whoa, whoa, these people were like, like near insane. Are you ready for this? Largest military navy in the world. Most productive. Scary. Scary good. Let's just say it out loud. These guys know how to win wars. They're really good at it. They can shoot a rifle pretty well. And they are the legal force in the colonies. Somebody walks up and bashes somebody overhead, guess what? The courtroom is run by a British judge, or somebody tied to Britain or England's judicial system. We're talking about asking, demanding, that parents just up and leave the house to you. Imagine what kind of courage that takes, if not courage, it's insanity. Would you agree with me? Like I said, I'm not suggesting you try this tonight, but in your mind's eye, you can imagine how this would go over. Sooner or later, the people you live with would be, that's it, we are calling a cop. I do not know what... you are not listening to me. I am not asking you if the house is mine or yours. I am not... I am telling you... Go. There's the door. You know how it works. Leave. And the next time we see each other, we're equals. Don't even try to play this game if you're my parent can tell me what to do. I'll finish my introduction by making one final comment that should make you, the next time you look at a flag, recognize something quite remarkable. Are you ready for this? It worked. It worked. Dude, you're sitting here. It worked. How did it work? Boy, oh boy, that is a good question. How did they tell the mom and dad, the house now belongs to us, the keys now of the cars belong to us, all of the resources belong to us, you can now leave. that work? Two things. You want to write this in your notes. Two things that allow for that to work. One, words. Two, bullets. I'm using bullets as a metaphor, Arnold. One, words. They fought with words. Two, they fought with bullets. You had to have both. You had to have both. It's not like England is going to go, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, no, that's fine. So we'll just be on the next boat out of the harbors of Boston and all the other cities on the eastern seaboard. And all the billions of dollars that already could be made and will be made, they all go to you. No, that's fine. Oh, no. But see, we've still got another issue. What about the French to the north? No. And what about the Spaniards to the south? And of course there are a few native populations that would maybe like to have their land back. And in the middle of all of this, the debate was, do we pull the plug on England or not? Now one of the most important voices early on was a cat named Patrick Henry. And so when we turn now to look at Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia Convention, and then a little bit later... Benjamin Franklin's comments in another convention. And then we look at what will be the most influential text of all. Put it in your notes. Name them. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. to pay attention to the ways in which language comes first. Boy, this is important. Language always is the first battleground. You want to write that down. Why? Are you ready for this, the early colonialists were intellectuals. They were educated. They had good minds. And they understood the power of language. They understood the power of language. And with that power, they could then move their own colonialists. Why? Here's why. Important for your notes. Many, watch my whiteboard, many colonialists said, You want to tell England to go? away? Are you totally out of your ever-loving mind? First off, they'll never do it. It would be like your best friend, if you told your best friend, dude, tonight I'm pulling a plug on my parents, they're gone. Your pal would be like, whoa, what did you just say? No, I'm going to tell them to leave. I'm going to tell them two things. One, thanks for everything you've done for me. Two, get out. I'm taking everything. I'm taking everything. And your friend would look at you and say, what is wrong with you? Your parents are never going to allow that. Are you stoned? And you say, no, I'm not stoned at all, but this is what's going to happen. There has to be some convincing. You don't want to write this in your notes. There has to be some convincing of the colonials themselves. They themselves have to be convinced. Are you ready for this? extremely dangerous to do what these people are going to suggest. And these people, these speakers to these colonialists, share in common normally two things. One, like I said, they They're intellectuals. They are well-read people. They understand the power of language. Number two, are you ready for this? This makes you sit up and go, whoa! They were the ones making a lot of this bank. They had a lot to lose. There were a number of them that said, Are you crazy? We're all making serious amounts of money. Who cares about England being the one in control? Just let things go. call the status quo. Let things go. Let things happen the way they gotta happen. It would be the voices of a few visionaries who would say, no, we have to break the relationship with England, become our own power. We will found a nation. And we'll no longer be colonies under the British, but rather a nation equal to the British. Oooh. Well the greatest statement of this of course is in that classic of all classics of American thought, the Declaration of Independence. To declare means to state confidently, right? ...to aver, is our vocab word, A-V-E-R, to stay confident. And then all those guys signed at the bottom of that thing, which, by the way, made every single... Watch my whiteboard. Made every single one of them consider traitors to the English crowd. Which means what? If the Revolutionary War is lost, Patrick Henry gets jacked up. He is so borrowed. He's a traitor. England's going to execute that cat. Because in the end, he had the gall to suggest, Hey, Ma, Dad, appreciate what you've done for me. now get out. Of course, there's one or two people, if you went home tonight and told your parents, no, I'm serious, get out. And then all of a sudden you just picked up a 12 gauge and went, I'm serious, now you're leaving. place belongs to me. What would your parents do? They would probably not just walk out the house and say, well, you know, we did have a 12-gauge and all. Granted, it was ours once, but now it ain't no more. What would they do? They would go get HELP. Would you agree with me? They would say, they're not sitting down. And that's exactly what England will decide to do as well. They're going to solicit help. These colonists know that is the potentiality. Who's to the north? Right. Who's to the south? Right. See how this works? They are aware that they are in what many called a no-win situation. Now, how does that thing get played out? Well, I mean, let's be fair. It's a handful of people. Not just men. Not just men. It's often overlooked, the female voices. Many of those voices were given no time in writing, but we know that they were doing some incredible speaking and talking behind closed doors with their minds. men saying, are you sure you're going to do this? Because once you do this, would you be, I mean, hey, think about this for a second. So the conversation goes for about 45 minutes with your folks, and finally all of a sudden somebody steps up and says, alright, I've heard enough of this. And you go, no, no, no, dude, I'm just kidding. Just funny, just kidding. Not like you can do that once the project's down the road. Would you agree with me? Once you put your name, for example, and sign the Declaration of Independence, it's already started. The war has started before the first bullet ever gets shot. And there's no going back. There's no going back. And the people who are the primary spokespeople are aware. A lot of people got to die. And we might lose. And if we lose, the people remaining who are leaders of the insurrection, of the rebellion, they will be tried and killed as traitors. Whoa, so it begs an obvious question. Who can speak enough words to convince people to say, yeah, yeah, that's what we're going to do. Yeah, that's what we're going to do. Now the challenge of a junior literature class is that there are so many of these important... moments of speech? How do you put them in a book so that students can have some sense of what happened? What your textbook has done is to choose the famous Patrick Henry speech. And now all of a sudden it makes sense when you read that little quote on the bottom of page 99. Give me liberty or give me death! Exclamation mark. You could ask, did this cat have some kind of death wish or something? Well, I don't know. If you went home to see me and told your folks, go ahead and leave. It's all mine now. The one or two of your pals might ask you, do you have some kind of death wish or something? Because this ain't going to end well for you. It's not going to end well for you. The amount of courage this had to take, beyond belief, right? Beyond belief. As we turn now to the text itself. Our goal is to now appreciate the spoken language. Now in the junior year... Our state standards do require us to talk about giving speeches. And giving speeches is, of course, sometimes less than an exciting thing for some students. Of course, you've got to get up in front of a group of people. Two kinds of speeches. You'll probably want to write this down. Two kinds of speeches in regards to delivery. In regards to delivery. By the way, on 96-97, you've got some important information about speech giving that you might want to be looking at now as I'm working with this. Two kinds of speeches in terms of... delivery. One, it's written and you simply deliver it word for word. Normally you read it. So for example, you know you got to give the speech, you sit down, you write everything you're going to say, you get up in front of the audience. When presidents today give their inaugural speeches after they've been elected, they give an inaugural speech. Those speeches are written either by the president to me or by a speech writing team. So that's one. A second kind of speech is what we call extemporaneous speeches. Now what does that mean? Well those are speeches where the individual gets up and kind of talks, maybe from a little bit of an outline, but it's not going to be written down. It's going to be more just kind of shared off the cuff, if you will. Now it's always an interesting question, which is more effective? And the answer, of course, has always been the same. Well it all depends on the content. of the speech, what makes a really fine speech? Well, I'm with you on page 96. Notice, first of all, there's different kinds of speeches. Notice, you can have a political speech, an address or a formal speech. You can have a sermon, as we saw with For Existence. For example, sinners in the hands of an angry God. The rhetorical devices, though, are crucial. What do we mean by rhetoric or rhetorical? Not what the person says, but how the person says it or delivers it. There's going to be three that they will list. The first one is restatement. It's fairly obvious. You're going to say something, and you're going to say it again, and you're going to say it again. Now, good speech givers will often do that, but vary the language so that it's not the exact same wording. Then you've got this really interesting A word. You'll want to write it down. and a 40. Now anaphora is a repetition of a very particular kind. Notice you're reading it with me on page 96. You're going to have a word or a group of words that will come back again and again and again. And we're going to see this in some of these speeches. Of course, in our junior experience, we study a number of these very important speeches in the history of American thought. We think immediately of the Gettysburg Address, four squared seven years ago, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we're going to see that. Lincoln was raised as a young man reading some of these speeches. And when it came time for him to give speeches, and of course many of our leaders since, there was this understanding that they had a blueprint, a pattern to follow. The third one is what we would call rhetorical questions. This is a question that you ask, but the answer is already understood. For example, if I were to say, wouldn't we like for this school day to be over and we could just leave? You say, that's a fair question. It's a fairly self-evident question. Just like somebody would say, no dude, just keep talking, I love it, you know, no, no, no, right? A rhetorical question is the answer is already in play. We already pretty much know what the answer is. So why do it? Well, this is the point of persuasive speeches. We are trying to convince the audience to at least listen to what we have to say. I'm on page 98. And notice you've got several of these observations. I want to get this other A word out of the way. An illusion. Now, let's get that one in our notes on page 98. Illusion. A-L-L-U-S-I-O-N-S. We're working at 2B, by the way. Illusions. Now, a magician comes in and does this thing where first the elephant's there and the elephant's gone. What's that? That's an illusion. No, no. That's I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N. That's an illusion. This is an illusion. What is that? Two things you want to write down. First of all, a- reference to something before the speaker, to normally some kind of text, literary text or other kind of text, where you make a reference to something else. Now, what is the single, this is going to be a Get Stark at Night obvious question, but let's ask it anyway. What is the single text that the audience members of both Henry and Franklin are going to know the best? Well, that's fairly self-evident because... What do they all do on Sunday morning? They go to church. Where in that church? They hear words from what single text? The 1611 King James Version of the Bible. You want to write it down as that? The 1611 King James Version of the Bible. King James Version of the Bible. That's the text that they know the best, so it will not surprise us at all that when these guys start using rhetoric and language to try to convince their listeners that they are in the right, they're often going to reference that important classic text, the Bible. Alright, I'm working now on page 99. What is it that Patrick Henry is so upset about? In a word, the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act. Now what is that? Well, it's nothing more than a tax that the British put on colonialists. One more way for... England or Britain to try and make a little bit more bank or money off of the colonists. In this case they were taxing all paper products. Anytime anybody in the colonists used paper, they got taxed for it. Patrick Henry saw this as evidence. That something was wrong, that something had to be changed. And so there's this famous speech that he will give in the Virginia Convention. Now on page 99, they call it a call to arms. Now let's make sure we understand this term, call to arms. First of all, if you call, that means you request. And what do we mean by arms? Are we talking about these? Is that what we mean, called arms? No, we're talking about arms as in weapons. In other words, war. In other words, Revolutionary War. Standing behind all of the words of Patrick Henry is the understanding and there's the wording right at the bottom of 99 we might have to die for this cause. We might have to die for this cause. It's an interesting 3B question to ask. Right now what are you willing, right now that you say, I believe in so strongly, I'd take a bullet to the head for it. Right now. See that's an interesting question. And that's going to be really one of the of the questions that Patrick Henry will ask his audience. What do you believe in strong enough you're willing to die for? I'm on page 101. This becomes one of the most famous speeches in American history because it succeeds. We should point that out. In this famous speech, notice, read with me, Patrick Henry denounces the British King, urges the colonialists to fight for independence. Making such a declaration took tremendous bravery, we would say courage as well. England was the world's most powerful country at the time, and the odds against the colonialists were overwhelming. If the colonists had failed to win independence, Henry and a whole bunch of others would have been sold on a road. And that is absolutely true. What is it, two parts now at level one. You want to write these questions down as we get ready to read this. What does he say to convince these guys? Write it down. That's your first question at level one. What does he say to convince these guys this is what we should do. Two, what kind of emotional power does he bring to these words, with these words? Let me ask it this way. When you finish this little reading, this speech, do you have a sense this cat is for real or is he just like... playing a game. Is he for real or is he playing just kind of a game? Guess what? Give me liberty or give me death is a line which strikes most students as, whoa, this guy is for real. He's going to take take this seriously. Alright, here we go. I'm on page 101 now with you. Let's just follow along. By the way, Patrick Henry, these kinds of speakers, very well educated. They're going to assume their audience is well read, and so sometimes their language for our students today can be a little bit difficult to follow. You definitely want that pen in your hand. You definitely want to be following along with our professional reader to make sure that you feel comfortable that you can keep up. with the flowing of the language itself. Here we go, guys. Patrick Hedman, let's follow along. Speech in the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry. Mr. President. No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights. and therefore I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery. and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. Mr. President. It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we to... I suppose 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? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. 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? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir. It will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? No, let us go. not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation, the last argument to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant to be. for us. They can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable, but it has not been enough. been all in vain shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication what term shall we find which have not been already exhausted let us not I beseech you sir deceive ourselves longer sir we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on we have petitioned we have remonstrated we have supplicated we have prostrated ourselves before the throne and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament. Our petitions have been slighted. Our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult. Our supplications have been disregarded, and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve and... inviolate these inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contended. 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. They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversarial. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed and when a British guard shall... be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemy shall be killed? shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three 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. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight. fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone. It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. We were base enough to desire it. It is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged. Their clanging may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable, and let it come. I repeat it, sir, let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. 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? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Now it is significant, as I say, that many of my students will say, say out loud, this is the first time I ever heard these words. I mean, I always heard that quote about give me liberty or give me death, but I guess I never really completely appreciated the context of the history behind this speech. And the courage that it had to have taken to A, get this speech, and B, say, you know what, he's right. Let's do a quick annotation of why this speech works. What is it about this speech that allows for audience members to be moved by it? Notice the construction of the speech itself. We'll begin on page 101. He begins, first of all, by pointing out that there is... no other choice. Now we're going to see this when we study Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. He will there use the word necessary. Necessary. We have no choice. He makes a simple argument. England is amassing forces against us. If we do not fight, we will become slaves. Now think of it. For Patrick Henry, is being a slave a good thing or a bad thing? Well, clearly for him it's a bad thing. What's very interesting, of course, and it's again one of the dark...

preparing to do a series of studies, beginning with a text by Henry, then a text by Franklin, then a text by Jefferson. I just want to give a little bit of background information to make these texts more understandable for you. So in your notes, you might want to call this an introduction to the revolution, an introduction to the American Revolution.

So if you're at all tainted... notes and I recommend that you are, an introduction to the American Revolution. That's where we're headed. Alright?

There's two things I'm going to do on my white board to kind of help set this up. The first is timeline driven and the second has to do with the political dynamics of the day, of the time. Alright? So we've got a sense of it. Alright?

So very simple in terms of timeline you're just going to draw a line like that and got our zero point. We talked about before the common era. We talked about common era or sometimes referred to as AD.

Remember we sit out here in 2014 as I'm giving this lecture, right? And remember that we divide these years up into 100 years that we call centuries, correct? Now what we are doing is we are now wanting to pay attention to an important date, 1776. Okay, 1776. Now that will be for us, of course, a pivotal year. Right? We will, of course, mark July the 4th, 1776, as what we will argue the beginnings of our nation.

Now, of course, we've been doing enough reading out of our hymnal to recognize there's all kinds of history prior to 1776 that we will call American history. No doubt there are native voices. There are, of course, Puritan and Pilgrim voices that we've... already looked at.

But now all of a sudden we're going to shift to this really important time period. Now if I'm in 2014, I'm in what century? The 21st century, and that's how we write it.

So if I'm in 1776, I'm in what century? Don't say it, write it. I'm in what century if I'm in 1776?

Well I'm 2014, 2-0, I move up a number to 2-1 for this century. So I'm in what century? Well that's right, this is the 18th century.

Now we will say, watch this, we will say Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and we teach our children this little ditty, don't we? Columbus sailed the ocean blue in what? Go ahead and write it on your timeline because that's a significant date as well. When does Columbus get in his boat and decide he's going around the world to the Indies and ultimately a discovery is made?

We will call that 1492. Eight years away from 1500, the 16th century, correct? So if you want to call it 1500, which is easier to do the mathematics with, right? Then we're talking about a difference in time. Well, you can see it there, can't you, right? From 1500 to 1700 is 200 years, right?

And so if you're talking about the beginnings of America in terms of Columbus's Salem, right? Then obviously we've got quite a bit of history. But now we turn... to this time roughly 1776 and what we will call for your notes the time of the American Revolution. American Revolution.

Now I've had students that say I've always heard that term but I guess I never really was totally sure what it meant. So can we now work a little bit to try and get a little sense of what that's even about. What do we mean when we're talking about the American Revolution?

Revolution. And the challenge for us now is to actually work with some, you know, a little bit of history here that some of you will know, some of you maybe will not know so well. So let's work through it, shall we? I'm sorry, I'm not the artist in the family, and my map making or cartography work is not always so great, so please forgive, all right?

But let's go ahead and do a little drawing, okay? We're going to constitute that right there as the... eastern seaboard, right?

We're going to constitute this as Europe, and then we've got this little piece of rock that sits just right there that we're going to call England. Or, sometimes referred to as Britain. Put it in your notes. Two different words for the same place.

England, Britain. Okay? Now, we call... These small gatherings of people here, the 13, and then what word do we use?

The 13 colonies, correct? Colonies. now we gotta define that term or much of what we're gonna talk about is not gonna make a lot of sense to us colonies what in heaven's name does that even mean well we need to understand the term colonial Colonialization. Colonialization. This is where our word colonies comes from.

Well, what does that project even mean? Watch my whiteboard. It works something like this.

First of all, you have what's called the mother country. Okay? In this case, England.

Right? This country will send people into a target country. Extract natural resources from that country, send it back to the mother country. Fundamentally, the idea of colonialization is for one primary purpose.

Bank. And, if successful, a lot of money. A lot of money. Got me?

England is engaging in this kind of colonialization, where there are certain kinds of understandings from England that what is happening in these colonies is... is that there are certain kinds of resources that are being extracted and brought back to the mother country. The first thing we should point out about that, then, is this. The people living in the colonies are...

you want to write it down, British. They are English citizens. This is crucial. They belong to England and England has total power over them and what they do.

Now to be fair, England sends troops who will stand on street corners and keep the peace and all those kinds of things. We should point out, England is not the only one doing this project. the channel.

Here is France, right? And then further south, this is Spain. And guess what? France is doing the same project up north in an area that we will later call Canada, correct? And Spain is doing the same thing down south in an area that we will later call Florida.

Europeans are doing this all over the world. They're not just doing it here. They're also doing it, of course, in Africa. Later they will do it, of course, in the area we know of as India. And in Burma, all over the world, this is happening.

And again, for one primary reason. It's not that the English people, by and large, are looking for new places to live as much as they're looking to try and make money. And this is the easy way for it to happen. The governing body in England, Parliament, makes the rules. We will call them laws.

And the understanding is very simple. English people live in the colonies. Their job is to help make money, and they themselves make money.

And everybody's making quite a bit of bank. That's important for your notes. Everybody's making money.

Okay? However, you knew that was coming, right? There is a moment in time. It's easy to use 1700 as a working date because it's a round figure. There's a moment in time when these colonies start to ask questions of England in regards to laws made, more particularly taxing laws.

Now, what is a tax? Well, a tax is simply what you pay... to the mother country to be able to engage in this project of making money, right?

And this taxing for some of the colonists starts to be a little bit questionable. There were rumblings back in England that these colonists would at some point try to declare independence, and when that was spoken of back in England, we're told that the king George III just laughed out loud. He said those people wouldn't survive three weeks if we got in our ships and just went back to the mother country.

No way! First of all, look at my map. on the board. If Boston all of a sudden has no military force by the English.

He said it and it was true and all the colonialists knew it was true right away. The French would come down from the north The Spaniards would come up from the south and try and do the same game of colonialization. Colonialization usually means, in the end, we show up in some place, we tell you that you can't run your own country, and if you don't like it, that's why they're bullets. Done. It's an end of discussion.

It's over. But wait a minute. There were people living here when all these English people showed up. Remember? Those are our Native Americans.

They might want some of that property. land back in those resources, correct? So the argument was a simple one. Why in heaven's name would these people ever declare their independence because we are going to leave them unprotected? And immediately there would be chaos, not only political chaos, but there would as well be physical chaos.

There would be all kinds of fighting in the major streets of major cities. Now I sometimes have struggled to help students really complete their studies. comprehend what's going on during this revolutionary time period. By the way, revolution coming from our word to revolt.

You want to write that down. To revolt means what? Well, it means to say no more. Now I am not suggesting that you try this this evening, but I want you to have a sense of the courage that is involved by the individuals who participate in this revolution. And so I've always worked with a word picture with my students to help them get, to help them understand what's going on.

Because here's the deal for me. Old timers will often tell me, those kids you teach are not very patriotic. To which I will respond, respond usually is the following.

You're not born a patriot like the color of your eyes. You are made a patriot by the country in which you live. And the only reason that you ever choose to be a patriot is because that country gives you a reason to be patriotic. I'm convinced we haven't heard enough reasons to be patriotic.

And once we start looking at some of these texts, we're going to go, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me give you an example. What if tonight you went home to the people you live with and you were to say to them, I need you to sit down in the kitchen. We're going to have a conversation. Sit.

And already they're kind of like, oh, okay. Two things that I need you to hear me clearly, I don't have a lot of time. One, I really appreciate what you've done for me in my life. You've given me a place to live.

You've given me food to eat. You've given me clothes to wear. You've provided for my education.

First thing I want to say to you is thank you, and I really mean that. And I do, I really mean that. But number two, I think it's time for you to leave. No, I need you to leave. I have decided that it's time for us to separate.

And so two things are about to happen. One, you're going to walk out of this house and everything in this house now belongs to me. Two, this thing that you used to call being my parent, my authority figure, that's over with. I've lived long enough on this planet, I do not need you telling me what to do anymore.

From here on out, once you leave and you walk out that door, door, we are equals in every way. I need you to go. Now just for a second in your mind's eye, I'd like for you to just play this one out. Can you imagine what the adults in your life would do? First of all, think about Think about the range of emotions they would go through.

First of all, they'd probably laugh, wouldn't they? They'd be like, dude, are you videotaping this or something? What's going on?

Is there something up? Are you on drugs or something? What is going on? And you go, wake up. I need you to listen to me.

I said two things to you. One, thank you. And two, goodbye.

You're leaving. You're leaving. No, I'm serious. You are leaving.

You are no longer living in this house. It's no more. Oh, and the car too. I appreciate it.

Oh, and by the way, I'll let you take one or two personal items, but I need you out of here because I'm going to throw a party this weekend and I don't want you around. Right? Think about it. And then, of course, what's the next step? The parents would go, that's good.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Honey, you need to just back it up one more time. What are you saying? Okay, I realize you're a little bit old, probably don't follow things so well, so I'm gonna say it one more time really clearly.

I appreciate what you've done for me, but I need you to go. This is all mine now. I'm taking it all and I need you to leave.

Would you agree with me that in your mind's eye, if you play this game out long enough, there would probably at some point be somebody who would finally step up from the table and say, now it's my turn. I don't know what you think you're doing here. but this ain't gonna fly. I am going nowhere.

This house belongs to, the car belongs to, and the fact that you get to live here is a privilege. The very idea that you think you're gonna throw me out. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don't throw me out.

me out, I throw you out. Would you agree with me? And probably if the conversation went much longer, there would probably be violence. Would you agree with me? In other words, can you imagine in your wildest dreams that the people you live with would go, oh, we are so great, this day has finally come.

We've been waiting for you to grow up and to mature, to become an adult and to take over everything. We are so, it's here, well, okay. Hey, can we at least have 30 minutes so we can at least get one or two items? Is that okay?

Okay, 30 minutes. And then we're probably going to need you to drive us somewhere because we don't have a car anymore because we're going to give you the vehicle or vehicles. And so, yeah. Can you imagine in your wildest dreams that a parent would ever say, No, it's on the whiteboard. You even wrote it in your notes.

Wait a minute. We call it the mother country. When there was talk, that initially, among these colonists, of doing this project, of saying, well watch my whiteboard, this is what they're going to say, hey, thanks, but no thanks, we're done. What do you mean you're done? Yeah, we're done.

We appreciate all you've done for us. Now it's time for you to go. Oh, and by the way, two things. We're going to go ahead and take everything that's left, that is to say, all of the resources. And, oh yeah, the next time we meet...

We're going to be equals. No longer will we be subjects of yours. No longer will we be children to you, the mother.

Hey, guys, I don't care what kind of house you live in, and I don't care what kind of personal holdings your family has. or hopes to have, they got nothing compared to the billions of dollars that potentially that England knew existed, right? And was only going to get not only going to get fatter wallets.

Can you for a moment imagine that there would be anybody here who would say, yeah, dude, let's just pull the plug on these guys. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot one other small part in the puzzle that will make you sit up and go, whoa, whoa, these people were like, like near insane. Are you ready for this?

Largest military navy in the world. Most productive. Scary.

Scary good. Let's just say it out loud. These guys know how to win wars.

They're really good at it. They can shoot a rifle pretty well. And they are the legal force in the colonies.

Somebody walks up and bashes somebody overhead, guess what? The courtroom is run by a British judge, or somebody tied to Britain or England's judicial system. We're talking about asking, demanding, that parents just up and leave the house to you. Imagine what kind of courage that takes, if not courage, it's insanity. Would you agree with me?

Like I said, I'm not suggesting you try this tonight, but in your mind's eye, you can imagine how this would go over. Sooner or later, the people you live with would be, that's it, we are calling a cop. I do not know what... you are not listening to me. I am not asking you if the house is mine or yours.

I am not... I am telling you... Go. There's the door. You know how it works.

Leave. And the next time we see each other, we're equals. Don't even try to play this game if you're my parent can tell me what to do. I'll finish my introduction by making one final comment that should make you, the next time you look at a flag, recognize something quite remarkable.

Are you ready for this? It worked. It worked. Dude, you're sitting here. It worked.

How did it work? Boy, oh boy, that is a good question. How did they tell the mom and dad, the house now belongs to us, the keys now of the cars belong to us, all of the resources belong to us, you can now leave. that work?

Two things. You want to write this in your notes. Two things that allow for that to work.

One, words. Two, bullets. I'm using bullets as a metaphor, Arnold.

One, words. They fought with words. Two, they fought with bullets.

You had to have both. You had to have both. It's not like England is going to go, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, no, that's fine. So we'll just be on the next boat out of the harbors of Boston and all the other cities on the eastern seaboard.

And all the billions of dollars that already could be made and will be made, they all go to you. No, that's fine. Oh, no.

But see, we've still got another issue. What about the French to the north? No.

And what about the Spaniards to the south? And of course there are a few native populations that would maybe like to have their land back. And in the middle of all of this, the debate was, do we pull the plug on England or not? Now one of the most important voices early on was a cat named Patrick Henry. And so when we turn now to look at Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia Convention, and then a little bit later...

Benjamin Franklin's comments in another convention. And then we look at what will be the most influential text of all. Put it in your notes.

Name them. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. to pay attention to the ways in which language comes first.

Boy, this is important. Language always is the first battleground. You want to write that down. Why?

Are you ready for this, the early colonialists were intellectuals. They were educated. They had good minds. And they understood the power of language. They understood the power of language.

And with that power, they could then move their own colonialists. Why? Here's why. Important for your notes.

Many, watch my whiteboard, many colonialists said, You want to tell England to go? away? Are you totally out of your ever-loving mind? First off, they'll never do it. It would be like your best friend, if you told your best friend, dude, tonight I'm pulling a plug on my parents, they're gone.

Your pal would be like, whoa, what did you just say? No, I'm going to tell them to leave. I'm going to tell them two things. One, thanks for everything you've done for me. Two, get out.

I'm taking everything. I'm taking everything. And your friend would look at you and say, what is wrong with you? Your parents are never going to allow that. Are you stoned?

And you say, no, I'm not stoned at all, but this is what's going to happen. There has to be some convincing. You don't want to write this in your notes. There has to be some convincing of the colonials themselves. They themselves have to be convinced.

Are you ready for this? extremely dangerous to do what these people are going to suggest. And these people, these speakers to these colonialists, share in common normally two things. One, like I said, they They're intellectuals.

They are well-read people. They understand the power of language. Number two, are you ready for this? This makes you sit up and go, whoa! They were the ones making a lot of this bank.

They had a lot to lose. There were a number of them that said, Are you crazy? We're all making serious amounts of money.

Who cares about England being the one in control? Just let things go. call the status quo.

Let things go. Let things happen the way they gotta happen. It would be the voices of a few visionaries who would say, no, we have to break the relationship with England, become our own power. We will found a nation. And we'll no longer be colonies under the British, but rather a nation equal to the British.

Oooh. Well the greatest statement of this of course is in that classic of all classics of American thought, the Declaration of Independence. To declare means to state confidently, right? ...to aver, is our vocab word, A-V-E-R, to stay confident. And then all those guys signed at the bottom of that thing, which, by the way, made every single...

Watch my whiteboard. Made every single one of them consider traitors to the English crowd. Which means what?

If the Revolutionary War is lost, Patrick Henry gets jacked up. He is so borrowed. He's a traitor. England's going to execute that cat. Because in the end, he had the gall to suggest, Hey, Ma, Dad, appreciate what you've done for me. now get out.

Of course, there's one or two people, if you went home tonight and told your parents, no, I'm serious, get out. And then all of a sudden you just picked up a 12 gauge and went, I'm serious, now you're leaving. place belongs to me.

What would your parents do? They would probably not just walk out the house and say, well, you know, we did have a 12-gauge and all. Granted, it was ours once, but now it ain't no more.

What would they do? They would go get HELP. Would you agree with me? They would say, they're not sitting down.

And that's exactly what England will decide to do as well. They're going to solicit help. These colonists know that is the potentiality.

Who's to the north? Right. Who's to the south? Right.

See how this works? They are aware that they are in what many called a no-win situation. Now, how does that thing get played out?

Well, I mean, let's be fair. It's a handful of people. Not just men. Not just men. It's often overlooked, the female voices.

Many of those voices were given no time in writing, but we know that they were doing some incredible speaking and talking behind closed doors with their minds. men saying, are you sure you're going to do this? Because once you do this, would you be, I mean, hey, think about this for a second. So the conversation goes for about 45 minutes with your folks, and finally all of a sudden somebody steps up and says, alright, I've heard enough of this. And you go, no, no, no, dude, I'm just kidding.

Just funny, just kidding. Not like you can do that once the project's down the road. Would you agree with me? Once you put your name, for example, and sign the Declaration of Independence, it's already started. The war has started before the first bullet ever gets shot.

And there's no going back. There's no going back. And the people who are the primary spokespeople are aware.

A lot of people got to die. And we might lose. And if we lose, the people remaining who are leaders of the insurrection, of the rebellion, they will be tried and killed as traitors. Whoa, so it begs an obvious question. Who can speak enough words to convince people to say, yeah, yeah, that's what we're going to do.

Yeah, that's what we're going to do. Now the challenge of a junior literature class is that there are so many of these important... moments of speech?

How do you put them in a book so that students can have some sense of what happened? What your textbook has done is to choose the famous Patrick Henry speech. And now all of a sudden it makes sense when you read that little quote on the bottom of page 99. Give me liberty or give me death! Exclamation mark.

You could ask, did this cat have some kind of death wish or something? Well, I don't know. If you went home to see me and told your folks, go ahead and leave. It's all mine now. The one or two of your pals might ask you, do you have some kind of death wish or something?

Because this ain't going to end well for you. It's not going to end well for you. The amount of courage this had to take, beyond belief, right? Beyond belief.

As we turn now to the text itself. Our goal is to now appreciate the spoken language. Now in the junior year... Our state standards do require us to talk about giving speeches. And giving speeches is, of course, sometimes less than an exciting thing for some students.

Of course, you've got to get up in front of a group of people. Two kinds of speeches. You'll probably want to write this down. Two kinds of speeches in regards to delivery. In regards to delivery.

By the way, on 96-97, you've got some important information about speech giving that you might want to be looking at now as I'm working with this. Two kinds of speeches in terms of... delivery.

One, it's written and you simply deliver it word for word. Normally you read it. So for example, you know you got to give the speech, you sit down, you write everything you're going to say, you get up in front of the audience. When presidents today give their inaugural speeches after they've been elected, they give an inaugural speech. Those speeches are written either by the president to me or by a speech writing team.

So that's one. A second kind of speech is what we call extemporaneous speeches. Now what does that mean?

Well those are speeches where the individual gets up and kind of talks, maybe from a little bit of an outline, but it's not going to be written down. It's going to be more just kind of shared off the cuff, if you will. Now it's always an interesting question, which is more effective? And the answer, of course, has always been the same. Well it all depends on the content.

of the speech, what makes a really fine speech? Well, I'm with you on page 96. Notice, first of all, there's different kinds of speeches. Notice, you can have a political speech, an address or a formal speech. You can have a sermon, as we saw with For Existence. For example, sinners in the hands of an angry God.

The rhetorical devices, though, are crucial. What do we mean by rhetoric or rhetorical? Not what the person says, but how the person says it or delivers it. There's going to be three that they will list.

The first one is restatement. It's fairly obvious. You're going to say something, and you're going to say it again, and you're going to say it again. Now, good speech givers will often do that, but vary the language so that it's not the exact same wording. Then you've got this really interesting A word.

You'll want to write it down. and a 40. Now anaphora is a repetition of a very particular kind. Notice you're reading it with me on page 96. You're going to have a word or a group of words that will come back again and again and again. And we're going to see this in some of these speeches. Of course, in our junior experience, we study a number of these very important speeches in the history of American thought.

We think immediately of the Gettysburg Address, four squared seven years ago, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we're going to see that. Lincoln was raised as a young man reading some of these speeches.

And when it came time for him to give speeches, and of course many of our leaders since, there was this understanding that they had a blueprint, a pattern to follow. The third one is what we would call rhetorical questions. This is a question that you ask, but the answer is already understood.

For example, if I were to say, wouldn't we like for this school day to be over and we could just leave? You say, that's a fair question. It's a fairly self-evident question. Just like somebody would say, no dude, just keep talking, I love it, you know, no, no, no, right? A rhetorical question is the answer is already in play.

We already pretty much know what the answer is. So why do it? Well, this is the point of persuasive speeches.

We are trying to convince the audience to at least listen to what we have to say. I'm on page 98. And notice you've got several of these observations. I want to get this other A word out of the way. An illusion.

Now, let's get that one in our notes on page 98. Illusion. A-L-L-U-S-I-O-N-S. We're working at 2B, by the way. Illusions. Now, a magician comes in and does this thing where first the elephant's there and the elephant's gone.

What's that? That's an illusion. No, no.

That's I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N. That's an illusion. This is an illusion.

What is that? Two things you want to write down. First of all, a- reference to something before the speaker, to normally some kind of text, literary text or other kind of text, where you make a reference to something else.

Now, what is the single, this is going to be a Get Stark at Night obvious question, but let's ask it anyway. What is the single text that the audience members of both Henry and Franklin are going to know the best? Well, that's fairly self-evident because... What do they all do on Sunday morning? They go to church.

Where in that church? They hear words from what single text? The 1611 King James Version of the Bible.

You want to write it down as that? The 1611 King James Version of the Bible. King James Version of the Bible. That's the text that they know the best, so it will not surprise us at all that when these guys start using rhetoric and language to try to convince their listeners that they are in the right, they're often going to reference that important classic text, the Bible.

Alright, I'm working now on page 99. What is it that Patrick Henry is so upset about? In a word, the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act.

Now what is that? Well, it's nothing more than a tax that the British put on colonialists. One more way for...

England or Britain to try and make a little bit more bank or money off of the colonists. In this case they were taxing all paper products. Anytime anybody in the colonists used paper, they got taxed for it. Patrick Henry saw this as evidence. That something was wrong, that something had to be changed.

And so there's this famous speech that he will give in the Virginia Convention. Now on page 99, they call it a call to arms. Now let's make sure we understand this term, call to arms.

First of all, if you call, that means you request. And what do we mean by arms? Are we talking about these?

Is that what we mean, called arms? No, we're talking about arms as in weapons. In other words, war. In other words, Revolutionary War. Standing behind all of the words of Patrick Henry is the understanding and there's the wording right at the bottom of 99 we might have to die for this cause.

We might have to die for this cause. It's an interesting 3B question to ask. Right now what are you willing, right now that you say, I believe in so strongly, I'd take a bullet to the head for it. Right now. See that's an interesting question.

And that's going to be really one of the of the questions that Patrick Henry will ask his audience. What do you believe in strong enough you're willing to die for? I'm on page 101. This becomes one of the most famous speeches in American history because it succeeds. We should point that out.

In this famous speech, notice, read with me, Patrick Henry denounces the British King, urges the colonialists to fight for independence. Making such a declaration took tremendous bravery, we would say courage as well. England was the world's most powerful country at the time, and the odds against the colonialists were overwhelming.

If the colonists had failed to win independence, Henry and a whole bunch of others would have been sold on a road. And that is absolutely true. What is it, two parts now at level one. You want to write these questions down as we get ready to read this. What does he say to convince these guys?

Write it down. That's your first question at level one. What does he say to convince these guys this is what we should do. Two, what kind of emotional power does he bring to these words, with these words? Let me ask it this way.

When you finish this little reading, this speech, do you have a sense this cat is for real or is he just like... playing a game. Is he for real or is he playing just kind of a game? Guess what? Give me liberty or give me death is a line which strikes most students as, whoa, this guy is for real.

He's going to take take this seriously. Alright, here we go. I'm on page 101 now with you. Let's just follow along. By the way, Patrick Henry, these kinds of speakers, very well educated.

They're going to assume their audience is well read, and so sometimes their language for our students today can be a little bit difficult to follow. You definitely want that pen in your hand. You definitely want to be following along with our professional reader to make sure that you feel comfortable that you can keep up. with the flowing of the language itself.

Here we go, guys. Patrick Hedman, let's follow along. Speech in the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry. Mr. President. No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House.

But different men often see the same subject in different lights. and therefore I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony.

The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery. and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate.

It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. Mr. President. It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope.

We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we to...

I suppose 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? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.

I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. 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?

Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir. It will prove a snare to your feet.

Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? No, let us go.

not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation, the last argument to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it?

Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant to be.

for us. They can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument?

Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable, but it has not been enough. been all in vain shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication what term shall we find which have not been already exhausted let us not I beseech you sir deceive ourselves longer sir we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on we have petitioned we have remonstrated we have supplicated we have prostrated ourselves before the throne and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament.

Our petitions have been slighted. Our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult. Our supplications have been disregarded, and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne.

In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve and... inviolate these inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contended. 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. They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversarial.

But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed and when a British guard shall...

be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemy shall be killed? shall have bound us hand and foot?

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three 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. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.

There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight. fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone.

It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. We were base enough to desire it.

It is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged.

Their clanging may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable, and let it come. I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. 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?

What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?

Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Now it is significant, as I say, that many of my students will say, say out loud, this is the first time I ever heard these words.

I mean, I always heard that quote about give me liberty or give me death, but I guess I never really completely appreciated the context of the history behind this speech. And the courage that it had to have taken to A, get this speech, and B, say, you know what, he's right. Let's do a quick annotation of why this speech works. What is it about this speech that allows for audience members to be moved by it?

Notice the construction of the speech itself. We'll begin on page 101. He begins, first of all, by pointing out that there is... no other choice.

Now we're going to see this when we study Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. He will there use the word necessary. Necessary.

We have no choice. He makes a simple argument. England is amassing forces against us.

If we do not fight, we will become slaves. Now think of it. For Patrick Henry, is being a slave a good thing or a bad thing? Well, clearly for him it's a bad thing.

What's very interesting, of course, and it's again one of the dark...

Transcript for:Patrick Henry's Speech and Historical Context

Transcript for:
Patrick Henry's Speech and Historical Context