Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Patrick Henry — Speech to the Second Virginia Convention

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!

Patrick Henry delivered this speech on March 23, 1775, to the Second Virginia Convention, arguing for Virginia to arm its militia against Britain. Its famous closing line became a rallying cry of the American Revolution, though the exact wording was reconstructed decades later from listeners' memories.