240th Anniversary of Patrick Henry’s Liberty or Death Speech

On March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, Patrick Henry delivered his Liberty or Death speech at the 2nd Virginia Convention. Among the 120 delegates in attendance were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Robert Carter Nicholas and more. Henry was a superb orator who spoke extemporaneously. One aspect of Henry’s genius was that he was able to take ideas and phrases that were part of the intellectual life of the colonies and put them into eloquent words and persuasive arguments. There is no written record of this speech. It was not until William Wirt, Henry’s first biographer, published Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry in 1817 that a reconstruction of the speech was printed. Based on the recollections of men who had been present when the speech was made, the main source was a lengthy letter that St. George Tucker wrote relating his memories of the speech. Some scholars attribute the version of the speech commonly known to Tu