Happy July 4th

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Happy Independence Day everyone! On this day I like to read the famous speech made by Patrick Henry which ends with the immortal words, "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" I have tried to attach a copy of it. I hope you can read it.

The speech wasn't written. Henry wasn't a writer. He was a natural born orator. He just got up and spoke with a passion and rhetorical brilliance that won people to his cause. The speech had to be reconstructed by Henry's biographer William Wirt. So this is the only version I could find online, and it differs very slightly from the version I have in the biography. Anyway, it's worth reading.

Ranger715 thanks for posting this. I only live a short distance from St. Johns Church where Patrick Henry delivered his speech. To me it is one of the most historic spots in America when you consider that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both in attendance, as were five of the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Independence. These gentlemen who were some of the wealthiest in the colonies entered the church as Englishmen and exited as Americans. They fully understood the hazards of the course they were taking and forged ahead. If any of you ever travel through Richmond, Va, please consider getting off the Interstate and making a side trip.

 

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It's been a tradition at my house to always watch this on the 4th of July: