"Give me liberty or give me death!"

I had a great Forth of July hanging out with friends. I love this holiday because I love all the patriotism. Flags everywhere, fireworks, music, ahh, it's so fun. This day makes me grateful to be an American. Stories of George Washington, Paul Revere and Thomas Jefferson remind me of how amazing and miraculous the founding of our nation truly was. My dad is very patriotic and when I was younger he used to tell us stories about the founding fathers. One of my favorites is "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It starts like this:

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year

He said to his friend, "If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-
One if by land, and two if by sea;

And I on the opp
osite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm."


Probably one of my all-time favorite historical figures is Patrick Henry. I absolutely love his "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech. Of course I love the patriotism and the context the speech was given in but the writing is beautiful. The word choice and allusions are inspiring. I think I especially love it because I love politics and have considered being a speech writer...if my White House press secretary job falls through. ;) Below are a few excerpts from the speech and you can listen to it here. I highly recommend listing to it, it's amazing.

"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."

"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, air, 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 our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

"There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!
The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!"

"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

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