On March 23rd, 1775 a tall, awkward looking gentleman stood to address Colonial Virginia’s legislative body, the House of Burgesses. His topic was treason. His goal was to convince his fellow delegates to vote for his resolution calling for a militia to oppose British tyranny; to persuade them to join him, if things went wrong, in hanging by the neck until DEAD.
But what could possibly go wrong? He was only proposing war against the most powerful military in the world…
He spoke in a famously clear, resonant voice that rose toward the end of his speech, “Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace, but there is no peace. 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? …”
There was, in fact, much friction, but no fighting going on when Patrick Henry spoke these words, no “clash of resounding arms”, but he spoke as if somehow he knew that four weeks later American and British blood would be spilled at Lexington and Concord in the colony of Massachusetts, triggering the American Revolutionary War.
Nearly shouting, he concluded with the famous lines, “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’s resolution passed that day, narrowly, and he became known as “The Voice of the Revolution”. One young gentleman who voted “Aye” would be called “The Pen of the Revolution”. His name was Thomas Jefferson and a year later he was asked to draft a Declaration explaining to the world why those thirteen colonies were declaring themselves to be free and independent.
The most memorable passage from that most famous document from “The Pen of the Revolution” states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
There’s that word again, “Liberty”… Why not “Freedom”? “Life, Freedom, and the pursuit of happiness”. Why not “Give me Freedom, or give me death”?
Why did Sam Adams and the other troublemakers in Boston call themselves “The Sons of Liberty” Why not…… ”The Fathers of Freedom”?
The “Voice of the Revolution” and the “Pen of the Revolution”, and other Founders understood the importance of words, of precise meanings. Freedom is a vaguely defined word; had Jefferson written that freedom was among the inalienable rights there are people today who would insist that that includes freedom from having to get up and go to work in the morning. Some might argue that Thomas Jefferson himself said that they have the inalienable right to freedom from the obligations of every self sufficient adult.
Consider how for a government to deliver on such distorted “rights” and “freedoms”, it must actually erode the liberties of responsible, productive citizens.
Consider how, since September 11, 2001, freedom from fear has become more important to many of us than the United States Constitution that protects our liberties. Terrorism crashed upon our shores and we began clamoring to trade our liberties for safety – for freedom from fear.
Well uncontrolled government was what our Founding Fathers feared. They didn’t all agree on the best way to control government, but they agreed on the need to do so. That’s why we have defining documents like the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution – to define the purpose, powers, and limitations of our government and prevent it from trampling on our liberties.
Our Founders repeatedly and, I think deliberately, chose a word that describes a specific and critical kind of freedom. According to The Random House Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, liberty means, “Freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.” Webster defines it as, “Freedom from government control, interference, or restriction”.
It’s time modern Americans learned the importance of words, of precise definitions. It’s time we learned the meaning of “inalienable rights”, the meaning and value of liberty, and the meaningless of life without it. It’s time we learned the amazing history of our exceptional country and how a man can truly mean it when he stands and shouts, “Give me Liberty, or give me death.”
