Patrick Henry's new reso lutions Patrick Here Patrick Henry offered resolutions declaring that Virginia should arm herself for the coming war. DECLAIMING PATRICK HENRY'S FAMOUS SPEECH As a favorite declamation this great speech still rouses It was a serious time, and these were serious resolutions. Should the thirteen colonies go to war with one of the greatest nations in the world? Would it not be wise to send more petitions to the king? Some of the ablest men in Virginia opposed Henry's resolutions. 84. Patrick Henry Defends his Resolutions. Patrick Henry listened to the speeches with smothered excite When he rose to defend his resolutions his face was pale and his voice was trembling. But soon his audience forgot what other men had said. They leaned forward and listened as if no other man had spoken. He stirred their deepest feelings when he declared: "We must fight! I repeat it, Sir, we must fight! An Henry's appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all that is left to us. They tell us, Sir, that we are weak; unable to cope speech with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of Nature hath placed in our greatest THE CULPEPPER MINUTE MEN LIBERTY OR DEATH power. There is no retreat but in submission and DONT TREAD ON ME THE FLAG OF THE in the field! Why stand we here idle! 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." War is inevitable One who heard this speech says that when the orator spoke the words "chains and slavery," he stood like a slave with his body bent, his wrists crossed, as if bound by chains, and that his face looked like that of a hopeless slave. After a solemn pause he raised his eyes and What a chained hands toward heaven, and said, as if in prayer: listener "Forbid it, Almighty God!" He then slowly bent his in St. John's OLD POWDER HOUSE, The removal of the powder body still nearer the floor, looking Church The men who heard this great uprising of the Virginians speech never forgot it. The people of What Virginia now pushed forward the work of arming her men. Washing- And when her own Washington went to take command of ton saw in Boston in 1775 Patrick Henry loved by Virginians Patrick in his old PATRICK HENRY From the bronze figure of the Washington the army at Boston he found Virginia soldiers there wearing on their hunting shirts the words "Liberty or death!" From this time on Patrick Henry was in the forefront of the struggle with England. Virginia sent him to Congress, then she made him an officer in the army, and finally not only made him the first governor after independence was declared, but elected him to that office three times in succession, and offered him the same office three times more. After independence was won Patrick Henry opposed the adoption of our constitution, although Washington, Madison, and many of his friends were in favor of it. When, however, he saw that the new constitution was a good one, he gave his support to his friend, President Washington. Patrick Henry finally retired to his plantation and refused all offers of office. Many old friends and many great strangers went to visit him in his old age as one of the great men of the American Revolution. In the year of his death (1799), when some danger threatened Virginia, Patrick Henry came forth at Washington's request, old and feeble as he was, and aroused the people once more with his burning words. They elected him to the House of Burgesses by a great majority, but he did not live to take office. SAMUEL ADAMS, THE FIREBRAND OF THE REVOLUTION Adams the pen A 85. Samuel Adams. While Patrick Henry was stir- Samuel ring the feelings of the people by his fiery eloquence, Samuel Adams was stirring them by strong arguments in of the his writings, to oppose the acts of king and of Parliament. RevoluSamuel Adams was born in Massachusetts (1722). tion While he loved school and books he cared very little for spending his time in outdoor amusements. At eighteen Samuel was graduated from Harvard College. His student parents hoped that he would be a minister, but he began to study law. His mother was so opposed to his becoming a lawyer that he gave up the study and turned to business. He set up in business for himself, but, like Patrick Henry, soon lost all. He next went into business with his father, but in that, too, he failed. Finally Samuel Adams turned to politics. While a student in Harvard he had debated the question whether it was right to resist the king to save the country from ruin. He took an active part in debating clubs and very SAMUEL ADAMS From the original painting by John soon began to write for the news- Singleton Copley, representing Adams papers, encouraging resistance. in 1771, now hanging in the Museum Early love for politics Why Adams opposed the Stamp Act How he opposed Stamp He never hesitated to take what he thought the right side of any question. Speaking before a meeting of Boston people, Samuel Adams boldly declared that if England could tax the business of the colonies, then, "why not tax our lands and everything we possess or make use of?" Such taxes, he said, would make the colonists slaves. In a short time the people of Boston were reading in the papers the fiery resolutions and the still more fiery speech of Patrick Henry. Samuel Adams seized his pen and also began to pour hot shot into the Stamp Act. The Boston people elected him to be their representative in the Massachusetts Assembly. More and more he took the lead in the movement against the Stamp Act. He went about the shops, into the stores, wherever he found people to listen to him. He helped them form a society, called the Sons of Liberty, which destroyed the hated stamps as soon as they arrived. He talked with the merchants, and they signed a pledge not to buy any more goods from England until the Stamp Act was repealed. At this the British merchants felt the loss of trade and joined in the cry against the Stamp Act. 86. The Tea Tax. We have seen that Parliament, after the Stamp Act was repealed, passed the famous Tea Act. The Americans were angry again, and the Sons of Liberty declared that no tea should be landed. The merchants took the pledge again to buy no more English goods, and patriotic women began to make tea out of the leaves of other plants. Samuel Adams again sharpened his pen, and wrote the famous old "Circular Letter," which urged all the |