Hiram Mojica: "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"
So About This Patrick Henry Guy…
We all know the name, sure. He was one of those old dudes from that one time with those people that did that stuff and there was a war and now we’re a free country. You know, that Patrick Henry guy. Unfortunately, being today’s America, that’s all a lot of people will be able to tell you (if they can even tell you that much). He was, indeed, one of those old dudes that was alive during the Revolutionary War. He did, indeed, help to make America into America. His name was, indeed, Patrick Henry. That’s not exactly specific, now, is it? I mean, this was the ‘Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death’ guy, and few people know much about him…But I digress. This is about specifics he provided to America…No, not America itself, but my life in America today.
First is, of course, what was mentioned above-he helped to get America involved in the war. At this time, most of the Americans were rather bitter about Britain and their terrible taxes-yet few spoke up about it, though a few radical groups were doing their best to protest (the Sons and Daughters of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party). Yet one day, during a normal, everyday (read: boring) day at the House of Burgesses in 1765, an unknown Patrick Henry stood up and gave a speech. Men were stirred, the crowd was awed, women did nothing because they weren’t allowed to watch politics, as this man gave his views on what to do about Britain, that war was the only way to go. At the end, he gave the shout of ‘give me liberty, or give me death!’ a summary of his whole speech-the only way to break from Britain would be to go to war, and soon. It is said by some that, with this, it was he who fired the first shot of the Revolutionary War-by actually standing up and saying something, he got everything started. In fact, that very DAY, so powerful was his speech, that the convention, who had met to create a ceasefire, instead turned around and voted for war.
Of course, it’s not really necessary to go into what that means-America won the war, and thus, they became a free and sovereign nation. That’s part one of how Patrick Henry plays in my life today, for, living in America, this affects me and everything I do every day. I live a none-oppressed life, I am able to choose who I want to lead me (or at least next year I will), I am in charge of my life. Sure, we still pay the taxes that we protested against, but that’s no matter- we now have a voice on taxes, and that voice is actually considered by the government in the way that they vote. Wait, though, there’s more- post-war America didn’t have a government, really-the Constitutional Congress met to sort that mess up.
In this, two main groups came up-the federalists (pro-central government) and the anti-federalists (pro-states rights). Henry sided with the anti-federalists. He had always been a bit of a radical (hence the fact that it was him who ‘fired the first shot’), and this group was the side for change-to change from the centralized, monarchial government that they all knew into a decentralized and loose union of states. They were very staunch in this-and for good reason. What would have been the point of so many lives and months wasted trying to gain independence if they were just going to put up the same kind of government? With this gifted orator on their side, the anti-federalists put up a very good fight to keep the states rights.
There was more to them than just the states, though-there was the individual. Patrick Henry and his fellow anti-federalists were champions of the little people. When the Constitution was drafted, he protested it, saying that by having the aristocrats make it, the Constitution was biased. A Bill of Rights was then demanded by him and his group before they would even CONSIDER ratifying the document. The bill of rights became the first 10 amendments to the constitution, another thing that affect me every day. I can own a gun, speak with whatever words I want, and keep myself safe from illegal search and seizure (not that I have anything to hide). Another big one thanks to him.
Of course, to keep the central government from getting too powerful, he also got a series of checks and balances put into play-but that doesn’t really affect me as much, does it now?
These are the obvious things, though-the ones everyone knows. They’re facts. Look online (at a legit sight, you monkeys), in a textbook, a documentary, and there it is-all these laid out. But there is something more on a personal note that he did.
He gives me hope.
Today, people are lazy and unmotivated people. Why go to the movies when I can watch it online? Why walk when I can drive? Why should I do this when you can do it better? Why should I do today what I can put off until tomorrow? It goes on like that- no motivation, no action. Of course, not everyone is like that-there’s always the go-getters. We hear about them all the time. We don’t hear about the unmotivated masses though-but we did hear about Patrick Henry.
See, young Patrick was an unmotivated child. He really did not care. It was obvious that he was very gifted, very smart, but it was also obvious that if he could avoid it, whatever it was, he would. It was obvious he would not be a farmer. His family put him into a business, which he bankrupted rather quickly. Finally, the general public showing disgust toward him, and mounting pressure from his young family (for somehow such an unmotivated man managed to marry), he became a lawyer, got elected to the House of Burgesses, and the rest is history.
So it should be pretty apparent why this gives me hope, especially in high school. No one cares in high school. Everything gets done at the last second, only with as much quality as that short time allows (so not much). People complain about the teachers being out to get them then, even though it’s their fault. Do they change their ways? No.
At least, that is, not yet. Patrick Henry went through a lot of his life before he turned his life around, and that fills me with the hope that somewhere along the way, these people I watch ooze their way through life will stop and realize what they’ve been doing-or rather, not doing. They, too, will hopefully go on and do something great (just hopefully not another bloody revolution). The youth of the nation now scares me-but the thought that they could turn around like Patrick Henry is a hope I cling to with all my strength.
It gives me hope for the motivated people, too-that they could become even more. It’s no real shame if these people stay as they are, though- they’re already out there, waiting to change the world…WANTING to change the world. They just need the chance.
Freedom. Patrick Henry’s name should be synonymous with this word-this brilliant orator instilled the desire for it, the drive for it, in a people willing to turn that down for peace under continued oppression. People already wanted to break from Britain, but it was he who convinced them that only a war would be the thing to break them away. When it was needed for a new form of government to be injected into the American nation, he and his anti-federalist group helped to mold it into the form we see today. Thanks in no small part to him, America is what it is today.
He gave me freedom. This isn’t just me that Patrick affected here-this is everyone who lives in this country. If he hadn’t pushed for war, America may have been under Britain’s control still-and we’d still be oppressed by the powers that be, the monarch that rules whether we want it or not. Thanks to him, I have my rights. I can say what I want and do what I want-provided it’s legal, of course. If I felt like it, I could even type here a nasty joke about the president, and it would still be legal. That’s the kind of magic that Patrick gave me. Yet most importantly, and most personally, he gave me hope. Hope for the future that I usually do not have very much of (says the little ray of sunshine). Hope for the people around me, and with that, there’s an ease inside.
Patrick Henry kind of affected the world. Our Revolution inspired others. Our Constitution has been copied even by the nations that helped to create us. He ddidn’t just affect me-though affect he did-he managed to change the world. Not too shabby for a lazy, unmotivated lawyer.
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