The Patriot Post® · America 250: Moving Toward Independence — Maybe

After months of open and subtle confrontation in Boston between the Sons of Liberty and the English Parliament, the attention shifted south to Philadelphia, where an argument of another type was growing. The First Continental Congress, comprising delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies, gathered at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia in September 1774 for debate regarding the future of the English colonies.

And it was a spirited debate.

There were the delegates who simply wanted to “correct the course” between the colonies and the mother country by forging a new relationship with Great Britain that would result in the repeal of unreasonable laws. They — Edward Rutledge (SC), John Dickinson (PA), John Jay (NY), and others — were disdainful of their revolutionary “firebrand” brethren, Samuel Adams (MA), Roger Sherman (CT), and Patrick Henry (VA), among others. What did the firebrands desire? Well, it was that somewhat familiar refrain — the rights of Englishmen as ordained in the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. Their position was that Parliament was abusing its colonies, and that could be corrected with a few bold reminders from a unified group of colonies.

By the time the meeting ended, compromise reigned victorious, and there was no declaration of independence. But there was action. The delegates chose to sign the Continental Association in its Declaration and Resolves, calling for a boycott of all British goods, beginning in early December 1774. The true value of that action came when all the colonial assemblies except New York approved the declaration.

While the delegates were hopeful that the political conditions would change, they were unwilling to lay aside their goals. Instead, they agreed to meet the next year for a second congress, and invitations were sent to all 13 colonies, East and West Florida, and the British colonies in Canada.

Months passed. A mass boycott was underway, but Great Britain’s position seemed unchanged. King George III read the Declaration and Resolves and dismissed it as another example of the “spirit of resistance and disobedience to the law” that seemed to be spreading across his colonies in North America.

In Virginia, the House of Burgesses gathered to consider the increasing tensions between Great Britain and its colonies. As the oldest colony, others often looked to Virginia for a sense of leadership, and in March 1775, one Virginian spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear him. Patrick Henry, an attorney and delegate from Hanover County, called for unity with words that would echo through history and often be paraphrased by others who did not remember their origin.

Henry, a renowned orator, spoke without notes and with “an unearthly fire burning in his eye,” according to a minister in the gallery. “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian; I am an American.”

After walking through the colonies’ recent history, Henry noted, “Our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne… We must fight. An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!”

Few remember those words or the power of his argument. What we do remember are his final passionate words.

“Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! 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? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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!”

The churchman later recalled that as Henry delivered those final words, he used a letter opener to gesture a fatal stab to his heart.

Dramatic. Symbolic. Fiery. Words that would help spur the colonies to action, but not until months and months had passed. The taste of those words as repeated was glorious, but declaring independence was not an action to be taken lightly.

Patrick Henry would get a second chance to advocate action as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. His fellow delegate, Thomas Jefferson, would later recall, “He was before us all in maintaining the spirit of the Revolution.”