Blog #4 Refuting Patrick Henry

Mr. President, fellow citizens of the 13 colonies and fellow citizens of Virginia. I stand here today to speak the truth and to persuade you to find a better way to achieve freedom from British rule. We are all intelligent and rational people. How can we not find a better way than with blood shed? Indeed we must fight, but not in battle. Are we willing to sacrifice our own citizen’s lives? Are we ready to fight a great army and live with the consequences of a loss? Every citizen has entrusted their future to us and are we willing to risk it for our own failures? With all do respect sir, my predecessor; Patrick Henry is a man of great skill with words. His words appeal to our emotions instead of our rationale. He calls himself a patriot but he calls for death in the name of freedom: “Give me freedom or give me death” (Henry 2). If we are not granted freedom, is every man in this room prepared to die? There just has to be a better way! Are we ready to give up what we came to this land for? Great things require patience and suffering, and I think freedom is no exception.

Mr. President, Mr. Henry explicitly states that God will “rise up friends to fight battles for us”. I believe it’s wrong to invoke God so that others can do those things that we have to do for ourselves. He also states that “a just God presides over the destinies of Nations”. If this were true, a just God would have abolished slavery and would have guaranteed each citizen its freedom. It is the people and not God who control the destiny of their own nation. Mr. Henry is also implying that it is god’s will for us to fight when in fact a just God is a God of peace and mercy. Through out history, too many people have died and killed in the name of God. Are we ready to take our own destiny in our hands?
Finally sir is it really true that there is no longer any room for “peace and reconciliation”. Have we really exhausted every form of negotiation with the British Empire? Mr. Henry is accusing the British of the exact same thing he wants us to do; to use force to do the job instead of reconciliation. No wonder he has no more hope! No sirs! I have hope because hope is what keeps us alive.


Fellow patriots, I encourage all to unite. Let’s put our minds together and do the job the good citizens of our colonies have entrusted us to do. War is not the answer, peace is.

Picture:
http://www.knowledgehouse.info/images/Patrick_Henry.png
Speech in the Virginia Convention by: Patrick Henry (Article)