Misplaced Pages

#127872

56-435: Give Me Liberty may refer to: " Give me liberty, or give me death! ", a 1775 quotation attributed to Patrick Henry Film [ edit ] Give Me Liberty (1936 film) , an American drama short directed by B. Reeves Eason Give Me Liberty (2019 film) , an American comedy directed by Kirill Mikhanovsky Literature [ edit ] Give Me Liberty (comics) ,

112-743: A German immigrant colony in Florida on lands that he bought but never inspected personally; this business venture failed. Wirt practiced law until his death. He fell sick on February 8, 1834, in Washington, D.C., where he attended the proceedings of the Supreme Court. His biographer John P. Kennedy wrote that the early diagnosis of a cold was followed by identifying the symptoms of erysipelas or St. Anthony's fire. He died on February 18, 1834. Wirt's last rites were attended by President Jackson and members of his cabinet; John Quincy Adams read

168-744: A Tragedy , was popular in the American Colonies and well known by the Founding Fathers who frequently quoted from the play. George Washington had the play performed for the Continental Army at Valley Forge . It contains the line, "It is not now time to talk of aught/But chains or conquest, liberty or death" (Act II, Scene 4). The phrase "Liberty or Death" also appears on the Culpeper Minutemen flag of 1775. In Handel 's 1746 oratorio Judas Maccabeus ,

224-451: A comic book mini-series by Frank Miller published 1990 Give Me Liberty , a 1936 book by Rose Wilder Lane Give Me Liberty , a 2006 young adult novel by L. M. Elliott Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries , a 2008 book by Naomi Wolf Give Me Liberty!: An American History , a 2004 book by Eric Foner Give Me Liberty , a comic drawn by Ted Richards Other uses [ edit ] "Give Me Liberty",

280-400: A committee to prepare a plan for the embodying arming and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that purpose." Despite this resolution, many moderate delegates remained uncertain where the resistance urged by Henry and other radicals would lead, and few counties formed independent militia companies at the urging of the convention. Nevertheless, Henry was named as chairman of

336-970: A eulogy address in the House of Representatives. William Wirt was buried in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The house he occupied in Richmond from 1816 to 1818, known as the Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Wirt's earliest work was Letters of the British Spy , which he first contributed to the Richmond Argus in 1803, and which won immediate popularity. The letters are chiefly studies of eloquence and eloquent men, are written in

392-558: A former Freemason . He had taken the first two degrees of Freemasonry in Jerusalem Lodge #54 Richmond, Virginia becoming a fellow craft , or second degree, mason. Wirt wrote in his acceptance letter to the nominating convention that he found Freemasonry unobjectionable and that in his experience many Masons were "intelligent men of high and honourable character" who would never choose Freemasonry above "their duties to their God and country". Historian William Vaughn wrote, "Wirt

448-399: A member of Congress from Maryland), thought Wirt had more than ordinary natural ability and invited him to reside with his family as tutor to Ninian and two nephews, offering him also the use of his library for his own studies. Wirt accepted the offer and stayed twenty months, teaching, pursuing his own classical and historical studies, writing, and preparing for the bar. Wirt was admitted to

504-661: A posthumous reconstruction of the speech in his 1817 work Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry . This is the version of the speech as it is widely known today and was reconstructed based on the recollections of elderly witnesses many decades later. A scholarly debate persists among colonial historians as to what extent Wirt or others invented parts of the speech including its famous closing words. The Second Virginia Convention met at St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia , on March 20, 1775. Delegates selected

560-560: A presiding officer, and they elected delegates to the Continental Congress . At the convention, Patrick Henry —a delegate from Hanover County —offered amendments to raise a militia independent of royal authority in terms that explicitly recognized that war with the British Empire was inevitable, sparking the opposition of convention moderates. On March 23, Henry defended his amendments and purportedly concluded with

616-486: A series of didactic and ethical essays, entitled The Old Bachelor , which, collected, passed through several editions (2 vols., 1812). These papers treat of female education, Virginian manners, the fine arts, and especially oratory. An essay from this collection, "Eloquence of the Pulpit", a vigorous and passionate protest against coldness in this genre, has been singled out for praise. In October 1826, Wirt delivered before

SECTION 10

#1732787784128

672-467: A song by David Haberfeld "Give Me Liberty", an episode of the television series Supercarrier "Give Me Liberty", the first mission of the video game Grand Theft Auto III "Give Me Liberty", the callsign of radio station WGML , licensed to Hinesville, Georgia, US See also [ edit ] Liberty or Death (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

728-642: A time, Wirt took advantage of the hospitality of the country gentlemen and the convivial habits of the members of the bar so that he was regarded by other attorneys as a bon vivant, a fascinating, cheerful, and lively companion, rather than as an ambitious lawyer. In 1799 his wife died, and he moved to Richmond , where he became clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates, then chancellor of the Eastern District of Virginia, resigning after six months. In 1802, he married Elizabeth Washington Gamble ,

784-438: A two-paragraph reconstruction of the speech in a letter to Wirt, but Tucker noted that it was "in vain... to give any idea of his speech". Using Tucker's two paragraphs, Wirt "filled in the blanks" and created a speech that was far longer in length. The original letter with Tucker's remembrances has been lost. For 160 years, Wirt's reconstruction of Henry's speech was accepted as fact. In the 1970s, historians began to question

840-533: A vivid and luxuriant style, and may be regarded, in spite of the exceptional excellence of "The Blind Preacher", as rather a prophecy of literary skill than its fulfilment. They were soon afterward issued in book form (Richmond, 1803; 10th ed., with a biographical sketch of the author by Peter H. Cruse, New York, 1832). In 1808 Wirt wrote for the Richmond Enquirer essays entitled The Rainbow , and in 1810, with Dabney Carr , George Tucker , and others,

896-756: Is a quotation attributed to American politician and orator Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia . Henry is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the convention to pass a resolution delivering Virginian troops for the Revolutionary War . Among the delegates to the convention were future United States presidents Thomas Jefferson and George Washington . Over forty years after Patrick Henry delivered his speech and eighteen years after his death, biographer William Wirt published

952-526: 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 ! As he concluded, Henry plunged an ivory paper knife towards his chest in imitation of

1008-448: Is that of the fiery orator who in 1775 so powerfully influenced Virginians and events leading to American independence." The hand of fate is over us, and Heav'n Exacts severity from all our thoughts. It is not now a time to talk of aught But chains or conquest, liberty or death. — Cato, a Tragedy (1713), Act II, Scene 4 There had been similar phrases used preceding Henry's speech. The 1320 Declaration of Arbroath made in

1064-592: The Cherokee in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia . Though Wirt was himself a former Freemason , the Anti-Masonic Party nominated him for president in 1832. Wirt did not actively campaign for office and refused to publicly speak against Masonry. Nonetheless, the ticket of Wirt and Amos Ellmaker carried the state of Vermont , becoming the first third party presidential ticket to win a state. After

1120-582: The Delphian Club . After leaving his position as attorney general, Wirt settled in Baltimore , Maryland . He became a candidate for president in 1832, nominated by the Anti-Masonic Party. This party held the first ever national nominating convention in U.S. history on September 11, 1830, in Philadelphia establishing the tradition. The date was chosen to commemorate the fourth anniversary of

1176-533: The Greek War of Independence in the 1820s, "Liberty or Death" ( Eleftheria i thanatos ) became a rallying cry for Greeks who rebelled against Ottoman rule. During this same period, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil purportedly uttered the famous "Cry from [the river] Ipiranga" , "Independence or Death" ( Independência ou Morte ) in 1821, when Brazil was still a colony of Portugal . The 1833 national anthem of Uruguay , " Orientales, la Patria o la Tumba ", contains

SECTION 20

#1732787784128

1232-674: The Jacksonian Democrats . When his expectations did not materialize, he wrote in frustration about his presidential aspirations: "What the use ... it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket." In the election, Wirt carried Vermont with seven electoral votes, becoming the first candidate of an organized third party to carry a state, and he remains the only presidential candidate so successful who came from Maryland. When The Providence American newspaper suggested that Wirt could run again in 1836, he quickly declined. In 1833, Wirt became involved with his son-in-law in establishing

1288-528: The Morgan Affair . However, no candidate was agreed upon. The actual nomination occurred a year later during the second convention in Baltimore. On September 28, 1831, Wirt became a presidential candidate after the fifth ballot. Amos Ellmaker became his running mate . Wirt is the only person from Maryland to ever become a presidential candidate who won any electoral votes . Wirt was, in fact,

1344-510: The U.S. Supreme Court . Wirt argued, in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia , that the Cherokee Nation was "a foreign nation in the sense of our constitution and law" and was therefore not subject to Georgia's jurisdiction. Wirt asked the Supreme Court to void all Georgia laws extended over Cherokee territory on the grounds that they violated the U.S. Constitution , United States–Cherokee treaties, and United States intercourse laws. Although

1400-562: The 1970s someone had broken into the Wirt Tomb at Washington, D.C.'s Congressional Cemetery and had stolen Wirt's skull. After the skull was recovered from the house of a historical memorabilia collector, Robert L. White , it spent time in D.C. Council member Jim Graham 's office while he tried to get it returned to its rightful crypt. Finally in 2005 investigators from the Smithsonian Institution were able to determine

1456-710: The Bullet " in Cleveland , Malcolm X said, "It'll be ballots, or it'll be bullets. It'll be liberty, or it will be death. The only difference about this kind of death—it'll be reciprocal." In 2012, Ren Jianyu, a Chinese 25-year-old former college student village official, was given a two-year re-education through labor sentence for an online speech against the Chinese Communist Party . A T-shirt of Ren saying "Give me liberty or give me death!" (in Chinese)

1512-664: The Court determined that it did not have original jurisdiction in this case, the Court held open the possibility that it yet might rule in favor of the Cherokee. Wirt therefore waited for a test case to again resolve the constitutionality of the laws of Georgia. On March 1, 1831, Georgia passed a law aimed at evicting missionaries, who were perceived as encouraging the Cherokee resistance to removal from Cherokee lands. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions , an interdenominational missionary organization, hired Wirt to challenge

1568-731: The Factories to the Workers" embroidered in silver on its two sides. In March 1941, the motto of the public demonstrations in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia against the signing of a treaty with Nazi Germany was "Better grave than slave" ( Bolje grob nego rob ). During the Indonesian National Revolution , the Pemuda ("Youth") used the phrase Merdeka atau Mati ("Freedom or Death"). In the 1964 speech " The Ballot or

1624-578: The Roman patriot Cato the Younger . According to Edmund Randolph , the convention sat in profound silence for several minutes after Henry's speech ended. George Mason , who later drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights , said that the audience's passions were not their own after Henry had addressed them. Thomas Marshall told his son John Marshall , who later became Chief Justice of

1680-775: The United States , that the speech was "one of the boldest, vehement, and animated pieces of eloquence that had ever been delivered." Edward Carrington , listening by a window, was so affected by the speech that he requested to be buried there, and in "1810, he got his wish." Henry's speech ultimately swayed the convention, and it was resolved that the colony be "put into a posture of defence: and that Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee , Robert Carter Nicholas , Benjamin Harrison , Lemuel Riddick, George Washington , Adam Stephen , Andrew Lewis , William Christian , Edmund Pendleton , Thomas Jefferson and Isaac Zane , Esquires, be

1736-581: The United States against Daniel Webster in Gibbons v. Ogden that the federal patent laws preempted New York State's patent grant to steamboat inventor Robert Fulton 's successor, Aaron Ogden, of the exclusive right to operate a steamboat between New York and New Jersey in the Hudson River. Wirt argued "that a power in the States to grant exclusive patents, is utterly inconsistent with the power given to

Give Me Liberty - Misplaced Pages Continue

1792-543: The Virginia bar in 1792, and he began practice at Culpeper Courthouse. Wirt had the advantages of a vigorous constitution and a good carriage, but the drawbacks of meager legal equipment, constitutional shyness, and brusque and indistinct speech. In 1795, he married Mildred, daughter of Dr. George Gilmer, and moved to Pen Park, where Gilmer lived, near Charlottesville . There he made the acquaintance of many persons of eminence, including Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. For

1848-652: The acts of Congress". During the 1820s, Wirt was a member of the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences , which included as members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions. Wirt was also an honorary member of the American Whig–Cliosophic Society and associated with

1904-450: The authenticity of Wirt's rendition. According to the only written first-hand account of the speech, Henry's 1775 speech used graphic name-calling that does not appear in Wirt's 1817 rendition. Furthermore, Wirt's reconstruction is devoid of Henry's rhetorical custom of invoking fear of Indian attacks in promoting independence from Britain. Given Wirt's artistic liberties in reconstructing

1960-399: The citizens of Washington a discourse on the lives and characters of the ex-presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson , who had died on 4 July of the same year (Washington, 1826). The London Quarterly Review , in a paper on American oratory several years afterward, pronounced this discourse "the best which this remarkable coincidence has called forth". In 1830 Wirt delivered an address to

2016-567: The committee assigned to build a militia. A month later, Lord Dunmore , the governor of Virginia , ordered Royal Navy sailors to remove all stocks of gunpowder from the powder magazine at Williamsburg, Virginia . This flashpoint—later known as the Gunpowder Incident —became Virginia's equivalent of the Battle of Lexington . Upon learning of Dunmore's decision, Patrick Henry led his militia toward Williamsburg to force return of

2072-569: The context of Scottish independence was a letter to Pope John XXII that contained the line: "It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom—for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself". It is commonly cited as an inspiration for the Declaration of Independence by many, including Trent Lott in a speech before the United States Senate . The 1713 play, Cato,

2128-541: The daughter of Colonel Robert Gamble of Richmond. In the winter of 1803/04, Wirt moved to Norfolk , but in 1806, wishing for a wider field of practice, returned to Richmond. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson asked him to be the prosecutor in Aaron Burr 's trial for treason. His principal speech, four hours in length, was characterized by eloquent appeal, polished wit, and logical reasoning. It greatly extended his fame. The passage in which he depicted in glowing colors

2184-462: The election, Wirt continued to practice law until his death in 1834. Wirt County, West Virginia , is named in Wirt's honor. William Wirt was born in Bladensburg, Maryland , to a German mother, Henrietta, and a Swiss German father, Jacob Wirt. Both of his parents died before he was eight years old and Jasper Wirt, his uncle, became his guardian. Between his seventh and his eleventh year Wirt

2240-415: The following statement: If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war

2296-457: The gunpowder to the colony. The stand-off was resolved without conflict when a payment of £ 330 was made to Henry. Fearing for his safety, Dunmore retreated to a naval vessel, ending royal control of the colony. Henry became the independent state's first governor in July 1776. Over 40 years after Patrick Henry delivered his speech and 18 years after Henry's death, a reconstruction of the speech

Give Me Liberty - Misplaced Pages Continue

2352-585: The hero sings, "Resolve, my sons, on liberty or death." Phrases equivalent to liberty or death have appeared in a variety of other places. In the summer of 1787, the armed citizens' militia of the Dutch Republic paraded and drilled beneath banners extolling "Liberty or Death". Soon after, amid the French Revolution , the sentence that would become the national motto of France "Liberté égalité fraternité" ("Liberty, equality, fraternity")

2408-507: The home of Harman Blennerhassett and "the wife of his bosom, whom he lately permitted not the winds of summer 'to visit too roughly'", as "shivering at midnight on the wintry banks of the Ohio, and mingling her tears with the torrents that froze as they fell", was for many years a favorite piece for academic declamation. Wirt was nicknamed the "Whip Syllabub Genius" by his enemies for the frothy, over-the-top nature of his oratory. In 1808, Wirt

2464-524: The line ¡Libertad o con gloria morir! ("Liberty or with glory to die!"). Serbian Chetnik Organization , formed in early 20th Century, had "Sloboda ili smrt/Freedom or Death" as one of its mottos. During the Russian Civil War , the flag used by Nestor Makhno 's anarchist Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine had the dual slogans "Liberty or Death" and "The Land to the Peasants,

2520-526: The literary societies of Rutgers College , which, after its publication by the students (New Brunswick, 1830), was republished in England, and translated into French and German. His other publications are: Wirt had the distinction of being regarded for many years as the chief man of letters in the South. In the early 2000s, after a series of mysterious phone calls to the cemetery, it was discovered that in

2576-594: The national government to grant such exclusive patents: and hence, that the power given to Congress is one which is exclusive from its nature." Although the Gibbons Court declined to decide the question, 140 years later the Supreme Court confirmed Wirt's view in Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co. In June 1830, a delegation of Cherokee led by Chief John Ross selected Wirt on the urging of Senators Webster and Frelinghuysen to defend Cherokee rights before

2632-546: The new law. On March 3, 1832, the decision in Worcester v. Georgia , authored by Chief Justice John Marshall , held that the Cherokee Nation was "a distinct community, occupying its own territory, with boundaries accurately described, in which the laws of Georgia can have no force, and which the citizens of Georgia have no right to enter but with the assent of the Cherokees themselves or in conformity with treaties and with

2688-507: The prosecutor in Aaron Burr 's trial for treason. He won election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1808 and was appointed as a United States Attorney in 1816. The following year, President James Monroe appointed him to the position of United States Attorney General. Wirt remained in that office for the next twelve years, serving under Monroe and John Quincy Adams . He continued his law career after leaving office, representing

2744-426: The speech, it is possible that Henry never uttered the quotation, "Give me liberty or give me death," and scholars question to what extent the speech we know is the work of Wirt or Tucker. According to historian Bernard Mayo , most scholars are skeptical of the accuracy of Wirt's rendition of Henry's speech. Nevertheless, "its expressions... seemed to have burned themselves into men's memories. Certainly, its spirit

2800-521: The title Give Me Liberty . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Give_Me_Liberty&oldid=1226777740 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Give me liberty, or give me death! " Give me liberty or give me death! "

2856-506: Was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1816, he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Virginia , and in 1817 President James Monroe named him the ninth Attorney General of the United States, a position he held for over 11 years, through the administration of John Quincy Adams, until 1829. William Wirt has the record for the longest tenure in history of any U.S. attorney general. In 1824, Attorney General Wirt argued for

SECTION 50

#1732787784128

2912-748: Was possibly the most reluctant and most unwilling presidential candidate ever nominated by an American party.' After being selected Wirt started to regret his nomination and distanced himself from actual campaigning. He admitted later, "In the canvass I took no part, not even by writing private letters, which, on the contrary, I refused to answer whenever such answers could be interpreted into canvassing for office." In private conversations Wirt criticized Masonry for alleged intent to create international order ruled from Europe, but refused all Antimasonic attempts to make his sentiments public. He hoped for enthusiastic national support to an electoral alliance between Anti-Masons and National Republicans that would overpower

2968-731: Was presented as evidence of his guilt. In the 2022 COVID-19 protests in China , a man in Chongqing was filmed giving a speech criticizing harsh lockdown measures, shouting "Give me liberty or give me death!" in Chinese repeatedly to the cheers of onlookers. William Wirt (Attorney General) Wirt grew up in Maryland but pursued a legal career in Virginia , passing the Virginia bar in 1792. After holding various positions, he served as

3024-438: Was printed in Wirt's 1817 biography Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry . Wirt corresponded with elderly men who had heard the speech in their youth as well as others who were acquainted with people who were there at the time. All concurred that Henry's speech had produced a profound effect upon its audience, but only one surviving witness attempted to reconstruct the actual speech. St. George Tucker attempted

3080-723: Was sent to several classical schools and finally to one kept by the Reverend James Hunt in Montgomery County , where he received over the course of four years the chief part of his education. For two years he boarded with Hunt, in whose library he spent much of his time, reading with a keen and indiscriminate appetite. In his 15th year the school was disbanded, and his inheritance nearly exhausted. Ninian Edwards (later governor of Illinois) had been Wirt's schoolmate, and Edwards's father, Benjamin Edwards (later

3136-512: Was sometimes written as "Liberté, égalité, fraternité ou la mort" ("Liberty, equality, fraternity or death"). The Society of United Irishmen in the 1790s and 1800s adopted 'Liberty or Death' as a slogan. During the 1798 rebellion appeals to the population were printed out featuring the heading "Liberty or Death!". It was also a rallying cry of the 1804 Castle Hill convict rebellion in Australia staged by United Irishmen convicts. During

#127872