Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!: Resources

It's true. Check out Colonial Williamsburg's Patrick Henry page, and while you're there, learn more about other Founding Fathers at Virginia's colonial capital. You can't walk down Duke of Gloucester Street without running into a patriot.

The official Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation is located at Red Hill, Henry's last home. We really hope there's an actual red hill.

Henrico Parish Church (now St. John's) is still standing and still promoting Henry's speech. Hey, when you've got a winner, you've got a winner.

Watch A&E's Biography episode on Patrick Henry—all the juicy goss on the most metal Founding Father.

The TV show Liberty's Kids did a Patrick Henry episode…because of course they did. It's called Liberty's Kids, after all, and Patrick Henry is the "Voice of Liberty."

"The Speech: It May Not Be the One Patrick Henry So Famously Made" by Jim Cox discusses the construction of the text we recognize as the "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!" speech. Doesn't it inspire you to write your own fake historical speech?

"The Upstart, the Speaker, the Scandals, and Scotchtown: The Rustic Henry Rises" by Alan Pell Crawford describes how Henry's political career led to his famous speech. Newsflash: political double speak is nothing new.

...you're on the History Channel. Or at least you're good for a few Nielsen ratings. Check out their Patrick Henry videos.

Step aside, History Channel. We've got our own Henry video. Hulk smash!

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities presents this clip from a 1957 film about Henry, Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot. Hands on hips is a classic rhetorical pose, and Henry nails it here.

Here's a clip from the 1936 short film, Give Me Liberty. Henry sounds like he feels a bit "meh" about the whole thing.

A celebration of the 240th anniversary of Henry's speech, presented by Historic St. John's Church. Check out the ponytail on this guy.

This is as close as we can get. Hear Richard Schumann, Patrick Henry interpreter for Colonial Williamsburg, perform the speech. Scroll to the bottom and download the MP3 so you can jam out to P-Hen whenever.

Check out this contemporary painting of Patrick Henry looking like he's about to get down to business. You know it's getting real when the glasses go up.

We wonder how Henry would have felt about this stamp. Would he have to resolve against his own face?

Henrico Parish Church (Now St. John's), where Henry gave his famous speech. Now you've got visuals.

Here's the guy who wrote Patrick Henry's first biography. Like Thomas Jefferson, we use the term "biography" loosely.

We wonder if he looked like this while he was pulling Henry's speech from memory.