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Description:

Famously quoted as saying, "Give me liberty or give me death," Patrick Henry rallied the people and began the fight for America.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:08

Patrick Henry, a la Shmoop.

00:10

When the British really started putting the screws to the Colonists…

00:13

…most of them just sat there and took it.

00:17

That is, until one man refused to take it anymore.

00:20

Coming in the summer of 1776…

00:23

THE INCREDIBLE PATRICK HENRY! To Pat – better known as “Skullcrusher”

00:28

– many Colonists were privileged old, rich men…

00:31

…who had a lot to lose by starting a revolution.

00:34

In other words...

00:35

...they were wusses.

00:36

Pat couldn’t take it much more. He first blew up at something called “The Stamp Act…”

00:41

…which was a major tax the British imposed on the colonies.

00:44

It made Pat angry.

00:46

You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

00:49

He pushed through what were called the Virginia Resolves…

00:52

…which basically said the British could screw America' over.

00:54

He was called a traitor right there on the spot.

00:57

He, in turn, said the Colonists who called him a traitor could…

01:00

…“verily place it with much force into an area where the sun does not shine.”

01:07

Pat went on to lay the groundwork for the First Continental Congress…

01:10

…which was like the Avengers version of the Founding Fathers.

01:13

The British sent troops to maintain order…

01:16

…and the wusses… the other Colonists, couldn’t decide what to do.

01:20

Pat couldn’t take it anymore. He leapt onto a table and roared:

01:24

“GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH!”

01:27

The other Congressman jumped up and yelled… …“To arms! To arms!”

01:31

After the war, Pat did not want to adopt the Constitution.

01:34

In fact, he hated the Constitution.

01:36

So much so that he was one of the driving forces behind the Bill of Rights…

01:39

…which, to Pat, fixed what was wrong with the Constitution.

01:43

George Washington and John Adams both offered Pat jobs in their presidencies…

01:48

…but in true Pat fashion, he told them where they could stick it.

01:54

What do you think?

01:54

Would the Colonists ever have revolted without Patrick Henry there to push them?

01:58

Or was he just expressing what folks like Jefferson and Franklin were already thinking.

02:02

Shmoop amongst themselves.

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