Today is the two hundred seventy-seventh anniversary of the birth of the Trumpet of the Revolution, Patrick Henry, Esquire.
Ever since I can remember, Patrick Henry has been one of my heroes.[fn]I wrote a 14-page, single-spaced Times New Roman 12-pt biography about him in high school.[/mfn] He was a tireless defender of liberty, and his stirring cry of “Give me liberty or give me death!” is one of the most well-recognized phrases in American history.
However, it is sobering—though worthwhile—to consider that, less than three hundred years after his birth, the union of states which he helped found has descended, in many respects, to greater depths than the empire from which they won their independence.
Truth is never popular. Henry was accused of treason and called a traitor. Those of us who love liberty today would do well to heed his words and say to those who would silence us, as Henry said, “If this be treason, make the most of it.”[mfn]Caesar-Brutus speech, delivered in defense of his Stamp Act Resolutions on his 29th birthday, May 29, 1765[/mfn]