Patrick Henry: Speech to the Virginia Convention
Study Questions
1. To whom does Henry address his remarks? What angle of vision does he use? (Looking
down, eye-to-eye, looking up) How do we know this is his angle of vision?
2. In paragraph one, what does Henry believe to be the only way to arrive at the truth?
3. Why does Henry feel he must speak out in opposition to the previous speakers who urged
moderation and the maintenance of a peaceful attitude toward Britain?
4. In paragraph two, of what does Henry accuse the colonists? How is the mythical allusion to
the “Song of the Siren” significant? (Be sure to define “allusion” if you don’t already know
the term.)
5. Why does Henry distrust “the insidious smile with which our petition has been lately
received?” Hint: How do the actions of the British ministry contradict the way they might
appear?
6. In paragraph four Henry asks a rhetorical question. What is a rhetorical question? What is the
rhetorical question that Henry asks?
7. In paragraphs five and six, Henry cites some of the efforts colonists have made to maintain
peace. What are they? How have these efforts been received?
8. What does Henry propose to do?
9. Henry argues that peaceful options have been exhausted and that war will come sooner or
later. Summarize the argument Henry makes for fighting now instead of waiting.
10. What is Henry’s response to the possibility that war may break out soon?
11. What does Henry see as the alternative to war? Why is that alternative so unthinkable?
12. Henry’s line “Give me liberty, or give me death,” is an example of parallelism. What is
parallelism and how might the use of parallelism have made this statement such a famous
one?