On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech to a meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses being held at St. John’s Church in Richmond. A renowned orator, Henry was speaking out of more than a decade of opposition to the British Crown, which he viewed as usurping the rights of American colonists. As he arose to speak, he understood that several of his fellow burgesses were not yet prepared to accept the idea of revolution. While acknowledging their reservations about such a drastic course of action, he framed the debate as a question of freedom or slavery. It was too late to talk of peace when the war, in his view, had already begun with the Crown’s massing of its military forces. His speech elevated public discourse far beyond mere protests against the British Crown or even the upholding of the colonists’ rights as British subjects. Henry’s words became famous because he suggested that what was at stake was the very identity of free citizens.