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Analysis Of The Second Virginia Convention Speech By Patrick Henry

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According to Benjamin Franklin, “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” In relation to this, many of the colonists believed that the natural freedom that belonged to them under God, was stripped away from them under British rule. Years after years of unfair actions opposed upon the colonists by the British eventually led the colonists to take action against them in an attempt to gain freedom and independence. After the French and Indian war, Britain was left in debt and looked to the colonists for revenue. They exercised certain acts such as the Sugar Act 1764, Stamp Act 1765, and Townshend Revenue Acts of 1767, that unfairly taxed and restricted the colonists. The …show more content…

In Patrick Henry’s The Second Virginia Convention speech, he states “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne…… our petitions have been slighted.” In this quote Henry described the many attempts that the colonists made in seeking justice. He states that the petitions they made were ‘slighted’ by the King, showing that their past efforts of peaceful protest ultimately came to no avail with gaining liberty. In the declaration of independence Thomas Jefferson states, “In every stage of the oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been only answered by repeated injuries.” In this quote, Jefferson explains that the repeated petitions they brought forth during their time of mistreatment under British rule, were repeatedly denied and met with more problems from the King. In the Historical Fiction War Film “The Patriot” Benjamin Martin replies “ If you mean by patriot am I angry about taxation without representation? Well yes I am.” Martin was referring to the common phrase the colonists used to describe unfair taxes that the British were imposing on the colonists without their permission, which was the root cause for the colonists' anger towards the

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