America’s Beacon of Hope

When Patrick Henry gave his stirring “Give me liberty, or give me death!” speech on March 23, 1775, he acknowledged, “We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.” And then he asked, “Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?”

“For my part,” Henry said, “whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.”

Because sufficient numbers of patriots rose to the occasion, the then-American Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain the following year. They then went on to win their war for independence against seemingly impossible odds, and to initiate the greatest experiment in liberty in world history.

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