A few days from now will be the 250th anniversary of the speech that explained the reason for the American Revolution—15 months before Thomas Jefferson wrote on paper the more formal and legal arguments for the war.
Have you heard anything about this anniversary?
My interest in history was sparked by the national celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution. In 1975 and 1976, the celebration was everywhere across pop culture and media! But now, for the 250th, I don’t see commemorative plates or big budget TV shows or clothing or toys or any big investment in historic sites from the beginning of our nation.
Perhaps today we are too busy re-fighting the war.
In 2025, social media has little discussion of the anniversary but a lot of debate about the principles of self-government. We are reliving the Revolution, not remembering it. There is little space for memorials when you are consumed by struggles in the present tense. Commemorative concerts and T-shirts happen when there is a safe distance from the fire and danger of revolution.
The Revolution didn’t start with a sudden event like Pearl Harbor or 9/11. A lot of economic and social issues grew over many years; some Americans pointed to the growing danger, but others ignored the politics and went about their daily lives. As more American colonists became anxious and fearful that their freedoms were in danger, some tried to argue with the king through existing institutions; other Americans took to the streets for protests, and some of those public protests became violent.
After the resistance had a tea party in Boston in December 1773, Britain’s government passed the Coercive Acts in the spring of 1774. “Coercive” things are meant to control—the opposite of freedom. The king sent warships and Redcoat soldiers to close the port of Boston—a kind of control that is bad for business. (Americans love freedom in business!) Early in 1775, Virginia’s royal governor imitated King George III by posting a British warship in the York River, a few miles from where colonial lawmakers met in Williamsburg.
So the rowdy lawmakers met in Richmond, 60 miles west of the warship and the governor’s royal control. It was time to decide the price of freedom they were willing to pay. Patrick Henry stood to speak on March 23, 1775, and made one of the most accurate predictions an American politician has ever voiced:
“There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable, and let it come. I repeat it, sir: LET IT COME …
“Gentlemen may cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’ but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here, idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
“FORBID IT, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!”
Patrick Henry was right. Just four weeks later, colonists fought with Redcoat soldiers in the Battle of Lexington and Concord outside of Boston. The shooting war was on.
250 years ago, Patrick Henry demanded that Americans pay attention. He demanded that freedom lovers prepare to fight for those freedoms.
Now, 250 years later, will we re-enact the choices that brave American patriots made? Or will we side this time with the Loyalists who were their neighbors? About a third of the Americans in 1775 were Loyalists—happy to let a king control their lives. The Revolution became a nasty civil war, neighbor against neighbor, over the ideas of self-government, freedom and justice.
I won’t live to see the 300th anniversary of the American Revolution. But what we decide during the 250th will shape all of human history for generations to come.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025 at 1:26 pm and is filed under History Today. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
