Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death Meaning
| Answer In Short & Quick: As per this revolutionary quotation, we should never live like slaves or under the rule of autocracy.
Freedom or Liberty is our natural right (or birthright). If it becomes necessary, we should fight and die to protect this god-gifted element. The quotation became widely popular during the outset of the American Revolution. |
‘Give me liberty or give me death’ quotation has a deep meaning.
This famous quotation was given by an American founding father and revolutionary person.
His name was Patrick Henry.
He gave this quotation during his speech at the Second Virginia Convention of 1775.
So, what was he trying to mean through these amazing words?
Let’s try to find it out.
Explanation – The Meaning of The Quotation
Through this, he wanted to explain that we human beings are born on the planet of the earth with some special rights.
These special rights are our natural rights, which are unalienable or eternal under all conditions.
No other person, no government, or no country can arrogate these natural rights from us.
These are God’s gifts to the human race.
Our freedom, liberty, social equality, and the right to pursue happiness are a part of these natural rights.
These elements protect human dignity and prove our supremacy over other living species.
If a nation or a government tries to swallow these rights from us, it becomes our right or duty to fight against that kind of injustice.
Henry believed it’s better to die for liberty rather than live like slaves.
This quotation got massive popularity during the American Revolution era.
It inspired millions of American revolutionists to fight with full courage and achieve freedom from the Empire of Great Britain.
So, this was the meaning of his ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ quotation.
I hope now you have got your answer.
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Interesting Fact: After America’s independence, the popularity of this quotation spread throughout the whole world. This quotation has been used extensively in the freedom struggles of many countries around the world. Examples: Australia, India, UAE, etc.
Why In A Country, People’s Liberty Should Be Protected?
People’s liberty is the mainstay of any democratic order. Not even in democratic nations, but in other nations also, people’s liberty should be protected.
But why should it be?
As great Philosophers like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes said —
Far before, in the world of human society when there were no systems of states, governments and kings existed, physically powerful tyrants dominated weak people and ruled them as they wished.
In direct words, those tyrants hampered common people’s liberty.
But whatever, humans are progressive species; they always find a way when there seems to be no way.
The same thing happened in the state of nature.
To get rid out of the tyrannies of the powerful tyrants, they decided that they would put together all their powers into one single authority’s hand. And that authority would be responsible to protect life, liberty, and ways of pursuing happiness from the attack of tyrants.
As you can understand, with the evolution of human society, these authorities transformed into states, kings, and governments.
Now, because those authorities were created by people to protect their liberty, so they should always try to protect it but should never try to abolish it.
