Patrick Henry- One of the greatest men to walk the earth

This upcoming week I am going to try to blog everyday about a different person who has changed my life.
Patrick Henry is one of them.

This is a paper I wrote three years ago for my government class. It is one of my favorites.

Patrick Henry

 Freedom or slavery?

That's a big question. Many have fought for both. The Civil War was about the slaves wanting freedom and the slave owners not wanting freedom for their slaves.

The revolutionary war was about the bondage or slavery that Britain had over the Americas.

Patrick Henry gave a speech to the Virginian House of Burgesses, his speech talked not only about freedom and slavery, also what would happen if we don't open our eyes and see, or our ears and hear.

Patrick Henry asked the speaker of the house a question.

"Are we...of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having, ears, hear not, the things which so rearly concern their temporal salvation?"

This question was asked over two hundred years ago. But that doesn't mean people of today still don't live with their ears and eyes shut. I'm going to ask you a question, have you ever lived your life with your eyes and ears shut?

If you said "No, I don't think I have ever done that." think again, everyone has fallen into this trap sometime in their life.

I had an experience just happen to me. I read the speech "give me liberty, or give me death"  a couple months ago, but I shut my eyes to what I was suppose to learn because I didn't want to read it, when I was asked to give a report on it, I didn't know what to say because I didn't wont to do it. It wasn't till I read it again with the intent to get inspiration, and guidance on what to write, that I was open to all that Patrick Henry had to tell me.

Patrick Henry said

"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth."

Can shutting our eyes and ears to truth be a form of slavery?

I think it can, if we aren't looking for truth, what are we looking for?

If we aren't letting ourselves progress in wisdom and truth, what are we progressing ourselves in?

In the premortal life there was a division of rule, Jesus Christ and Satan. Heavenly Father wants us to progress in all we can, and Satan wants us to decrease, he wants us to become his slaves.

What is a way we can decrease?

I can think of a couple things.

-laziness

-education

-smoking

-drinking

Can you think of any more? Let's talk about the ones that I have.

Laziness, what can make a person lazy? Sometimes it's staying up late, or if it's hot summer days, or cold winter nights, or not wanting to do work, or if you just got a new video game and you really want to play it, even if you have a pile of homework that still needs to be done. This brings us to the purpose of education. Education brings life to us, I'm not just talking about books, education can be anything that you can learn from. You can get an education from cooking and sewing.

In Patrick Henry's day they didn't have video games. But they had hot summer days. If a farmer in the 1770's got up one morning and decided that they didn't want to work that day. What could be the consequence of that? Well if he didn't go milk the cow he might not have milk with breakfast that morning, but whatever, he's not hurting anyone else, or is he?

By not milking the cow he is making it so she  (the cow) is in pain all day, or he could get in the habit or slave of not working. What if it's time for harvesting his wheat, he could not go harvest it, he might say "Oh I'll do that tomorrow" but then day after day he might not do anything.

What's the problem with not working? or not harvesting the wheat? What could be the long term consequence?

By not harvesting the wheat he not only won't have food for the day or week, he won't have any food for the winter, and then what is he to do? In the 177'0s they didn't have a store that you could just go to and buy food, you had to work hard to keep a living.

How can not doing your homework have a long term consequence?

You could not get a good grade and then not be able to go to college and get a good job.

Which brings us to the next two things on our list, Smoking and drinking. If you are lazy, you might not care about what other people think or what you want to do with your life, you might not care about yourself as a person. You might think that life is a game. Drinking and smoking are not jokes, they have serious consequences, and if you are smoking you are ruining your breathing. If you drink you aren't in control of your emotions. You could hurt people around you.

Patrick Henry didn't have a problem with laziness, or a lack of education, he didn't have a problem with smoking and drinking. He did although have a problem with the practice of slavery, with others being slaves. If you were a slave to something you like, such as smoking or drinking, you wouldn't want to listen to people telling you that it's wrong; you would shut your ears to the advice of others. Like I have said before "We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beasts." Some things are more pleasant to hear at a time, but then we find out that we were wrong and made a decrease instead of an increase.

When Britain was trying to take over the America's, they tried it with lies, they were deceptive, they told the states one thing but did another. When Britain had the stamp act, the tea act, and the sugar act, when the American people fought against these forms of slavery, Britain said they would get rid of them if the colonies submitted to the king. Patrick Henry saw around this, he saw that it was just a trap; he saw that if they submitted they would never get out of it.

"Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss." "They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging."

Patrick Henry fought for freedom and liberty, he fought for the blind men and woman of America, he fought for the deaf and those who were in bondage. He was a leader of America who opened the eyes of those who didn't know how. "I know not what course other may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."