blog #4: REFUTING PATRICK HENRY

 Gregory Wilson

As a colonist of Virginia, I firmly believe on the right of freedom for all colonists. Though, I firmly believe we shall get our freedom in the proper way which is not fighting. Fellow citizens of Virginia, I disagree with Patrick Henry on obtaining our freedom through fighting when we can get it in a more peaceful way without losing what we have. I suggest we shall get our freedom by compromising with the British because they are stronger than us. They have stronger troops and a full control of the slavery going on in our colony. It will be a nightmare to fight the troop who we are under chain. Therefore, my suggestion of a peaceful compromise with the British will secure a more comfortable life with the British. First of all, instead of fighting British troops, we may use the troops as a protection for the colony. Instead of living in slavery chains for life, we may secure equality by teaching each other our customs and adapting to them. Instead of deciding for death, as Henry suggested, we may decide on a better life by living in peace with the British. However, if we lean towards Henry´s advice, we may suffer even more than we suffered before.


If we decide to take Henry´s suggestion of fighting for our freedom, I believe Henry shall take responsibility of his decision for the following reason. I completely disagree on deciding whether liberty or death, as he mentioned in the last paragraph of his speech. What happens if we go with Henry´s stupid idea of fighting and we lose the fight? Is Henry going to decide death for not obtaining the liberty that we were seeking? I’m sorry, but as owner of the idea he must stand for the consequences because not all the colonists who fought want to die. They have families to feed and houses to protect. Therefore, he must not leave us future problems caused by the war because he shall be the one forced to solve them in order to get our liberty. Do any of you colonists want to be held responsible for the battle´s effect? No, I don’t think so. Therefore, as for the compromising I suggested, I am willing to take care of my actions, without helping anyone responsible.


Also in the sixth paragraph of his speech, he stated: “There is no longer any room for hope” (Henry 2). How it that possible if he is suggesting a fight between us and the British troops? Doesn’t he hope we win the rough battle? Doesn’t he understand that hope is what we need in order to obtain our freedom? It is that simple for both of our suggestions: If we fight we shall hope we win and if make a compromise with the British we shall hope to get along with them and live the peaceful life we all deserve. As you can see, there is hope. Just because his thought of war and violence doesn’t give him room for hope doesn’t mean the rest of us colonists don’t have room for hope.


Finally, in the last paragraph he mentions that the war has started and that we must fight. I don’t think we should fight back because the British are going to fight back even harder and more violently. I believe we should stop the battle and solve it peacefully by compromising with the British because as the metonymic expressions says: “the pen is mightier than the sword”. If we talk out our problems with the British we may get better results than solving our problems with swords. We don’t want to lose our family, our home, our beloved colony of Virginia, or our dignity, so we must do what is best for us and stop the war. Let´s stop the violence and the slavery and let’s start living like civilized people. Violent won’t solve our problems because violence brings more violence.


Therefore, if fighting is the solution, neither I nor any of you colonists shall be given the responsibilities of the lost battle. On the other hand, if compromising with the British is the solution, I am willing to know everything about the British in order to provide you a safe environment. As I shall restate, war won’t benefit us in any aspect because compromising is what we need.