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"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" is a famous quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

The speech was given March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the Virginia House of Burgesses to pass a resolution delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War. In attendance were Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Reportedly, the crowd, upon hearing the speech, jumped up and shouted, "To arms! To arms!"

Problematically, the text of this speech first appeared in print in Life and Character of Patrick Henry by William Wirt which was first published in 1817, eighteen years after Patrick Henry's death. In 1815, Wirt wrote to a friend, "from 1763 to 1789... not one of his speeches lives in print, writing or memory. All that is told me is, that on such and such an occasion, he made a distinguished speech". Wirt corresponded with men who had heard the speech and others who were acquainted with people who were there at the time. Wirt wrote to Judge St. George Tucker, who had been present for the speech, that "I have taken almost entirely Mr. Henry's speech in the Convention of '75 from you, as well as your description of its effect on you verbatim." Tucker's account was based upon recollections and not notes. Tucker attempted a reconstruction of only the first two paragraphs of the speech. Tucker wrote, "In vain should I attempt to give any idea of his speech". Some historians have since speculated that the speech, or at least that which has come down to us, was essentially written by Wirt decades after the fact.

Ear-witnesses to Henry's hypnotic orations remarked that while they always seemed to be convincing in the moment, they had a difficult time remembering exactly what he had said immediately afterwards: according to Jefferson, "Although it was difficult, when [Henry] had spoken, to tell what he had said, yet, while speaking, it always seemed directly to the point. When he had spoken in opposition to my opinion, had produced a great effect, and I myself had been highly delighted and moved, I have asked myself, when he ceased, 'What the devil has he said?' and could never answer the inquiry."

The text of the speech as presented by Wirt is larded with biblical allusions and radical pronouncements, and ends by asserting that war has already begun, the only question being whether or not to fight. In Henry's delivery of the speech, Wirt compared Henry with the Roman statesman Cato. Cato was a famous orator and a leading proponent of the Stoicism philosophy in which it is believed that death was a guarantee of person freedom. Cato was a proponent of Republicanism in opposition to the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Cato chose suicide over living in a tyranny. Some scholars believe that this line was inspired by Cato. The play Cato, a Tragedy contains the line, "It is not now time to talk of aught/But chains or conquest, liberty or death" (Act II, Scene 4). This play was popular in the colonies and was well-known by the Founding Fathers, who used quotes from the play. George Washington had this play performed for the Continental Army at Valley Forge. The phrase "Liberty or Death" also appears on the Culpeper Minutemen flag of 1775.

It is ironic that Patrick Henry was a slave owner, and some of his slaves fought for the British in the American War of Independence because the British promised liberty for slaves who fought with them. Simon Schama argues in Rough Crossings that the fear that the British would liberate slaves following the Somersett Judgement was a motivating force for many Patriots to rebel.