Comparing Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

Fighting for Liberties “Life without liberty is like a body without spirit” (Khalil Gibran). Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” main purpose is to convince the delegates to secede from Britain. President Whitmore’s speech in Independence Day rallies people together to fight the aliens. They both want their audiences to protect their liberties. Patrick Henry’s speech and Independence Day both fight for liberty because without it society is nothing. Patrick Henry believes in the right to liberty above his own life. In his speech to the “Virginia Convention,” he argues that America should stand up and fight Britain's tyranny. He states, “Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer on the subject. Nothing. We have held the subject up. In every light that is capable, but it has been all in vain” (Henry 84). The colonists have tried everything but it has not worked, and war. War is the only option if they are to have …show more content…
In the adventure film Independence Day, aliens arrive to earth and hover over major cities around the globe, and their mission is total annihilation on the Fourth of July weekend. An unlikely group of people come together and fight back in their harsh circumstances. In the speech the President Whitmore said, “Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July and you will once again be fighting for your freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression , or persecution… but from annihilation” (Emmerich). Humanity will end if they refuse to fight back. There is no choice but to fight. In addition President Whitmore states, “The world declared in one voice : We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!” (Emmerich). He uses emotion to unify everyone and prepare them for the fight ahead. Their liberty and lives are on the line so it is no time to stand