On March 23, 1775 - less than a month before Lexington and Concord and the "shot heard round the world," Patrick Henry offered a set of resolutions before the Second Virginia Convention to establish a provincial militia and put Virginia in a posture of defense. In a speech during the debate, Henry delivered what history has come to recognize as the spirit of American Independence. “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”