If there's one thing Patrick Henry is remembered for, it's his so-called "Give Me Liberty" speech, when he says that, given the choice, he'd take either liberty or death. (You'd hope there might be a third option there—a golden retriever puppy?—but apparently not.)

Henry gave this speech March 23, 1775 (almost ten years to the day after the Stamp Act was signed into law), and he was arguing that Virginia should raise a militia.

This was before independence would be declared, but patriots like Henry knew which way the wind was blowing. He not only wanted to be ready when the shooting started, but also wanted shooting to hurry up and start. The Revolution waits for no man.

Henry's career as an agitator kicked into high gear with the Stamp Act, and its culmination was in this quote, still remembered even when his name isn't necessarily. In many ways, this is the defiant motto of the country: death is preferable to tyranny.