SPEECH 

Prior to listening to the words of Thomas Paine, I shall admit, as an early aged Russian immigrant, I was hesitant and unmotivated to continue with this treacherous war. In my initial opinions, I was predominantly filled of frustrated and lack of persistence, due to my entanglement as I am forced into this war, wanting no more than to provide a stable home and create closure for my wife. As Paine went on to describe future unity, my perspective altered into wanting equality and freedom with my fellow men. I refuse to set a cowardly example for my wife and future family, as I refuse to watch our home go defeated, knowing I could have changed the outcome. If we do not fight, there will be no stable home for our future. Our children will be stuck under the forced tyranny we are trapped under currently, and there will be no future for them. There will be only the taxation and unethical abuse of their rights. Paine was right, we must stand up and protect our families and their deserved rights, even though the cost may seem overwhelming compared to the desired results. 

Age: 35

Marital Status: Married to a woman named Elizabeth, has 7 children

Place of Birth: Williamsburg, Virginia

Occupation: Plantation Owner

Impactful Experiences: British soldier took food from his home

Opinion: avidly against tea and stamp tax

Something he says a LOT: TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION

SPEECH
  Patrick Henry once said, “It is natural to man to indulge in the illusion of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.” Of recent times, my eyes have been opened and the truth has become painfully clear as Henry predicted it would. On a late Summer day I was reposing under a tree reflecting upon my day when a small regiment of troops invaded my property, terrifying my wife and children. I politely asked them what the purpose of their presence was, and they contained the audacity to shove me aside, enter my home and begin seizing possession of the contents of my pantry; the food my family eats to survive. There was no sympathy or guilt from the troops for committing this horrendous act, and they promptly left my residence. My family resorted to eating the cornmeal in the slave quarters, a truly insulting experience. This adversity of mine was due to the Quartering Act, a law that allows British soldiers to enter our homes-- the place where our children sleep free of fear-- without our consent. Millions of miles away, settled in some golden cage are these mouthpieces of the throne. For what price are the men of the ministry going to steal from their own people? Simply for the attainment for some material riches? They impose these laws on us without our representation, stealing the tea from our cups and the stamps from our letters. Fellow brothers, rise! For the Majesty of Heaven we all so thoroughly instill our faith in has now rested a hand upon our heads and is urging us to fight for the justice and liberty that he hath created for mankind. And if we do not rebel today, we will drown in deep sorrows tomorrow -- for we will have realized the worth of freedom too late.

Born: August 1724

Marriage Status: Peggy Nicholas, born 1735

Family: 12 children, 11 boys and 1 girl

Occupation: Plantation owner, Colonist

Located: 78 Acres of land, Charleston SC

Views: Anti-England 

Cool guy, lots of friends

My fellow country men, I appeal to you not only in the name of what is just but also in the name of what is good. I speak not of ease, for I am not a stupid man to state that this proposition shall be easy, but of goodness. I appeal to you in the name of your children and mine. I desire not for them to be enslaved for the length of their youthful days but to live free and well. As Mr. Paine has said, it can be considered nothing but selfishness for us to desire anything less for those who shall inherit the earth. To those of you that do not desire war and plead for peace I say that there is no peace. There is no choice in our lands, nor any say over our profits. Nay, we have no claim to the present but have only claim to the future for the cause of our freedom. For without freedom how can you claim peace?

We must awake to the immanence of this threat that penetrates our families. That if we do not stand for what we love, what will we fall for at England’s call? This tax, and this war, for there will be war, will not be merciful. We cannot watch our work and our rights be cheated away from us while what we value withers.

For the future of our children, I implore you, we must fight! We cannot bear to sit here any longer waiting to be freed from the shackles that chain us. We shall not be so ignorant as to expect England to turn her merciful cheek while her hands refuse to release that which we rightfully should claim, but take charge of our own destiny and that of our children. Our land must become our choice, not that of a man living across the sea. Why should we heed to the order of one who does not pay for our seed, nor tend it, nor toil with it, and yet reaps its harvest with glee? For our wives, for our children, for the peace of which we speak, we must fight!

- Name: Andrew Taylor

- Age: 34

- Height: 5’11”

- Born: In the colonies

- Job; Wealthy plantation owner; owned many slaves

- Feels entitled; has strong feelings of hate towards the British (for taxing him and infringing laws/limits upon his business despite him being AMERICAN)

- Physical traits: White, Male, brown hair, well dressed

- Spouse: Anne Taylor

- Children: 1 girl (Mary), 1 boy (David)

- Strongly supported Patrick Henry’s ideas
- Willing to fight and risk his life for his cause (to separate from Britain and gain liberty for his children) - inspired by the conclusion: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” and “There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free - if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending - if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained - we must fight!”

SPEECH:

Dear fellow colonists, 

Please listen to what our advisor is telling us. We have no more time to sit and pray, for the British are constricting our freedom tighter by the day! Our freedoms and our liberties are being stripped away! As a union, we are strong and powerful Americans! Together, we can resist anything that should serve as a deterrent to our prosperity. We shall not fall to the enslavement of the British Empire! If we do not take action now, we will be no better off than the slaves whom which we employ. If we do not fight now, our children will be left to suffer the infringements of the British nation. We can wait no longer, for our money and our resources are ready now! We must defy them, whether it be for the benefit of your land or your children. So, my fellow men, stand up and prepare for war!

My name is Rudolph Jackson. I am a second generation plantation owner,  and I was born and raised in Jamestown, Virginia. I recently inherited my fortune and estate from my late father, John Jackson. My new wife and I own one hundred slaves on six hundred acres. I recently attended the Virginia Convention, where many worthy men spoke about the expanding issue regarding the tyranish British rule in our beloved colonies. I have felt, for quite some time, that the colonists shall rise up and fight against this tyranny. The brave and impactful speech, made by the intelligent Patrick Henry, has strengthened my feeling on this issue. He made a particular point which stirred up an anger in me. He has pointed out that the British have been slowly forming our chains of slavery. Our Lord, our God, did not intend for you fellow countrymen or myself to be enslaved! This land, that our ancestors have struggled and grown on, that we love so, is ours! Do not let these now foreign influences try to control our lives and our land. What right do they have to it, to something that is now so much part of us. The British have inflicted so much injustice on us in this era. What right do they have to force us to house their soldiers at our expense? Commodities such as sugar and tea, why should they be so highly taxed? None, there is no right! We must rise up and defend ourselves. Not in the next five years, or even next week! We deserve our liberty and our freedom and it shall not be taken! So, gentlemen, stand with us and fight!

Background: 

Response:

For Thomas Paine speaks the truth! The only freedom we will get is the freedom we achieve ourselves. The dreams my father had when he brought my mother to America was a dream of freedom. And the tyrants are stealing away the rights we possess from birth. We deserve to speak and have a voice! Our country will not change on its own. The British will not release us from their suffocating grasp, for we must break the hand that binds us to slavery. I am aware that my age may threaten the validity of my feelings, but hear me when I say that freedom has no age. Passion has no obstructions. And dreams hold no boundaries. 

 These colonies are so isolated from Britain, that we can not be expected to call the British flag our own. For we are not fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for each other, our children, our wives, our communities, our country, and our liberty! If we allow the vile lobster backs to steal from us our individual god given right to freedom, then we are no better than the Indians and slaves, who proved less fortunate against those that exploited them! We have been granted the right and the opportunity to revolt, not out of maliciousness as if it is not necessary, but from the passion of the pit of our souls that festers for our wives, our children, our land, and our natural rights! Has Britain not found it just to tax us good people with no representation? Have they found it just to deny us our independence? We must remain vigilant and defend our true home! The motherland that has taken us for granted much too long and shall never be referred to as a place of warmth, love, and freedom. So disregard your selfish endeavors and fight for your country!