Select the correct text in the passage.
The excerpt is taken from Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech at the Second Virginia Convention in 1775. Which sentence
in the excerpt suggests that Patrick Henry believed the resources available to
the colonists were adequate to engage in armed resistance against
Britain?
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next
year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house
? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and
inaction? Shall
we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs
and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our
enemies
shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use
of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our
power
. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as
that which we possess, are invincible by any force which
our enemy
can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a
just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and
who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong
alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we
have
no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest.
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our
chains
are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is
inevitable-and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.