Second Virginia Convention

In 1774, the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the House of Burgesses. After that, five Virginia conventions (or meetings of lawmakers) served as a provisional government (totally not legal) until the establishment of the Commonwealth of Virginia (also not legal) in 1776.

Patrick Henry's famous speech was given at the second one, on March 23rd, 1775.

The House

Here, Henry's referring to the assembled delegates to the Second Virginia Convention. (It's safe to say that Henry's speech brought down the House.)

"Awful Moment"

Here's an example of that archaic language barrier. In Patrick Henry's day, when people said "awful," they were going from the root word "awe." Likewise, "moment" here becomes "momentous."

Put 'em together, and Henry's just saying that this question is a big deal.

God/God of Hosts/God of nature/Almighty God

All these terms refer to the same deity: the Judeo-Christian God political leaders in the Western world have been calling on for their power since literally the Dark Ages. To give a little context, kings (like George III—check out our analysis in the "Key Figures" section) have been claiming their power is God-given forever and ever, amen.

Henry says, "Uh-uh. God's on our side."

Temporal Salvation

Usually, when we hear God and salvation mentioned in the same speech, the speaker is talking about eternal salvation, or life after death. Henry flip-flops that idea into temporal salvation, meaning the here and now. He's saying the colonies need saving immediately—or better yet, yesterday.

British Ministry

We've been talking about God a lot, but this is a different kind of ministry.

You know how Harry Potter has the Ministry of Magic? That's because in Great Britain (where Harry Potter lives), government bodies are called "ministries."

The prime minister is the head of government, and his time in office is referred to as his "ministry." The United States equivalent would be a president's administration, like the Obama Administration. The specific British ministry Henry is referring to is known as the North Ministry, which governed Great Britain from 1770-1782 and was headed by Prime Minister Frederick North, Lord North, a Tory. (Check out the "Key Figures" section for more on him.)

Great Britain

Also known as the Mother Country, Great Britain was the sovereign state that owned the thirteen American colonies in rebellion (plus a bunch of others). Today, it's known as the United Kingdom, but the U.K. didn't come into being until after the time we're concerned with.

The Throne

Henry never calls King George III by name. Instead, he uses "the throne" to refer to the monarch of Great Britain. He wasn't going for a toilet joke…but we bet he wouldn't have minded if people took it that way.

Parliament

Parliament refers to the governing body of Great Britain. Think of it like the U.S. Congress. This specific parliament was formed when the separate parliaments of England and Scotland merged (along with their kingdoms) into the sovereign state of Great Britain in 1707.

The tough thing for our friends the Founding Fathers was that Parliament, based in London, got to govern the entire empire, even though the colonists had no representation there.

Ever heard the cry, "No taxation without representation"? Parliament was where the colonists had no representation. In other words, they didn't get to elect and send a member to advocate for their interests.

No Election

Today, an election is a contest in which voters have a choice. In Patrick Henry's world, "no election" meant "no choice."