Question

Which sentence in this excerpt from Patrick Henry's famous "liberty or death" speech at the Second Virginia Convention in 1775 emphasizes the American colonists’ efforts to avoid war?
Speech to the Second Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry (excerpt)

Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. 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! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

Answer 1

This excerpt mentioned makes part of the bigger speech given by Patrick Henry, in the Second Virginia Convention, 1775, before the entire participants at the Convention, in Richmond, at St John´s Church. This quotation of "liberty or death" is just part of the exhortation that Henry makes to his peers and the nation at large to make the final decision to break all ties with the British crown and give themselves over to the cause of patriotism and the search for liberty. This speech, it is important to understand, comes at a time when most Americans refused to accept that they could be heading for a war with Britain and when people sought a reconciliation with their motherland. This can be seen in this speech at several places, where Henry reflects on the efforts made by the leaders and the people to re-establish peace with their British ruler, but nowhere else more clearly than in lines 2 to 4, where Henry says: Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. After this line, Henry goes on until line 16 to underline all the efforst that have been made, in detail, to regain the favor of the British crown, all in vain.

Answer 2

"Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on" is the sentence that best articulates this. Then he gives the examples.