Patrick Henry’s Crazy Wife in the Basement
19 Feb 2005 / PE
My boy is doing a school report on Patrick Henry. Something I didn’t know about Patrick Henry is that his wife went insane in 1771 and was subsequently kept in a straitjacket in the basement of the family home.
This throws a whole new light on the “Give me liberty or give me death” speech. There’s even a novel that suggests the phrase was first spoken by Henry’s wife!
My first thought was: As the husband of an insane person myself, I can tell you that it stirs up a whirlwind of things in your mind, including the sense that there are in fact fates worse than death.
And my second thought was: I wish these darn California houses had a basement . . .
Stefanie Fernandez
27 Aug 2006 @ 3:33 pm
His wife had post-partem depression and she was never in a straight jacket! Yes, she did live in a basement but she also had a HUGE fireplace, servants, all the comforts she could ever want, and a view of the garden. So if you want to contine being a loserfish and believing that fine, but she was never mistreated or wanted “freedom” from a straight jacket.
29 Aug 2006 @ 10:52 pm
Hi Stefanie –
Thanks for your comment, even though you called me a loserfish.
Since I wasn’t there, I have to rely on historical sources, which differ in their description of the case. Some, as you probably know, do specifically refer to a straitjacket; I didn’t make it up.
Everyone agrees about the basement though, so let’s think about that for a minute. Why did this woman have to be confined to the basement? That’s not a common treatment for post-partum depression, is it? Why couldn’t she enjoy the servants, the fireplace and the view of the garden from the main house with the rest of the family?
Again, I wasn’t there, but people who are uncontrollably violent may need to be physically isolated or restrained, for their own safety as much as anything.
Stefanie Fernandez
26 Sep 2006 @ 1:26 pm
Well it was either the basement or the mental “hospital”, which was more like a prison. She the main reason was that she was hurting herself and the children, as most post partem depression victims do.
Brandon
26 Oct 2006 @ 9:33 am
They thought she might kill her children, so they locked her in a basement and isolated her from them. She was never allowed alone with them again.
Brandon
26 Oct 2006 @ 9:35 am
They feared she might kill her children, so they locked her down in the basement. But yes, she was “cared” for. However, she was never allowed alone with her daughters again. That much is true.
krista deems
19 Oct 2007 @ 11:06 am
yay that is great there is a novel call or give me death by ann rinaldi read it its about his family peace out girl scott
Charlotte Mayr
20 Dec 2007 @ 7:02 pm
i read that book, “or give me death”, its extremely good. and i do recomend it to anyone who’s interested in Patrick Henry. what i dont get is, if he wife was basically a prisioner (yes, i do realise that it was for her on good, and for her family’s good) then why the heck would he say his most famous line, “give me liberty or give me death”? i mean, im only 13, but isnt that kind of being a hyporcrit? (dont know how to spell that, sorry).