“War is inevitable – and let it come! I repeat, sir, let it come... Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace - but there is no peace... I know not what course others might take; but as for me, give me freedom or give me death!” (Henry). This heartfelt speech delivered by Patrick Henry in March 1775 raises questions. Why were a large minority of North American colonists ready to rebel against King George III in the mid-1770s? In the period between the discovery of the Americas and the Revolutionary War, a striking change occurred in the settlers' perspective. Vast social, intellectual, economic, and political factors contributed to the profound gulf that developed between the attitudes of the colonists and those of England's subjects. Colonial society was changing radically from that of England. In the early 18th century, colonial culture was relatively utilitarian, from daily diet to professions. “Life in colonial America was as crude as the physical environment in which it flourished, so much so that English visitors expressed shock at the extent to which the emigrants had transformed themselves in the new world” (Allen, p. 41). The colonists were heavily influenced by the Indians, a factor not present in English society. Some common staples of the American diet, such as squash, beans, venison, and boiled lobster, were not originally English dishes, but were rather borrowed from the Native American diet. The colonists were practical. Instead of importing expensive products to perfectly recreate the English diet, they consumed easily available dishes. Many professions were treated differently in the colonies than under strict English protocols; these include law, medicine, and the content of literature. For example, ... middle of paper ... the revolution came, the American people were next to Patrick Henry, ready for freedom. Works Cited Larson, Rachel C., Pamela B. Creason, and Michael D. Matteo. The American Republic. Greenville: Bob Jones UP, 1993. Print.Henry, Patrick. "Patrick Henry Give me freedom or give me death." AmericanRhetoric: Online speech bank. Np, March 23, 1775. Web. November 29, 2011..Schweikart, Larry and Michael Allen. The Story of a United States Patriot.NP: Sentinel, 2007. Print.Lemon, Jack T. and Gary B. Nash. "The Distribution of Wealth in Eighteenth-Century America: A Century of Change in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1693-1802." Journal of Social History 2.1 (1968): 1-24. JSTOR. Network. 7 September.2011. .