Why does Patrick Henry say that God is on the side of the colonists?

In his famous "Liberty or Death" speech--given before the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775--Patrick Henry argued that God was on the side of the colonists in their conflict with Great Britain. As with the framers of the Declaration of Independence, Henry stated the British had violated natural, God-given law--specifically, the human right of freedom. Because the British had broken this natural law, it logically followed that God would side with the colonists, not the...

In his famous "Liberty or Death" speech--given before the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775--Patrick Henry argued that God was on the side of the colonists in their conflict with Great Britain. As with the framers of the Declaration of Independence, Henry stated the British had violated natural, God-given law--specifically, the human right of freedom. Because the British had broken this natural law, it logically followed that God would side with the colonists, not the British.

Consequently, Henry declared that the colonists "will not fight our battles alone," for "There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations...who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us." Likewise, he said that the "God of nature" had given the colonists the means to defeat the British: "Three millions of people, armed in the cause of holy liberty."