As described in a film magazine,[4] two years before the start of the American Revolutionary War, Michael Cardigan (Collier), a young Irishman who is ward of the English governor, is in love with Felicity Warren (Carpenter), who is known as Silver Heels. Captain Butler (Pike) is also a suitor for her hand. Cardigan is sent to deliver a message to a distant point but is betrayed by Captain Butler, and almost meets death by being burned at the stake for the murder of the children of Chief Logan (Montgomery). A runner saves him and Cardigan is later admitted to the secret councils of the Minutemen. He hears Patrick Henry (Loeffler) utter the words, "Give me liberty, or give me death!", and sees John Hancock (Willis) sign the Declaration of Independence "large so that the King may read it." There follows the ride of Paul Revere (Hume) and the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the retreat of the British, which follow with the splendid climax of the film.
