Patrick Henry made this statement in his speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention. The purpose of the speech was to explain why he opposed ratifying the Constitution without a Bill of Rights. Quotation taken from a 1788 speech by Patrick Henry at the Virginia Ratifying Convention. It says, Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defense, the militia, is put into the hands of Congress? © 2013 FLVS Why did Patrick Henry make this statement at the Virginia Ratifying Convention? To support the idea that Congress would be better at managing a military than the people would To support the idea that the people need a right to bear arms as a means of defending themselves To emphasize the importance of state militias in international conflicts To emphasize that Congress had no power to create or direct the military