Their use of the slogan, "Give me democracy or give me death," harks back to the American revolutionary Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death." The "goddess of liberty" they erected in Tienanmen Square is further proof that what they were asking for was Western or American-style democracy.
再自深一層觀之，他們所喊的「不民主、毋寧死」口號，是美國獨立革命時派屈克．亨利（Patrick Henry）「不自由、毋寧死」一語之翻版；而其塑造豎立於天安門廣場的民主女神像，更可證明他們所爭取的是西方或美式的民主。