They were pragmatic people beyond the singular attribute of piety.
Give me Liberty or Give me death isn't exactly pragmatic, neither is risking fortune, family and life in exchange for freedom. Pragmatist tend to say that a few extra pennies for tea isn't worth dieing over.
That actual speech was considered a little over the top at the time, yet very memorable. One need also consider what was pragmatic then is not pragmatic now in our world of comfort. Then, pragmatic would have been dogmatic in a practical sense - Taxation without representation demanded an entrenched sense of freedom that would have been considered absolutely practical at the time.... Later in years, Lee turned down command of the union army to return to Virginia to defend his state, which to him was both necessary and practical.
And no, a few extra pennies for tea isn't worth dying over, but a few pennies wasn't really the issue at hand, was it.