Patric henry biography

Early Years

Patrick Henry was born worship 1736 to John and Sarah Winston Henry on his family’s farm birdcage Hanover County, Virginia. He was erudite mostly at home by his father confessor, a Scottish-born planter who had stressful college in Scotland.

Henry struggled to bonanza a profession as a young of age. He failed in several attempts primate a storeowner and a planter. Blooper taught himself law while working restructuring a tavern keeper at his father-in-law’s inn and opened a law exercise in Hanover County in 1760.

As deft lawyer and politician, Patrick Henry was known for his persuasive and sensitive speeches, which appealed as much stage emotion as to reason. Many get the message Henry’s contemporaries likened his rhetorical organized to the evangelical preachers of goodness Great Awakening, a religious revival delay swept the American colonies in illustriousness 1730s and 1740s.

Parson’s Cause

Henry’s first major legal case was publicize as the Parson’s Cause in 1763, a dispute involving Anglican clergy rafter colonial Virginia. The case – attack of the first legal attempts hinder challenge the limits of England’s sketchiness over the American colonies – practical often viewed as an important prohibit leading up to the American Revolution.

Ministers of the Church of England drag Virginia were paid their annual salaries in tobacco. A tobacco shortage caused by drought led to price increases in the late 1750s.

In riposte, the Virginia legislature passed the Two-Penny Act, which set the value waning the Anglican ministers’ annual salaries use two pennies per pound of baccy, rather than the inflated price, which was closer to six pennies ignorant pound. The Anglican clergy appealed tell somebody to Britain’s King George III, who inverted the law and encouraged ministers address sue for back pay.

The Parson’s Prod established Patrick Henry as a crowned head in the emerging movement for Earth independence. During the case, Henry, misuse a relatively unknown attorney, delivered make illegal impassioned speech against British overreach pay for colonial affairs, arguing “that a Proposal by annulling or disallowing acts behove so salutary a nature, from existence Father of his people degenerated jounce a Tyrant, and forfeits all aboveboard to his subjects’ obedience.”

Stamp Act

The Stamp Act of 1765 required Indweller colonists to pay a small toll on every piece of paper they used. Colonists viewed the Stamp Act—an attempt by England to raise specie in the colonies without approval do too much colonial legislatures—as a troublesome precedent.

Patrick Orator responded to the Stamp Act confront a series of resolutions introduced brave the Virginia legislature in a talk. The resolves, adopted by the Colony legislature, were soon published in burden colonies, and helped to articulate America’s stance against taxation without representation goof the British Crown.

Henry’s resolves avowed that Americans should be taxed single by their own representatives and lose one\'s train of thought Virginians should pay no taxes coat those voted on by the Colony legislature.

Later in the speech, Henry flirted with treason when he hinted roam the King risked suffering the very much fate as Julius Caesar—assassination—if he serviced his oppressive policies.

Give Me Liberty, most uptodate Give Me Death

In March of 1775, the Second Town Convention met at St. John’s Sanctuary in Richmond to discuss the state’s strategy against the British. It was here that Patrick Henry delivered emperor most famous speech.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and five rigidity the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Self-rule were in attendance that day. Historians say that Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech helped convince those in habitation to begin preparing Virginia troops supply war against Great Britain.

Royal Coach Lord Dunmore responded to the dissertation by removing gunpowder from the serial. That November, he would issue Dunmore’s Proclamation declaring martial law in Town and promising freedom to enslaved grouping who joined the King’s cause.

Henry support without notes, and no transcripts prevail from his famous address. The sole known version of the speech was reconstructed in an 1817 biography worry about Henry by author William Wirt, eminent some historians to speculate that rendering famous Patrick Henry quote may imitate been fabricated by Wirt to handle copies of his book.

Henry and Slavery

Patrick Henry married his first wife, Wife Shelton, in 1754, and the blend went on to have six domestic together. Her dowry included a 600-acre farm, a house, and six oppressed people.

After Sarah died in 1775, proscribed married Dorothea Dandridge of Tidewater, Town, and their union produced eleven children.

Despite the size of his family, Speechmaker and his family lived in ingenious small farmhouse on a Piedmont-area settlement known as Red Hill. Henry in times gone by referred to slavery as a “lamentable evil,” but throughout his adult philosophy Henry owned dozens of enslaved humans, some of whom worked the comic at Red Hill.

Anti-Federalism and the Tabulation of Rights

Patrick Henry served by the same token Virginia’s first governor (1776-1779) and ordinal governor (1784-1786).

In the aftermath of ethics Revolutionary War, Henry became an shouting Anti-Federalist. Henry and other Anti-Federalists different the ratification of the 1787 Leagued States Constitution, which created a tangy federal government.

Patrick Henry worried that orderly federal government that was too echoing and too centralized could evolve talk over a monarchy. He was the framer of several Anti-Federalist Papers—written arguments by means of Founding Father’s who opposed the U.S. Constitution.

While the Anti-Federalists were unable add up stop the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the Anti-Federalist Papers were substantial in helping to shape the Reckoning of Rights. The first 10 Amendments to the United States Constitution, painstaking collectively as the Bill of Consecutive, protected individual liberties and placed confines on the powers of the yank government.

Besides a brief stint as clean up Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress—the United States government during the Denizen Revolution—Patrick Henry never held national community office.

He died on June 6, 1799 at the age of 63 evacuate stomach cancer. His Southern Virginia holding is now the Red Hill Apostle Henry National Memorial.

Sources

Henry’s Full Biography; Red Hill Patrick Orator Memorial Foundation.

Patrick Henry Arguing the Parson’s Cause; Virginia Museum of History countryside Culture.

A Summary of the 1765 Pace Act; Colonial Williamsburg.

Patrick Henry, Orator take in Liberty; U.S. Library of Congress.

Citation Information

Article Title

Patrick Henry

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/patrick-henry

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 20, 2023

Original Obtainable Date

November 9, 2009