Patrick Henry: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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{{shortShort description|American Founding Father, orator and politician (1736 – 17991736–1799)}}
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{{For|the 21st-century North Carolina legislator|Patrick McHenry}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Patrick Henry
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| predecessor2 = ''Office established''
| successor2 = [[Thomas Nelson Jr.]]
| office3 = Member of the<br> [[Virginia House of Delegates]]
| constituency3 = {{Plain list|
* [[Henry County, Virginia|Henry County]]<br> (1779–1784)<br>
* [[Prince Edward County, Virginia|Prince Edward County]]<br> (1787–1790)<br>
* [[Charlotte County, Virginia|Charlotte County]]<br> (1799)
}}
| office4 = Member of the<br>[[Virginia House of Burgesses]]
| constituency4 = {{Plain list|
* [[Louisa County, Virginia|Louisa County]]<br> (1765–1768)<br>
* [[Hanover County, Virginia|Hanover County]]<br> (1769–1776)
}}
| birth_date = {{OldStyleDateDY|May 29,|1736|May 18, 1736}}
| birth_place = [[Birthplace of Patrick Henry|Studley]], [[Colony of Virginia]], [[British America]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1799|6|6|1736|5|29}}
| death_place = [[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial|Red Hill]], [[Charlotte County, Virginia]], U.S.
| party = {{Plain list|
* [[Anti-Federalism|Anti-Federalist]]<br
* />[[Anti-Administration party|Anti-Administration]]<br
* />[[Federalist Party|Federalist]]
}}
| spouse = {{plainlistPlain list|
* {{marriage|[[Sarah Shelton Henry|Sarah Shelton]]|1754|1775|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Dorothea Dandridge Henry]]|1777}}
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* Hanover County Militia
| battles = [[American Revolutionary War]]
| caption = Portrait by George Bagby Matthews after [[Thomas Sully]], {{circa| 1891}}
}}
'''Patrick Henry''' (May 29, 1736 [<nowiki/>[[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]] May 18, 1736]{{spnd}}June 6, 1799) was an American politician, planter and orator who declared to the [[Virginia Conventions|Second Virginia Convention]] (1775): "[[Give me liberty, or give me death!]]" A [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]], he served as the [[List of governors of Virginia|first and sixth]] post-colonial [[Governor of Virginia]], from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786.
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Henry was born on the family farm, [[Birthplace of Patrick Henry|Studley]], in Hanover County in the [[Colony of Virginia]], on May 29, 1736.<ref name=a>{{cite web|first=Thad|last=Tate|title=Henry, Patrick|work=[[American National Biography Online]]|date=February 2000|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/01/01-00396.html|access-date=October 8, 2017|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His father was John Henry, an immigrant from [[Aberdeenshire]], Scotland, who had attended [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]], University of Aberdeen, before emigrating to Virginia in the 1720s.{{sfn|Meade|pp=13–18}} Settling in Hanover County in about 1732, John Henry married [[Sarah Winston Syme Henry|Sarah Winston Syme]], a wealthy widow from a prominent local family of English ancestry.{{sfn|Meade|pp=21–24}}
Patrick Henry shared his name with his uncle, an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] minister, and until the elder Patrick's death in 1777 often went as Patrick Henry Jr.{{sfn|Kukla|p=13}} Henry attended a local school until about the age of 10. There was no academy in Hanover County, and he was tutored at home by his father.{{sfn|Kidd|p=9}} The young Henry engaged in the typical recreations of the times, such as music and dancing, and was particularly fond of hunting.{{sfn|Kidd|p=12}} Since the family's stock, considerable lands, and slaves would pass to his older half-brother John Syme Jr., {{sfn|Mayer|p=32}} due to the custom of [[primogeniture]], Henry needed to make his own way in the world. At age 15, he became a clerk for a local merchant and a year later opened a store with his older brother [[William Henry (brother of Patrick Henry)|William]]. The store was not successful.<ref name = "a" /> His sisters were pioneer and writer [[Annie Henry Christian]] and [[Elizabeth Henry Campbell Russell]], a Methodist lay leader.<ref name="Terry">{{Cite web |last=Terry |first=Gail S. |date=2006 |title=Annie Henry Christian |url=https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Christian_Annie_Henry |access-date=October 18, 2021 |website=Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia |archive-date=October 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018082738/https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Christian_Annie_Henry |url-status=live }}</ref>
The religious revival known as the [[Great Awakening]] reached Virginia when Henry was a child. His father was staunchly Anglican, but his mother often took him to hear [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] preachers. Although Henry remained a lifelong Anglican communicant, ministers such as [[Samuel Davies (clergyman)|Samuel Davies]] taught him that it is not enough to save one's own soul, but one should help to save society. He also learned that oratory should reach the heart, not just persuade based on reason.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=13–23}} His oratorical technique would follow that of these preachers, seeking to reach the people by speaking to them in their own language.{{sfn|Kidd|p=37}}
Religion played a key role in Henry's life; his father and namesake uncle were both devout and were both major influences in his life. Nevertheless, he was uncomfortable with the role of the Anglican Church as the established religion in Virginia, and he fought for religious liberty throughout his career. Henry wrote to a group of [[Baptists in the United States|Baptists]] who had sent a letter of congratulations following Henry's 1776 election as governor, "My earnest wish is, that Christian charity, forbearance and love may unite all different persuasions as brethren."<ref name = "henrychrist" /> He criticized his state of Virginia, feeling that slavery and lack of religious toleration had retarded its development. He told the [[Virginia Ratifying Convention]] in 1788, "That religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence, and therefore all men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the [[Freedom of religion|free exercise of religion]] according to the dictates of conscience, and that no particular religious sect or society ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others."<ref name = "henrychrist">{{cite web|last=Wells|first=James M.|title=The Christian Philosophy of Patrick Henry|url=http://www.christianhistorysociety.com/henrythesis1.html|access-date=November 16, 2017|publisher=Christian History Society|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703223229/http://christianhistorysociety.com/henrythesis1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Shelton House - Shenk.jpg|thumb|right|View of [[Rural Plains]] near Totopotomoy Creek in Virginia. Henry was reportedly married to Sarah Shelton in the parlor.]]
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Henry invested some of his earnings in frontier lands, in what is now the western part of Virginia, as well as in present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. He claimed ownership though many of them were controlled by the Native Americans, and he sought to get the colonial (and, later, state) government to recognize his claims. This was common among Virginia's leading citizens, such as [[George Washington]]. Henry foresaw the potential of the [[Ohio River|Ohio Valley]] and was involved in schemes to found settlements. Income from land deals in 1771 enabled him to buy [[Scotchtown (plantation)|Scotchtown]], a large plantation in Hanover County, which he purchased from John Payne, the father of [[Dolley Madison]]—she lived there for a brief time as a child. Scotchtown, with 16 rooms, was one of the largest mansions in Virginia.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=72–73}}
Henry was a lifelong slaveholder from the time of his marriage at age 18.{{sfn|Kidd|p=15}} Henry professed that slavery was wrong and expressed hopes for its abolition, but he had no plan for doing so nor for the multiracial society that would result, for he did not believe schemes to settle freed slaves in Africa were realistic, "to re-export them is now impracticable, and sorry I am for it."{{sfn|Kukla|pp=100–102}} He wrote in 1773, "I am the master of slaves of my own purchase. I am drawn along by the general inconvenience of living here without them. I will not, I cannot justify it."{{sfn|Kukla|p=124}} But the number of slaves he owned increased over time and as a result of his second marriage in 1777, so that at his death in 1799, he owned 67 slaves.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=15–16}} In 1778, Henry and other planters, believing there to be a surplus of slave labor in Virginia, easily brought the transatlantic importation of new enslaved Africans to an end.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Broadwater |first=Jeff |title=Madison, James and Slavery |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/madison-james-and-slavery/ |access-date=2024-02-February 23, 2024 |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |language=en-US |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224161232/https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/madison-james-and-slavery/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The planters supported the effort to limit slave imports for their own economic reasons and for fear of slave rebellions, but they did not seek abolition of slaves already in Virginia,<ref>{{Cite web |last=McBurney |first=Christian |date=2020-09-September 14, 2020 |title=The First Efforts to Limit the African Slave Trade Arise in the American Revolution: Part 2 of 3, The Middle and Southern Colonies |url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2020/09/the-first-efforts-to-limit-the-african-slave-trade-arise-in-the-american-revolution-part-2-of-3-the-middle-and-southern-colonies/ |access-date=2024-02-February 23, 2024 |website=Journal of the American Revolution |language=en-US |archive-date=February 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223071110/https://allthingsliberty.com/2020/09/the-first-efforts-to-limit-the-african-slave-trade-arise-in-the-american-revolution-part-2-of-3-the-middle-and-southern-colonies/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although moving towards abolition said to be a reason for passing the act. With a surplus of slaves and the ability to import more African slaves cut off, Virginia later became a source of slaves sold south in the [[coastwise slave trade]].{{sfn|Kukla|p=125}}
===Renewed involvement and First Continental Congress (1773–1775)===
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{{quote|If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!{{sfn|Kidd|p=52}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!|publisher=Colonial Williamsburg Foundation|access-date=September 16, 2017|url=http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916164524/http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
As he concluded, Henry plunged an ivory [[Paper knife|paper cutter]] towards his chest in imitation of the Roman patriot [[Cato the Younger]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Patrick Henry's Red |title=Paper Cutter |url=https://www.redhill.org/paper-cutter/ |access-date=2024-04-April 22, 2024 |website=Patrick Henry's Red Hill |language=en-US |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203232553/https://www.redhill.org/paper-cutter/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Henry's speech carried the day, and the convention adopted his amendments.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=170–172}} Still, they passed only narrowly, as many delegates were uncertain where the resistance urged by Henry and other radicals would lead, and few counties formed independent militia companies at the urging of the convention.{{sfn|McDonnell|pp=44–45}}
The text of Henry's speech first appeared in print in Wirt's 1817 biography, published 18 years after Patrick Henry's death.{{sfn|Raphael|p=147}} Wirt corresponded with men who had heard the speech and others who were acquainted with people who were there at the time. All agreed that the speech had produced a profound effect, but it seems that only one person attempted to render an actual text. Judge [[St. George Tucker]], who had been present for the speech, gave Wirt his recollections and Wirt wrote back stating that "I have taken almost entirely Mr. Henry's speech in the Convention of '75 from you, as well as your description of its effect on your verbatim." The original letter with Tucker's remembrances has been lost.{{sfn|Raphael|p=148}}
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Henry was taken ill almost immediately upon being sworn in as governor on July 5 and recuperated at Scotchtown. He returned to Williamsburg in September and corresponded with General Washington about the military situation. Washington, who was less effective because of the inadequacies of his troops, complained about the state militias, feeling a [[Continental Army]] committed for the duration of the war was needed. Henry helped recruit new troops for Washington, but his efforts were hampered by several issues, including the weakness of Henry's office. In December 1776, with the General Assembly alarmed at reports Washington's army was in retreat as the British occupied Philadelphia, legislators granted Henry temporary expanded powers, something that Jefferson was still unhappy about years later, feeling that Henry was trying to set himself up as dictator. In March 1777, Henry wrote to Washington seeking permission to recruit soldiers for terms of up to eight months. Washington's anger in his response that such troops were not useful caused Henry to drop the matter, stating that he deferred to Washington's experience in military matters. Recruiting remained a problem; many Virginians were willing to be members of the county militia but did not want to join the Continental Army lest they be sent out of state or exposed to disease.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=129–135}}{{sfn|McDonnell|p=258}} Desertion was also a problem Henry labored to solve with limited success; many Virginians had been induced to enlist with promises they would not be sent outside the state or local area, and they left when orders came to march.{{sfn|McDonnell|p=266}}
Henry was elected to a second one-year term without opposition and took the oath on July 2, 1777. On October 9 at Scotchtown, he married [[Dorothea Dandridge Henry|Dorothea Dandridge]], daughter of his old client, Nathaniel West Dandridge of Hanover County.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=Red Hill {{!}} Patrick Henry Memorial|title=Patrick Henry's Family|url=https://www.redhill.org/patrick-henry/patrick-henrys-family/|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=Red Hill {{!}} Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation|language=en-US|archive-date=April 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412034014/https://www.redhill.org/patrick-henry/patrick-henrys-family/|url-status=live}}</ref> This made him closer kin to Washington, as Nathaniel Dandridge was [[Martha Washington]]'s uncle.{{sfn|Campbell|pp=247–248}} To add to the six children he had by Sarah Henry, he would have eleven more by Dorothea, though two by the second marriage died very young. She brought 12 slaves with her, adding to the 30 Patrick Henry already had. He sold Scotchtown in 1777 and moved to [[Leatherwood Plantation]] in [[Henry County, Virginia|Henry County]], which the General Assembly had just created and named for him.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=138–139}}
When Washington and his troops encamped [[Valley Forge National Historical Park|at Valley Forge]] in the winter of 1777–78, Henry arranged for livestock and other food to be sent to their relief. There was discontent against Washington, who was not seen by some as a successful general, and this resulted in the so-called [[Conway Cabal]]. Henry supported Washington when Dr. [[Benjamin Rush]] of Philadelphia, one of those unenthusiastic about Washington, sent the governor an unsigned letter, discussing machinations against the general. Henry immediately sent Washington the letter, and though it is uncertain if Henry recognized Rush's handwriting, Washington did, tipping him off to the conspiracy. President Washington wrote of Henry in 1794, "I have always respected and esteemed him; nay more, I have conceived myself under obligation to him for the friendly manner in which he transmitted to me some insidious anonymous writings in the close of the year 1777 with a view to embark him in the opposition that was forming against me at that time".{{sfn|Kukla|pp=233–238}}
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{{quote|Will the abandonment of your most sacred rights tend the security of your liberty? Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings—give us that precious jewel and you may take everything else. But I fear I have lived long enough to become an old-fashioned fellow. Perhaps an invincible attachment to the dearest rights of man may, in these refined, enlightened days, be deemed old-fashioned: if so, I am contented to be so.{{sfn|Campbell|p=340}}}}
Madison, the lead supporter of the Constitution, was inhibited in replying to Henry's criticisms, since he was ill through most of the convention. Henry likely realized he was fighting a losing battle as sentiment in the convention moved towards ratification, but he continued to speak at length,{{sfn|Kidd|pp=200–201}} and his speeches fill nearly one-quarter of the pages of the Richmond convention's debates.{{sfn|Campbell|p=335}} Governor Randolph, who had become a supporter of ratification, suggested that if the convention allowed Henry to continue arguing, it would last six months rather than six weeks.{{sfn|Kidd|p=201}} After the convention voted on June 25<ref>{{Cite web|last1=M. A.|first1=History|last2=B. A.|first2=History|title=The Order in Which the States Ratified the US Constitution|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/ratification-order-of-constitution-105416|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=ThoughtCo|language=en|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108001653/https://www.thoughtco.com/ratification-order-of-constitution-105416|url-status=live}}</ref> to ratify the Constitution, Henry was somewhat mollified by the fact that the convention had proposed about 40 amendments; some of them were later incorporated in the Bill of Rights. Mason, Henry's ally in opposing ratification, intended a fiery diatribe on the faults of the new plan of government; he was talked out of it. By one account, Henry told other opponents that he had done his duty in opposing ratification, and as republicans, with the issues settled in a democratic way, they had best all go home. Madison wrote to Washington that Henry still hoped for amendments to weaken the power of the federal government, possibly to be proposed by a second national convention.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=207–208}}
Henry returned to the House of Delegates where he successfully defeated Madison's effort to become federal senator from Virginia, for under the original Constitution senators were elected by legislators, not the people. Although Henry made it clear he would not serve in office outside Virginia, he received a number of votes in the election. Madison gained election to the House of Representatives in a district where he was opposed by [[James Monroe]], though Madison's supporters complained that Henry's supporters in the legislature had unfairly placed Orange County, Madison's home county, in a district leaning anti-Federalist. Henry also saw to it that the requested amendments were incorporated in petitions from the legislature to the federal Congress. Despite his qualms, Henry served as one of Virginia's presidential electors, voting for Washington (elected President) and John Adams (elected Vice President).{{sfn|Campbell|pp=375–377}} Henry was disappointed when the [[1st United States Congress|First Congress]] passed only amendments dealing with personal liberties, not those designed to weaken the government.{{sfn|Campbell|pp=378–379}}
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Henry's friendship with [[George Washington|Washington]] had cooled somewhat amid the ratification debates, but by 1794, both men were looking to reconcile. Henry found himself more aligned with Washington than with [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] and [[James Madison|Madison]], and Washington still considered himself indebted to Henry for notifying him about the Conway Cabal. Washington offered Henry a seat on the Supreme Court in 1794, but he refused, feeling his family needed him. Washington also tried to get Henry to accept positions as Secretary of State and as minister to Spain, and Virginia Governor [[Henry Lee III|"Light-Horse" Harry Lee]] wanted to appoint him to the Senate. Henry refused each time. Henry's continuing popularity in Virginia made him an attractive ally, and even Jefferson tried to recruit him, sending word though a mutual friend that he bore no grudge.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=224–229}} After Washington made it clear he would not seek a third term in 1796, Marshall and Lee discussed a possible Henry run for president with him, but Henry was unwilling. The General Assembly elected him as governor again that year, but he declined, citing age and health. Henry's refusal to accept these offices increased his popularity as he was, like Washington, seen as a [[Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus|Cincinnatus]], giving up power to return to his farm and his plow.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=234–236}}
Henry sold his property in [[Prince Edward County, Virginia|Prince Edward County]] in 1792, moving with his family to Long Island, a plantation in [[Campbell County, Virginia|Campbell County]]. In 1794, Henry purchased [[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial|Red Hill]] near [[Brookneal, Virginia]] in [[Charlotte County, Virginia|Charlotte County]], where he and his family lived much of the year, though they moved to Long Island in the "sickly season".{{sfn|Campbell|p=388}} Henry was gratified at the election of his old friend John Adams as president in 1796 over his foe Jefferson, but Henry's commitment to the [[Federalist Party]] was tested by the repressive [[Alien and Sedition Acts]] of 1798. He chose to say nothing but supported the campaign of Marshall, a moderate Federalist, for the House of Representatives; Marshall won narrowly. Henry was under considerable pressure from Virginia Federalists to return to politics, but it was not until former Presidentpresident Washington urged him to run for the legislature in early 1799 that Henry gave in.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=239–239}} Turning down an offer from President Adams to make him an envoy to France, Henry was elected as delegate from Charlotte County on March 4, 1799. The legislature had no immediate session scheduled, so he returned to Red Hill and never left again, dying there of [[Intussusception (medical disorder)|intussusception]] at his home on June 6, 1799.<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMHB.ph|url=https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/henriques/hist615/vmhb.htm|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=chnm.gmu.edu|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128230055/https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/henriques/hist615/vmhb.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty {{!}} AMERICAN HERITAGE|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/patrick-henry-champion-liberty|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=www.americanheritage.com}}</ref> He was buried at Red Hill.{{sfn|Campbell|p=418}} In Henry's will, he left his estates and his 67 slaves to be divided between his wife and his six sons. He did not free any slaves, despite his speeches against enslavement by tyrants and despite his various comments opposing the institution of slavery itself.<ref>{{cite web|title=Henry's Will|url=https://www.redhill.org/biography/henrys-will|access-date=January 14, 2018|publisher =[[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial]]|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101124817/https://www.redhill.org/biography/henrys-will|url-status=live}}</ref>
The tributes to Henry upon his death were many. The ''Virginia Gazette'' printed a death notice bordered in black, "As long as our rivers flow, or mountains stand, Virginia ... will say to rising generations, imitate my H {{small|E N R Y}}".{{sfn|Kukla|p=393}} The ''Petersburg Intelligencer'' regretted the death of a man who might have been able "to conciliate all parties and produce that harmony and accord" needed at a time of national controversy.{{sfn|Kukla|p=393}} The ''Argus'', a paper which supported Jefferson's faction, noted that Henry "pointed out those evils in our Constitution ... against which we now complain ... If any are disposed to censure Mr. Henry for his late political transition [to supporting the Federalists], if anything has been written on that subject, let the [[Genius (mythology)|Genius]] of American Independence drop a tear, and blot it out forever."{{sfn|Mayer|p=474}}
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==Monuments and memorials==
[[File:Red Hill Charlotte County Virginia 1907.jpg|thumb|right|[[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial|Red Hill Plantation]], [[Charlotte County, Virginia]], circa 1907]]
Several of Henry's homes are recognized for their association with him. [[Scotchtown (plantation)|Scotchtown]] Plantation is a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref>{{cite web|title=National Historic Landmarks Program|publisher=National Park Service|url=https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/va/VA.pdf|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801102536/https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/va/VA.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial]] preserves Henry's final home, gravesite, and his law office.<ref>{{cite web|title=Red Hill—The Patrick Henry National Memorial|url=https://www.redhill.org/about/redhill|publisher=Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018173036/https://www.redhill.org/about/redhill|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Birthplace of Patrick Henry|site of his birthplace]], which burned in 1807 and is now reduced to archaeological remains, is also preserved;<ref>{{cite web|title=Studley|url=http://roadtorevolution.com/studley/|publisher=Road to Revolution Heritage Trail Consortium|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=March 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320184759/http://roadtorevolution.com/studley/|url-status=live}}</ref> it is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/va/hanover/vacant.html|title=Virginia – Hanover County – Vacant / Not In Use |publisher=[[National Register of Historic Places]]|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806040151/http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/va/hanover/vacant.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A plaque placed by the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] marks the site of Leatherwood in Henry County.<ref>{{cite web|publisher = [[Daughters of the American Revolution]]|access-date=September 21, 2017|title=Patrick Henry Monument|url=https://www.dar.org/national-society/historic-sites-and-properties/patrick-henry-monument|archive-date=March 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329230057/https://www.dar.org/national-society/historic-sites-and-properties/patrick-henry-monument|url-status=live}}</ref>
Henry helped found Hampden-Sydney College, believing that "every free state" should promote "useful knowledge amongst its citizens".<ref name = "sydney" /> He was an original trustee and sent seven of his sons there. Henry was instrumental in getting its charter passed by the General Assembly in 1783.<ref name = "sydney" >{{cite web|title=Hampden-Sydney|url=http://roadtorevolution.com/hampden-sydney-college/|publisher=Road to Revolution Heritage Trail Consortium|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=October 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026154702/http://roadtorevolution.com/hampden-sydney-college/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Emory and Henry College]] in [[Emory, Virginia]] was named for him and [[John Emory]], an early bishop in Virginia. According to the college, "Bishop Emory symbolizes belief in the union of faith and learning, while Governor Henry represents the commitment to the ideals of freedom and civic virtue."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Emory and Henry College]]|url=http://www.ehc.edu/about/history-mission-culture/history/|title=History of the College|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=September 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929024543/http://www.ehc.edu/about/history-mission-culture/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Fort Henry (West Virginia)|Fort Henry]] stood in what is now [[Wheeling, West Virginia]], but was at the time part of Virginia. It was built in 1774 and named Fort Fincastle after one of Lord Dunmore's titles but was renamed for Henry, then governor, after independence.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brooks|first=A.B.|title=Story of Fort Henry|url=http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh1-2.html|publisher=West Virginia Archives and History|date=January 1940|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=September 19, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000919233648/http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh1-2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fort Patrick Henry was built during the American Revolutionary War along the [[Holston River|South Fork Holston River]] at the present-day site of [[Kingsport, Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nance|first=Benjamin C.|title=Fort Patrick Henry|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=493|access-date=September 21, 2017|encyclopedia=Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture|archive-date=September 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922003706/http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=493|url-status=live}}</ref> This fort serves as the namesake of [[Fort Patrick Henry Dam]] and its reservoir on the river.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tva.com/sites/fortpatrickhenry.htm|title=Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir|publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=July 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702094215/http://www.tva.com/sites/fortpatrickhenry.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> At least four ships have been named in Henry's honor: the passenger and freight [[Packet boat|packet]] ship ''[[Patrick Henry (packet)|Patrick Henry]]'', the Civil War [[Confederate States Navy|Confederate Navy]] [[steamboat]] {{ship|CSS|Patrick Henry}}, [[World War II]] [[Liberty ship]] {{SS|Patrick Henry}} and the [[ballistic missile submarine]] {{USS|Patrick Henry|SSBN-599}}.
[[Camp Patrick Henry]] was a World War II-era military camp near [[Newport News, Virginia]]. Decommissioned in 1946, it became the site of the [[Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport]] on {{convert|925|acre|km2}}. When opened in 1949, the airport was called Patrick Henry Field and was later renamed Patrick Henry International Airport, a name it retained until 1990. The airport code is still PHF.<ref>{{cite web|title=Existing Conditions|url=http://flyphf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/D_PHF-CH-1-Existing-Conditions.pdf|publisher=Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport]|pages=1–6 through 1–8|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806043819/http://flyphf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/D_PHF-CH-1-Existing-Conditions.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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Patrick Henry has been honored twice on U.S. postage stamps. On October 7, 1955, the [[United States Post Office Department]] issued a $1 [[definitive stamp]] honoring Henry, one of the high values in the [[Liberty issue]]. A painting of Henry by American artist [[Alonzo Chappel]] was used as the inspiration and as the model by the engraver for this issue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2029097|title=Arago: 1-dollar Henry|publisher=[[National Postal Museum]]|first=Steven J.|last=Rod|date=May 16, 2006|access-date =September 21, 2017|archive-date=November 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105053221/http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2029097|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1960–1961, the U.S. Post Office issued the American Credo series, six stamps with well-known patriotic quotations. Patrick Henry's most famous words are inscribed on the final issue in the series, a 4-cent stamp first released in Richmond on January 11, 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2032849|title=4-cent Henry quotation|publisher=[[National Postal Museum]]|first=Rod |last=Juell|date=November 3, 2008|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-date=November 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105053151/http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2032849|url-status=live}}</ref>
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|[[File:Patrick Henry .1955-$1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Patrick Henry, [[Liberty issue]], 1955]]