Patrick Henry: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Although Henry had by this time come to believe that conflict with Great Britain, and independence, was inevitable,{{sfn|Kukla|p=138}} he had no strategy for advancing this. The Burgesses were sitting when in 1774, word came that Parliament had voted to [[Boston Port Act|close the port of Boston]] in retaliation for the [[Boston Tea Party]], and several burgesses, including Henry, convened at the [[Raleigh Tavern]] to formulate a response. According to [[George Mason]], a former burgess from [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] who joined the committee in the work, Henry took the lead. Mason and Henry formed a close political relationship that lasted until Mason's death in 1792. The resolution that Henry's committee produced set June 1, 1774, the date upon which the Port of Boston was to be closed, as a day of fasting and prayer. It passed the Burgesses, but Dunmore dissolved the body. Undeterred, the former legislators met at the Raleigh Tavern and reconstituted themselves as a convention to meet again in August, after there was time for county meetings to show local sentiment. They also called for a boycott of tea and other products.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=139–141}}

The five [[Virginia Conventions]] (1774–1776) would guide the [[Colony of Virginia|Old Dominion]] to independence as royal authority came to an end. Their work was advanced by many resolutions of county meetings, denying the authority of Parliament over the colonies and calling for a boycott of imports.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=141–143}} The first convention met in Williamsburg in the chamber of the Burgesses beginning on August 1; Dunmore was absent from the capital [[Lord Dunmore's War|fighting the Native Americans]] and could not interfere. Divided between those who wanted separation from Britain and those who still hoped for some accommodation, it met for a week; one major decision was the election of delegates to [[First Continental Congress|a Continental Congress]] in Philadelphia. Henry was chosen as one of seven delegates, tying for second place with Washington, burgess for Fairfax County, both receiving three votes less than Randolph..{{sfn|Mayer|pp=198–204}}

[[File:Washington Pendleton Henry cropped.jpg|thumb|left|19th century engraving of Washington (center), Henry (right) and Pendleton riding to Philadelphia for the [[First Continental Congress]]]]