Patrick Henry: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''Patrick Henry''' (May 29, 1736{{spnd}}June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring 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.

A native of [[Hanover County, Virginia]], Henry was for the most partprimarily educated at home. After an unsuccessful venture running a store, as well as assisting his father-in-law at [[Hanover Tavern]], he became a lawyer through self-study. Beginning his practice in 1760, Henry soon became prominent through his victory in the [[Parson's Cause]] against the Anglican clergy. He was elected to the Virginia [[House of Burgesses]], where he quickly became notable for his inflammatory rhetoric against the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act of 1765]].

In 1774, Henry served as a delegate to the [[First Continental Congress]] where he signed the [[Petition to the King]], which he helped to draft, and the [[Continental Association]]. He gained further popularity among the people of Virginia, both through his oratory at the convention and by marching troops towards the colonial capital of [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] after the [[Gunpowder Incident]] until the munitions seized by the royal government were paid for. Henry urged independence, and when the [[Fifth Virginia Convention]] endorsed this in 1776, he served on the committee charged with drafting the [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]] and the original [[Constitution of Virginia|Virginia Constitution]]. Henry was promptly elected governor under the new charter and served a total of five one-year terms.