Patrick Henry: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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The expense of the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–1763) had nearly doubled Britain's national debt, and as much of the war had taken place in and around North America, the British government looked for ways of directly taxing the American colonies. The 1765 [[Stamp Act]] was both a means of raising revenue and one of asserting authority over the colonies.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=53–58}} The Burgesses instructed the body's agent in London, Edward Montague, to oppose the measure, and other colonial legislatures similarly instructed their representatives. Considerable debate began over the proposed measure, and in Virginia pamphleteers developed arguments Henry had made in the Parson's Cause.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=49–56}}

Patrick Henry was sworn into a sleepy session of the legislature on May 20; many of the members had left town. On about May 28, a ship arrived with an urgent letter from Montague: the Stamp Act had passed. On May 29, Henry introduced the [[Virginia Resolves|Virginia Stamp Act Resolves]].{{sfn|Kidd|p=58}} The first two resolutions affirmed that the colonists had the same rights and privileges as Britons; the next two stated that taxation should be exacted only by one's representatives. The fifth was the most provocative, as it named the Virginia legislature, the [[Virginia General Assembly|General Assembly,]] as the representatives of Virginia empowered to tax. Two other resolutions were offered, though their authorship is uncertain. The first five passed, though the last only by a narrow margin.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=53, 58–59}}

There are no verbatim transcriptions of Henry's speech in opposition to the Stamp Act. Texts are reconstructions, for the most part based on recollections decades later by which time both the speech and Henry had become famous. For example, Jefferson, still in his studies at the nearby [[College of William and Mary]], recalled the splendor of Henry's oratory. A French traveler, whose name is not known, recorded at the time of Henry's speech that "one of the members stood up and said that he had read that in former times [[Tarquin the Elder|Tarquin]] and [[Julius Caesar|Julius]] had their [[Brutus]], [[Charles I of England|Charles]] had his [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]], and he did not doubt but some good American would stand up, in favour of his country".{{sfn|Kidd|pp=51–53}} As Patrick had seemingly called for the killing of [[King George III]], there were cries of "Treason!" in the chamber, including by the Speaker, [[John Robinson (Virginia)|John Robinson]]. [[John Tyler Sr.]] (father of the future president), who was standing with Jefferson as they watched the session, called this one of "the trying moments which is decisive of character", and both recalled that Henry did not waver: "If this be treason, make the most of it!".{{sfn|Kukla|p=71}}

The Burgesses passedadopted thosethe first five resolutions—the two others, which denied the right of any other body but the General Assembly to tax Virginians, and which branded anyone who stated that Parliament had that right an enemy of the colony, were not passed.{{sfn|Kidd|p=53}} On May 31, with Henry absent and likely returning home, the Burgesses expunged the fifth resolution, and the Royal Governor, [[Francis Fauquier]], refused to allow any of them to be printed in the official newspaper, the ''[[The Virginia Gazette#Historical papers|Virginia Gazette]]''. With the official texts of the passed resolutions denied them, newspapers in the colonies and in Britain printed all seven resolutions, with all of them presented as the resolves of the influential Colony of Virginia. The resolutions, more radical as a group than what was actually passed, reached Britain by mid-August, the first American reaction to the passage of the Stamp Act. In North America, they galvanized opposition to the Stamp Act, and made Virginia the leader in opposition to Parliament's action.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=73–79}} According to Thad Tate in Henry's ''American National Biography'' article, "Not only in Virginia but across the mainland British colonies, Henry quickly established his reputation as an uncompromising opponent of imperial policy."<ref name = "a" />

=== Lawyer and landowner (1766–1773)===