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Line 65: The expense of the [[Seven Years' War]] (called the [[French and Indian War]] in North America) (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 [[Stamp Act 1765|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 their 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 [[No taxation without representation|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.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=53, 58–59}} Edmund and Helen Morgan, in their account of the Stamp Act crisis, suggested that Henry acted as he saw the Stamp Act as both a threat to Virginians' rights, and an opportunity to advance himself politically.{{sfn|Morgan and Morgan|p=305}} 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.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=51–53}} No attempt was made to reconstruct Henry's words until 1790, when [[James Madison]] wrote to former burgess [[Edmund Pendleton]], but Madison learned that Pendleton had not been present; a second attempt did not occur until Wirt began work on his biography of Henry in 1805. A French traveler, whose name is not known, and whose journal was discovered in 1921,{{sfn|Morgan and Morgan|p=94}} 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 Henry 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}} | |||