Patrick Henry: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{short description|American attorney, planter, and politician}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=JanuaryDecember 20182020}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Patrick Henry

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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 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}} Henry was somewhat mollified, 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=2020-07-July 15, 2020|website=ThoughtCo|language=en}}</ref>° to ratify the Constitution, by the fact that the convention then proposed about 40 amendments; some of them were later incorporated in the Bill of Rights. George 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 Madison's county, Orange, 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}}