Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry (1736–1799) was an American lawyer, orator, and Virginia revolutionary leader whose resistance to British policies helped mobilize support for independence.

George Washington: George Washington was the commander of the Continental Army and the first president of the United States. Henry and Washington served together in Virginia’s House of Burgesses and later held opposing views on the Constitution.
Give me liberty, or give me death!: The closing line of Patrick Henry’s 1775 speech urging Virginia to prepare for war with Britain. It condenses the defiant appeal that made Henry’s oratory a symbol of revolutionary resolve.
Oratory: The art of persuasive public speaking, especially through argument, style, and delivery. Henry’s forceful speaking made abstract disputes over authority emotionally compelling.
American Revolution: The war and political upheaval through which thirteen British colonies became the United States. Henry’s resistance helped build the political momentum that preceded the colonies’ break with Britain.
Thomas Jefferson: Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman who wrote the Declaration of Independence and became the third president. Jefferson admired Henry’s oratory and succeeded him as governor of Virginia.
Virginia Resolves: A series of resolutions Patrick Henry introduced in Virginia’s House of Burgesses in 1765 opposing the Stamp Act. The resolves brought Henry national attention by challenging Parliament’s authority to tax the colonies.
Stamp Act: A 1765 British law requiring many printed materials in the American colonies to carry a tax stamp. Henry used opposition to this tax to argue that Virginians could be taxed only by their own representatives.
Virginia Ratifying Convention: Virginia’s 1788 convention that debated whether to ratify the proposed United States Constitution. Henry led the convention’s Anti-Federalist opposition and warned against a powerful central government.
Richard Henry Lee: Richard Henry Lee was a Virginia politician who proposed independence in the Continental Congress in 1776. Lee and Henry were prominent Virginia patriots who pressed resistance to British authority.
Virginia Convention of 1775: A Virginia political assembly that debated military preparations and resistance to British rule in March 1775. Henry delivered his famous call for armed resistance during this convention.

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