Trained as an
attorney, and noted for his heated oratorical skills, this
Virginian first made a name for himself in a case dubbed the "
Parson's Cause" (1763), which was an argument on whether the price of tobacco paid to clergy for their services should be set by the colonial government or by the Crown. Henry technically lost the case
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9374626?query=stop%20payment&ct= http://www.dinsdoc.com/scott-1.htm, but damages were set at such a nominally low level that the result was widely perceived to be a victory for the independence movement.
Perhaps in part because of his success in this venture, Henry was elected to the
House of Burgesses (the legislative body of the Virginia colony) in 1765. That same year, he proposed the
Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions. The freshman representative waited for an opportunity where the mostly conservative members of the House were away (only 24% was considered sufficient for a quorum). In this atmosphere, he succeeded, through much debate and persuasion, in getting his proposal passed. It was possibly the most anti-British (many called it "treasonous") American political action to that point, and some credit the Resolutions with being one of the main catalysts of the Revolution. The proposals were based on principles that were well established British rights, such as the right to be taxed by one's own representatives. They went further, however, to assert that the colonial assemblies had the exclusive right to impose taxes on the colonies and could not assign that right. The imputation of treason is due to his inflammatory words, "Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third—" [Cries of "Treason! Treason!"] "George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it."
According to biographer
Richard Beeman, the legend of this speech grew more dramatic over the years. Henry probably did not say the famous last line of the above quote, i.e. "If this be treason, make the most of it." The only account of the speech written down at the time by an eyewitness (which came to light many years later) records that Henry actually apologized after being accused of uttering treasonable words, assuring the House that he was still loyal to the king. Nevertheless, Henry's passionate, radical speech caused quite a stir at the time, even if we cannot be certain of his exact words.
Henry is perhaps best known for the speech he made in the House of Burgesses on
March 23, 1775, urging legislature to take military action against the encroaching British military force. The House was undecided as to whether to send troops or not, but was leaning toward not committing troops. As Henry stood in
Saint John's Church in
Richmond, Virginia, he ended his speech with his most famous words:
:
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, 'give me liberty or give me death!'''''
The crowd jumped up and shouted "To Arms! To Arms!". Problematically, the text of this speech did not appear in print until 1817, in the biography
Life and Character of Patrick Henry by
William Wirt. Although Wirt assembled his book from recollections by persons close to the events, some historians have since speculated that the speech, or at least the form with which we are familiar, was essentially written by Wirt decades after the fact.
Furthermore, other historians note that the speech may stand in contrast to this excerpt from his January 18, 1773 letter to Robert Pleasants, referencing his status as a slave-owner:
:
Would anyone believe I am the master of slaves of my own purchase! I am drawn along by the general inconvenience of living here without them. I will not, I cannot justify it. However culpable my conduct, I will so far pay my devoir to virtue as to own the excellence and rectitude of her precepts, and lament my want of conformity to them.
Early in the
Revolutionary War, Henry led militia against Royal Governor
Lord Dunmore in defense of some disputed gunpowder, an event known as the
Gunpowder Incident. During the war, he served as the first post-colonial
Governor of Virginia, from 1776-79, an office he held again from 1784-86.
After the Revolution, Henry was an outspoken critic of the
United States Constitution and urged against its adoption, arguing it gave the federal government too much power. As a leading
Antifederalist, he was instrumental in forcing the adoption of the
Bill of Rights to amend the new Constitution. He became a strong opponent of
James Madison. By the late 1790s he was a prominent Federalist in support of Washington and Adams. The irony is that most of his followers became Republicans who supported Jefferson's party. President George Washington offered him the post of Secretary of State in 1795, which he declined. In 1798 President
John Adams nominated him special emissary to France, which he had to decline because of failing health. He strongly supported
John Marshall and at the urging of Washington stood for the House of Delegates in 1799 as a staunch Federalist. He especially denounced the
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which had been secretly written by Jefferson and Madison, and approved by the legislatures of those two states. He warned that civil war was threatened because Virginia, "had quitted the sphere in which she had been placed by the Constitution, and, in daring to pronounce upon the validity of federal laws, had gone out of her jurisdiction in a manner not warranted by any authority, and in the highest degree alarming to every considerate man; that such opposition, on the part of Virginia, to the acts of the general government, must beget their enforcement by military power; that this would probably produce civil war, civil war foreign alliances, and that foreign alliances must necessarily end in subjugation to the powers called in." He was elected to the House of Delegates, but died three months prior to taking his seat. [Tyler, 413-20]
He died at Red Hill Plantation, Virginia, in 1799 at the age of 63.
