-
Birth
Patrick Henry's parents were both of gentry social class which may have guaranteed Henry atleast a form of education, albeit not as advanced. -
Period: to
The Patriotic Life of Patrick Henry
-
First Business
He created his first business with his older brother which taught Henry important lessons of the world such as to not always trust people with credit. Owning a business brought him into the real world. -
First Wife
Starting with marriage, this spurred Henry into finded different jobs to be able to support his family and plantation which would eventually lead to him becoming a lawyer that started everything. -
Becoming a Lawyer
Desperate to support his family, Henry took up the study of law and soon was an actual lawyer. Becoming a lawyer helped Henry find his most powerful ability, to speak persuasively, and propel his career into politics soon after. -
The Parson's Cause
Sometime during Spring, Henry took up this case that would also place him into political notice as well. The gist and main point was that England had vetoed a Virginian act. -
Henry's First Impassioned Speech
Regarding the Parson's Cause, Henry had stated that the crown had broken the compact between them and thus forfeited "all rights to his subjects' obedience." This point of view made him widely popular politically. -
Elected into House Of Burgesses
With public support behind him as well, Henry was able to enter the House of Burgesses. This allowed him to utilize his orator abilites to attempt to covince other delegates that action was needed against the king. -
Winning the House and Turning Discussions
On his third day in the House of Burgesses, Henry had already challenged the assembly's conservative leadership as well as attacked a proposal by one of the more powerful men, John Robinson, and one which then the House abandoned Robinson's proposal. With less power to the conservatives, Henry was able to turn discussions to revolution. -
Opposistion of Stamp Act
Patrick Henry became more known by creating several speeches that spoke against the Stamp Act that the crown had issued and made Henry one of the leaders of colonial rights. -
Liberty or Death
Patrick Henry gave his most famous speech that told to others that armed force against Britain was almost certain. The speech helped rally everyone together with the last few words resonating. -
Insane Death of First Wife
Henry's first wife succumbed to a unknown sickness that destroyed her mentally. Henry refused to put her into a hospital after seeing the conditions and placed her into a comfortable house. He allowed a trustworthy slave he had owned to take care of her. Henry was heartbroken when she died which he couldn't dwell on much due to the key time of the war. -
Governor of Virginia
Henry became the first governor of Virginia under the new Virginian Constitution. He helped support the war by recruiting over 6000 Virginians into the army and over 5000 for state militia. -
Opposistion of new constitution
His opposistion against the national movement for a new constitution began with the Jay-Gardoqui Treaty with Spain and became the catalyst against the new constitiution. -
Constittution of 1787
Henry led the Anti-Federalist opposistion against the Constitution as he called it a "consolidated government". The Anti-Federalist lost the vote but also attempted to secure the creation of the bill of rights. -
Reentrance into legal career
With much debt from being in a public spot for so long and perhaps neglecting his own property, Henry became a lawyer once more and repayed all the debts and became one of the most largest landowners in Virginia. This may have also brought down his influence in politics for some time. -
Addition of The Bill of Rights
Henry was a very strong supporter of the addition of the Bill of Rights and was very influential in creation of it to protect the rights of citizens from the government. -
Change of Sides
Overtime Patrick Henry began to follow the philosophies of the federalist which may have been caused of him growing of age. With his still strong persuasiveness, Henry was a strong supporter of federalist policy that he will show later in life. -
Refusal of Offers
His political influence had begun to die down as Henry became more disinterested with it as he grew older. Washington offered him several posistions such as Secretary of State, Envoy to Spain, and Chief Justice to which he declined all. This wcould be seen as the end of his political career -
His Final Great Speech
During his campaign for state legislature which Washington had convinced him to do, Henry had forcefully denied the states' right that they had the ability to judge the constitutionality of federal law which fully showed his change of thoughts when he was younger. -
Death
Patrick Henry died in Red Hill, Virginia during his campaign of state legislature of which he actually won but was unable to take office. Henry in life was able to tip the scales when the nation was unsure of what to do next whith his powerful orator abilities.