Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry is known for his fiery defense of the freedom and rights of the American colonies prior to the American Revolution. He was born in Virginia on May 29, 1736, to a Scottish immigrant father and his aristocratic wife. Educated at home by his father, Henry also studied law, which would give him tools for his future prominence in government. He married his first wife Sarah Shelton in 1754, and together they settled on a Virginia plantation. Henry finally entered the legal profession after their plantation was destroyed by fire. A skilled and passionate speaker, Henry was soon a name among lawyers, and in 1965 he was made a member of Virginia's House of Burgesses. It was there that he set forth his Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions, full of 'treasonous' content against George III, and his even more renowned proclamation of "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Henry's words, given at the start of the war, mark an epoch of the American revolt against the English crown. Henry was active during the Revolution, both as a leader of the militia and governor of Virginia. It was also during this time that he was married to Dorothea Dandridge, with whom he had eleven children in addition to the six he already had had with Sarah. As the colonies attempted to form their own government post-revolution, Henry remained an active participant, although he worked against the proposed Constitution as one of the Antifederalists. However, he was a supporter of George Washington, who offered him the honor of Secretary of State. A firebrand to the end, Patrick Henry continued to speak out for freedom and proper government until his death at his Virginia home, Red Hill Plantation, on June 6, 1799.