oldroy wrote:
Can you show me what that Patriot did after saying those words? I have never found him taking any part in the Revolution so think he never got out of Virginia politics.
Most of what he is known for precedes and leads up to the revolution.
1) There was the Parson's Cause.
The droughts of the 1750s had led to a rise in the price of tobacco. Hard currency was scarce in Virginia, and salaries in the colony were often expressed in terms of pounds of tobacco. Prior to the drought, the price of tobacco had long been twopence per pound (0.45 kilograms) and in 1755 and 1758, the Virginia House of Burgesses, the elected lower house of the colonial legislature, passed Two Penny Acts, allowing debts expressed in tobacco to be paid at the rate of twopence per pound for a limited period. These payees included public officials, including Anglican clergy—Anglicanism was then Virginia's established church, and several ministers petitioned the Board of Trade in London to overrule the Burgesses, which it did. Five clergymen then brought suit for back pay, cases known as the Parson's Cause; of them, only the Reverend James Maury was successful, and a jury was to be empaneled in Hanover County on December 1, 1763 to fix damages. Henry was engaged as counsel by Maury's parish vestry for this hearing. Patrick Henry's father, Colonel John Henry, was the presiding judge.
After the evidence was presented proving the facts at issue, Maury's counsel gave a speech in praise of the clergy, many of whom were in attendance. Henry responded with a one-hour speech, ignoring the question of damages, but which focused on the unconstitutionality of the veto of the Two Penny Act by the king's government. Henry deemed any king who annulled good laws, such as the Two Penny Act, as a "tyrant" who "forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience", and the clergy, by challenging an impartial law designed to bring economic relief, had shown themselves to be "enemies of the community". The opposing counsel accused Henry of treason, and some took up that cry, but Henry continued, and the judge did nothing to stop him. Henry urged the jury to make an example of Maury, for the benefit of any who might seek to imitate him, and suggested the jury return damages of one farthing. The jury was out for only moments, and fixed damages at one penny. Henry was hailed as a hero.
2) Then there was his work against the Stamp Act.
When word came to Virginia that the Stamp Act had passed. Patrick Henry introduced the Virginia Stamp Act Resolves on May 29. The first two resolutions affirmed that the colonists had the same rights and privileges as Britons; the next two stated that taxation should be exacted only by one's representatives. The fifth was the most provocative, as it named the Virginia legislature, the General Assembly, as the representatives of Virginia empowered to tax.
3) He was a delegate to the Continental Congress.
4) He was elected a delegate to the Second Virginia Convention. It was there where he have a speech which ended with his famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
Here is the most famous portion of his speech.
"If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and s***ery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and s***ery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
5) Elected as delegate to 2nd Continental Congress.
6) Then there was the Gunpowder incident. In a nutshell, On April 21, 1775, Governor Dunmore had the Royal Marines under his command seize gunpowder from the magazine in Williamsburg and take it to a naval ship. This gunpowder had been stockpiled by the Virginia colonists to defend against threats such as Indian uprisings or s***e revolts. Henry led m*****a on a march on Williamsburg seeking the restoration of the powder, or that the colonists be compensated for it. When he was 16 miles from Williamsburg, he was overtaken by three of Henry's fellow delegates to Congress who attempted to persuade him to leave off his march. Henry insisted the colonists be compensated and a member of the Governor's Council agreed to pay the value of the powder by bill of exchange.
7) The Third Virginia Convention in August commissioned him as colonel of the 1st Virginia Regiment. But he saw no action.
After independence he served as Governor of Virginia.