Patrick Henry
                     PATRICK 
HENRY
Introduction
 Patrick Henry was a lawyer, orator, 
and statesman whose career spanned 
the founding of the United States.
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
About Patrick henry
 Born: May 29, 1736
 Birthplace: Hanover County, 
Virginia
 Education: (Lawyer, Politician)
 Died: June 6, 1799
Source: www.ushistory.org
Early Years
 Patrick Henry was born on May 29, 
1736, at Studley plantation in 
Hanover County. 
 His father, John Henry, was a planter, 
mapmaker, and justice of the peace 
who was educated at Kings College, 
Aberdeen; his mother, Sarah Winston 
Syme Henry, was a former widow 
from a prominent family. 
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
Early Legal Career
 After unsuccessful ventures as a 
storeowner and planter, Henry taught 
himself the law and found his calling. 
 He won admission to the bar in April 
1760 and began a successful practice 
in the county courts.
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
Virginia politics
 An early critic of British authority and 
leader in the movement toward 
independence, Henry dedicated most 
of his life to Virginia politics. 
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
First governor
  He served as a member of the House 
of Burgesses (1765–1774), as the first 
governor of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia (1776–1779), as a member of 
the House of Delegates (1779–1784; 
1788–1791), and again as governor 
(1784–1786). 
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
The American 
Revolution
 On June 29, 1776, after a plan of 
state government had been adopted, 
the convention chose Henry as the 
first governor of the commonwealth. 
 Henry’s early challenges as governor 
were largely military: he worked 
closely with George Washington to 
raise and equip forces for the 
Revolutionary War, and in 1778 sent 
George Rogers Clark and his troops to 
hold the Ohio country against the 
British and their Indian allies.
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
Establishing a State and 
National Government
 Henry was elected to the Virginia 
House of Delegates in 1779, and 
emerged as one of the most 
influential members of the assembly. 
 During this time, however, Virginia 
politicians began to split into two 
distinct factions, Anti-Federalist and 
Federalist, and Henry often found 
himself in conflict with James 
Madison, the leader of the latter 
faction.
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
Founding member
 He was a founding member of the 
Virginia Committee of 
Correspondence (1773) and a 
delegate to the First and Second 
Continental Congresses (1774–1776). 
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org
Later Years
 In 1793 Henry worked with John 
Marshall to defend a Virginia 
physician in a suit by a British 
merchant house to recover prewar 
debts. 
 The case turned on complexities of 
international law arising from the 
American Revolution, the 1783 Treaty 
of Paris, and the new Constitution.
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org