SkipCaptcha, Automoderated users, edit
1,631
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 51:
Line 51: + + + +
Added to "Patrick Henry"
Though Henry had already been active in the efforts to extend the [[Committees of Correspondence]] to Virginia in 1772 and 1773, a step which laid the groundwork for future revolutionary activity, it was only following the [[Intolerable Acts]] in response to the [[Boston Tea Party]] that he again drew notice as a prominent opponent of British policy. After the House of Burgesses expressed solidarity with [[Massachusetts]], the main target of the Acts, the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the legislature. Henry then led the assembly members across the street to Raleigh Tavern, where, at his urging, they revived the Association, now aiming to embargo all imports from Britain, and called for all the colonies to send representatives to a general congress. This would become the [[First Continental Congress]], to which Henry was selected as one of the Virginia delegates in August 1774, receiving more votes than anyone except House Speaker Randolph.
Though Henry had already been active in the efforts to extend the [[Committees of Correspondence]] to Virginia in 1772 and 1773, a step which laid the groundwork for future revolutionary activity, it was only following the [[Intolerable Acts]] in response to the [[Boston Tea Party]] that he again drew notice as a prominent opponent of British policy. After the House of Burgesses expressed solidarity with [[Massachusetts]], the main target of the Acts, the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the legislature. Henry then led the assembly members across the street to Raleigh Tavern, where, at his urging, they revived the Association, now aiming to embargo all imports from Britain, and called for all the colonies to send representatives to a general congress. This would become the [[First Continental Congress]], to which Henry was selected as one of the Virginia delegates in August 1774, receiving more votes than anyone except House Speaker Randolph.
At the Congress in [[Philadelphia]] that fall, Henry distinguished himself by his forward-looking position on a number of issues. He called for the creation of a representative government for all the colonies, as a means of preserving American liberties and preparing for a contest with the British, and signaled his belief that war was now inevitable, despite the wishes for peace by many of his colleagues: "The present measures lead to war....Arms are a recourse to which we shall be forced, [one that is] afforded us by God & Nature." This was a stance he maintained after the Congress' adjournment and his return to Virginia, openly endorsing the formation of committees of public safety in the counties and the organization of the militia.
It was his agitation for military preparedness that led to the famous [[Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death]] speech to the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond on March 23, 1775.
== Quotes ==
== Quotes ==