Liberty lovers should pause for a moment today and make a toast to Patrick Henry, a true American statesman and advocate of liberty.
Henry was born May 29, 1736 in Virginia to Scottish-born planter John Henry and Sarah Winston Syme. He was admitted to the bar just prior to his 24th birthday and soon established a thriving practice in the courts at Hanover and adjacent counties.
He began his political career in 1765 when he was elected to the House of Burgesses (the Virginia legislature) at about the same time news reached the colony of the British Parliament’s passage of the Stamp Act. Henry quickly took the lead in opposing the act and wrote the Stamp Act Resolves, which challenged Parliament’s claim of authority to tax the colonies and advocated for resistance if the imperial government persisted in enforcing them. The legislature endorsed Henry’s Stamp Act Resolves and they were then published throughout the colonies and Great Britain, which pushed Henry to a place of prominence among the leaders of the American Revolution.
Later, Henry was staunch opponent of the new Constitution, believing the Articles of Confederation were sufficient and the best way to ensure the sovereignty of the states; and he was suspicious that the supporters of a stronger national government included many New Englanders who had favored a treaty with Spain in 1786 that, had it been ratified, would have sacrificed southern interests in the free use of the Mississippi River in favor of commercial advantages for northern merchants. He declined an appointment as delegate to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, citing lack of funds.
When George Washington sent him a copy of the new constitution with a letter outlining its advantages in September 1787, just after the convention had adjourned, Henry composed a cryptic reply that made his deep reservations clear: “I have to lament that cannot bring my Mind to accord with the proposed Constitution. The Concern I feel on this account, is really greater than I am able to express.”
He served as a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention and made a number rousing speeches citing the dangers of a powerful centralized government too far removed from its citizens. His warnings — as we can see today — proved prescient.
Henry died on June 6, 1799. On a sheet of paper sealed with wax and placed near his will, Henry left a message to be read after his death. On it, Henry wrote that whether America’s independence “will prove a Blessing or a Curse will depend on the Use our people make of the Blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary Character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a Nation. Reader! whoever thou art, remember this, and in thy Sphere, practice Virtue thyself, and encourage it in others. P. HENRY”
Happy birthday, Patrick Henry.
Source: Redhill.org
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