1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: On this episode of each World. The lives of these 2 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: men are essential to understand the American form of government 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: and our ideals of liberty. The Founding fathers all played 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: key roles in securing American independence from Great Britain and 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: in the creation of the government of the United States 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: of America. And now the life of Thomas Paine. As 7 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: a young person, Patrick Henry accompanied his mother to sermons 8 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: given by evangelical Presbyterian Samuel Davies, whose oratorical skills had 9 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: a strong influence on him. Remember this was during the 10 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: Great Awakening, a period of enormous Protestant Revivalism which had 11 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: a deep impact. Grew in part out of the work 12 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: of the Wesley Brothers, the founding of the Methodist Church, 13 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: and the whole notion of individuals approaching God outside of 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: the established religions, whether Anglican or Catholic, became enormously deep 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: emotional power, both in Britain and in the United States. 16 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: And Patrick Henry was influenced by Samuel Davies, both in 17 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: his religion but also in rhetorical skills, in the ability 18 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: to weave words so that they had a magic effect. 19 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: He was the second son of John Henry, a Scottish 20 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: born planter, and Sarah Winston syn, a young widow from 21 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: a prominent family. He was born on May twenty ninth, 22 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: seventeen thirty six in Hanover County, Virginia. Back then, Hanover 23 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: County is pretty close to the frontier. We tend to 24 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: forget because we're used to a continent wide America that 25 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: in the early phases, the American colonies were really a 26 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: thin layer along the coast, and as you went towards 27 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: the Blue Ridge Mountains, you were beginning to get into 28 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: Indian country, and you're beginning to get into a very 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: different wilderness area. So that a lot of these folks 30 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: who grow up grow up not exactly on the frontier, 31 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: but near enough to the frontier to be vividly aware 32 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: of it. Up until the age of ten, Patrick Henry 33 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: was sent to a neighborhood school. Then his father opened 34 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: a grammar school in his own house, and Henry started 35 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: to attend and learn under his father. At the age 36 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: of fifteen, Henry began working as a clerk for a 37 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: local merchant. And let me say, by the way, I 38 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: think we'd be a lot better off to have a 39 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: lot of young people who are sitting around or standing 40 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: around on street corners actually having a job. I think 41 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: that in many ways, our effort to avoid children working 42 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,839 Speaker 1: too early has meant that all too many children don't 43 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: work at all. But people like Patrick Henry, or for 44 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: that matter, Benjamin Franklin, started young, grew and learned, and 45 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,399 Speaker 1: became important people. A year later, in seventeen fifty two, 46 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: Henry and his older brother opened their own shop. However, 47 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: it failed, but nonetheless noticed that at sixteen years of age, 48 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: he's out there as an entrepreneur. At the age of eighteen, 49 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: Henry married sixteen year old Sarah Shelton, whose dowry included 50 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: a six hundred acre farm, not a bad deal. His 51 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: first attempt as a planner ended when a fire destroyed 52 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,799 Speaker 1: his house. In seventeen fifty seven, he attempted open a 53 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: store for a second time, and it was again unsuccessful. 54 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: Sometimes some of our greatest leaders and people who weren't 55 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: exactly have their greatest strengths in running a store. I 56 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: remember that Lincoln ends up with a partner and goes 57 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 1: broke as a young man and spends years paying off 58 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:40,119 Speaker 1: the debt. By seventeen sixty, near Patrick Henry's twenty fourth birthday. 59 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: After all his previous attempts at making a living failed, 60 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: Henry decided to become a lawyer. I won't go into 61 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: my own biases here that once you failed everything else 62 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,839 Speaker 1: you could become a lawyer, but nonetheless that's what he did. 63 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: Henry was barely prepared, but managed to persuade the panel 64 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: of Virginia attorneys that he was smart enough to obtain 65 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: admission to the bar. Remember, back then, you didn't have 66 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: the formal educational structure and the formal test that you 67 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: had to pass in order to become a lawyer. You 68 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: usually read under other lawyers, learned from them, and then 69 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: at some point were judged to be capable of representing 70 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: the law on your own. Within a few years after 71 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: his admission to the bar, he had a large and 72 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: profitable clientele. I think part of that was because he 73 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: really was articulate, and he really could weave words for 74 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: a jury, and he liked people. Just had a natural 75 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: proclivity for talking to people, and so folks knew that 76 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: he was approachable, they could take their problem to him, 77 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: and he tended to win the cases. One of the 78 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: most famous cases Henry argued was the Parsons cause case. 79 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: The Anglican Church in Virginia at the time was funded 80 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: through public revenues and clergymen were paid in tobacco. When 81 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: a severe drought caused shortages, the price of tobacco went 82 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: up from two cents per pound to six cents per pound. 83 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: In response, the Virginia let I Just Lecture passed a 84 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: two penny Act in seventeen fifty eight, which set the 85 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: value of the contracts that the clergyman got paid to 86 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: be the normal market price before the price of tobacco 87 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: went up. Well. That of course led to the clergyman's 88 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: salaries being pretty dramatically reduced. They thought they were going 89 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: to get six cents a pound. Now they were told 90 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: they're going to get two cents a pound. The clergy 91 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: appealed to authorities in England, who then overturned the law 92 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: and encouraged the ministers to sue for back pay. In 93 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: Hanover County, the Reverend James Morey sued his parish vestry 94 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: for back pay in December seventeen sixty three. A young 95 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: Patrick Henry argued on behalf of the vestry that England 96 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: changing the law was an overreach of British authority. Now 97 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: think about this in the context of how it's going 98 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: to evolve from here. Here he is in seventeen sixty 99 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: three arguing the following quote, The Act of seventeen fifty 100 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: eight had every characteristic give a good law, and a 101 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: king by a knowledge or disallowing acts of so solitary 102 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: a nature from being father of his people degenerated into 103 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: a tyrant and forfeits all rights to his subjects obedience. 104 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: Now think about this language, and by the way, in 105 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: the British system at that time, this could have counted 106 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: as treason. He says, degenerated into a tyrant. Remember he's 107 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: referring specifically to the King of England, forfeits all rights 108 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: to his subject's obedience. And this is over a simple 109 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: law involving the payment to clergy of tobacco. Henry persuaded 110 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: the jury to award May a minimum compensation of one penny. 111 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: Henry's role in the case helped launch his political career. 112 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: In seventeen sixty four, Henry moved to Louisa County, where 113 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,840 Speaker 1: he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. He 114 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: was sworn into office on May twentieth, seventeen sixty five. 115 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: And this is a very very key time in American 116 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: history because later that month, that is May seventeen sixty five, 117 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: Parliament passes the Stamp Act. Now what was happening was 118 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 1: the British had spent a huge amount of money winning 119 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: the French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War 120 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: was called in Britain, and in the French Indian War 121 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: they had conquered Canada, so that had eliminated the primary 122 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: threat of Indians. To the colonists. The British attitude was, 123 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: since we've now liberated you from this threat, we should 124 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: have your help in paying off the debts we ran 125 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: up during the war. The American colonist, of course, who 126 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,559 Speaker 1: as Paul Johnson once said, probably had the lowest tax 127 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: rate of any people in civilized history, and resented every 128 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: penny of it. The colonists were not particularly grateful. They 129 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: figured the British king had won because that was to 130 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: his advantage and they had no interest in helping him 131 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: pay off the debt. So the Parliament passes the Stamp 132 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: Act in order to try to get money out of 133 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: the colonies to pay off the debt that had grown 134 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: up during the seven years war. Henry authors the Virginia 135 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: Stamp Acted Resolutions in response to the Stamp Act seventeen 136 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: sixty five. During heated debates in the House of Burgesses, 137 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: Henry compared King George the Third to both Julius Caesar 138 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: and Charles the First. Charles the Frost, remember, is the 139 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: English king who in the Civil War is beheaded, noting 140 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: that George might quote prophet by their example. Now what's 141 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: he saying saying? Well, Caesar, who of course is assassinated 142 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: by people who feared he was going to become a dictator, 143 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: and Charles the First, who literally had his head cut 144 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: off by his subjects. When you say somebody might profit 145 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: by their example, is kind of indirectly suggesting that the 146 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: king might in fact lose his head and his life 147 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: if he continues down this road. Henry introduced seven resolutions. 148 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: Five of those resolutions he introduced during the debate. The 149 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: fifth one was adopted by a marginal one vote, but 150 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: the next day, under pressure from the Governor, the House 151 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,319 Speaker 1: of Burgesses rescinded the resolution and headed a race from 152 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: the official record. His fifth resolution read, to think about that, 153 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: because this is the very beginnings of the movement towards independence. 154 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: Quote resolved therefore, that the General Assembly of this Colony, 155 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: with the consent of His Majesty or his substitute, have 156 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: the sole riding authority to lay taxes and impositions upon 157 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: its inhabitants, And that every attempt to vest such authority 158 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: in any other person or persons whatsoever, has a manifest 159 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: tendency to destroy American freedom. Now, if two things are 160 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: important about this, the first is this is an assertion 161 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: that only the colonies can tax themselves, that London cannot 162 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: tax them. Second, notice, the word he uses doesn't talk 163 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: about Virginia to destroy American freedom, and it's one of 164 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: the earliest references that this is about to become an 165 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: American revolution, not just a colonial revolution of individual colonies. 166 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: Virginia's royal governor, Francis Fauquet, prevented the publications of all 167 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: seven of Henry's resolutions, including the one that was struck 168 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: from the record, from being published in the Virginia Gazette. 169 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: Despite the governor's attempts to suppress this information, within a 170 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: few weeks, Henry's resolutions were published in other colonies, including Maryland, 171 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. He's beginning to get a national 172 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: audience for what he's saying and how he's doing it. 173 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: Henry continued to serve in the House of Burgesses throughout 174 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: the seventeen sixties. In the early seventeen seventies, in September 175 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy four, Henry and six other Virginia delegates traveled 176 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: to the First Continental Congress. In all, fifty six delegates 177 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: from twelve colonies came to Philadelphia. Henry believed the colonies 178 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: were on the path to war and declared, quote, distinctions 179 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:50,439 Speaker 1: between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. 180 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: I am not a Virginian but an American. Now this 181 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,839 Speaker 1: is a revolutionary statement. You'll notice that when you get 182 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: to the American Civil War some seventy years eighty years later. 183 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: At that point you have people say, well, I can't 184 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: Robbery leaves a good example. He breaks his oath as 185 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: a West Point graduate to side with Virginia. So he 186 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: didn't quite get what Patrick Henry was getting at, which 187 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: is that Henry was an American. Now he saw the 188 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: future as all the colonies working together, not as a 189 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: Virginia rebellion. But an American rebellion during their session in Philadelphia. 190 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: In this First Continental Congress, the group agreed to boycott 191 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: British goods within the colonies as a sign of protest. 192 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: They also called for an end to exports degree Britain 193 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: the following year if the intolerable acts were not repealed 194 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: by the way, as a great example of good word 195 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: use were intolerable. Now, who's going to be for an 196 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: intolerable act? While he attended the First Continental Congress, Henry 197 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: cared for his sick wife, Sarah. Henry became depressed and 198 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: violent after the birth of their sixth and last child 199 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy one. Rather than moving his wife to 200 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: an institution, Henry kept her at home and she was 201 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: carried by an enslaved servant. She died in early seventeen 202 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 1: seventy five. On March twenty third, seventeen seventy five, at 203 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: Saint John's Church in Richmond, Henry spoke at the Second 204 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: Virginia Convention in response to interference of the Royal Navy, 205 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: brought in from the King's appointed governor, Lord Dunmore. Henry 206 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: had discussed the need to formed armed militias in Virginia 207 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: in case British troops attempted to control the area. And 208 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: this is an important note about the American Revolution. It 209 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:53,239 Speaker 1: is the existence of armed militias which enables the Americans 210 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: to stand up to the British. If they had not 211 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: had armed militias, the British would have crushed them easily. 212 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: And that's why they rode in the Second Amendment on 213 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: the right to bear arms, because they understood the difference 214 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: between an armed citizenry and a disarmed citizenry. It's not 215 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: exactly known what Henry said during the meeting, but years 216 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: later biographer William Wirt in eighteen seventeen reconstructed the speech 217 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 1: based on recollections of Thomas Jefferson and others in attendance. 218 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: The end of Ritz's recollection ended with the famous give 219 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: me liberty or give me deathline. It's actually unknown if 220 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: Henry actually said it, and that's pretty much drawing a line. 221 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: Rit's recollection of speech is this quote, no man thinks 222 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,719 Speaker 1: more highly than I do of the patriotism as well 223 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: as abilities of the very worthy gentlemen who have just 224 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: addressed the house. But different men often see the same 225 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: subject in different lights, and Therefore, I hope it will 226 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen. If entertaining as 227 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: I do, opinions of a character are very opposite to theirs. 228 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and thou reserve. 229 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: This is no time for ceremony. The question before the 230 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: House is one of awful moment to this country. For 231 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: my own part, I consider as nothing less than a 232 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: question of freedom or slavery, And, in proportion to the 233 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,719 Speaker 1: magnitude of the subject, ought to be the freedom of 234 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: the debate. It is only in this way that we 235 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: can hope to arrive at truth and fulfill the great 236 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: responsibility which we hold to God in our country. Shall 237 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: I keep back my opinions at such a time, through 238 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: fear of giving offense? I should consider myself as guilty 239 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: of treason towards my country, of an act of disloyalty 240 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: towards the majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all 241 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: earthly kings. Mister President, it is natural to a man 242 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt 243 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen 244 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: to the song of that siren child. He transforms us 245 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: into beasts. Is this the part of wise men engage 246 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we 247 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: disposed to be of the number of those who, having 248 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: eyes see not, and having ears hear not the things 249 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, 250 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: whatever anguish or spirit it may cost, I am willing 251 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and 252 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: to provide for it. I have but one lamp by 253 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp 254 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: of experience. I know of no way of judging of 255 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: the future but by the past, and judging by the past. 256 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: I wish to know what there has been in the 257 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: conduct of the British Ministry for the last ten years 258 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased 259 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: to solace themselves in the house. Is it that insidious 260 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust 261 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: it not, sir, It will prove a snare to your feet. 262 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask 263 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with 264 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: those warlike preparations which cover our waters in darken our lamp, 265 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: our fleet in armies necessary to a work of love 266 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: and reconciliation. Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be 267 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: reconciled that force must be called in to win back 268 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: our love? Let us not deceive ourselves. These are the 269 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: implements of war and subjugation, the last arguments to which 270 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: kings resort. I asked, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array? 271 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: If its purpose be not to force us into submission? 272 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive? For it has 273 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world 274 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: to call for all this accumulation of armies and navies, No, sir, 275 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: she has none. They are meant for us. They can 276 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: be meant for no other. They are sent over to 277 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British 278 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: Ministry have been so long forging. And what have we 279 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: to oppose them? Shall we try argument, sir? We have 280 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: been trying that for the last ten years? Have we 281 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing? We've held 282 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: the subject up in every light of which it is capable, 283 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,479 Speaker 1: but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort 284 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: to entreaty and humble supplication. What terms shall we find 285 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: which have not been already exhausted. Let us not, I 286 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything 287 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: that can be done to avert the storm which is 288 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,959 Speaker 1: now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we 289 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: have supplicated, We have prostated ourselves before the Throne and 290 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: have implored its inner position to arrest the tyrannical hands 291 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: of the ministry in Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted, 292 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 1: Our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult. Our supplications 293 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,440 Speaker 1: have been disregarded, and we have been spurned with contempt 294 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: from the foot of the throne in vain. After these things, 295 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. 296 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 1: There is no longer any room for hope if we 297 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate 298 00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, 299 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle 300 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: in which we've been so long engaged, in which we 301 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 1: have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object 302 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: of our contests shall be obtained, we must fight. I 303 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,959 Speaker 1: repeat it, sir, we must fight. An appeal to arms 304 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,479 Speaker 1: and to the God of hosts is all that has 305 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 1: left us. They tell us, sir, that we're weak on 306 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 1: able to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when 307 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week 308 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 1: or the next year? Will it be when we are 309 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: totally disarmed? And what a British guard should be stationed 310 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:39,360 Speaker 1: in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? 311 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying 312 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: supinely on our backs and hugging the delucy fandom of 313 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: hope until enemies have bound us by hand and foot. Sir, 314 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: we are not weak if we make a proper use 315 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: of those means which the God of Nature hath placed 316 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: in our power. The millions of people armed in the 317 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,959 Speaker 1: holy cause of liberty and in such a country as 318 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: that which we possess, are invincible by any force which 319 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: our enemy cancend against us. Besides, we shall not fight 320 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: our battles alone. There is a just God who presides 321 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up 322 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, Sir, 323 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: is not to the strong alone. It is to the vigilant, 324 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. 325 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,719 Speaker 1: If we were base enough to desire it, it is 326 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: now too late to retire from the contest. There is 327 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: no retreat. But in submission and slavery, our chains are forged. 328 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. 329 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:44,120 Speaker 1: The war is inevitable. And let it come. I repeat it, sir, 330 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: Let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate 331 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,479 Speaker 1: the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is 332 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 1: no peace. The war has actually begun. The next gale 333 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears 334 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,399 Speaker 1: the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in 335 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,919 Speaker 1: the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it 336 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: the gentleman wish? What would they have? His life so dear, 337 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the 338 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:16,919 Speaker 1: price of chains and slavery. Forbid it, Almighty God. I 339 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: know not what course others may take. But as for me, 340 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: give me liberty or give me death. Now I'll tell you, 341 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: if you stand in that church, the very same church 342 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: he stood in and you read that out loud, you 343 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: will have chills. You will realize what a historic but 344 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: amazing moment this was, and what an extraordinary leader and 345 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: great orator he was. The convention passed the resolution to 346 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,919 Speaker 1: four militias to defend Virginia. Virginia's royal Governor, John Murray, 347 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: dispatched a company of marines to seize the colonies munitions. 348 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,439 Speaker 1: Days after British soldiers marched towards Luxington and conquered for 349 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: exactly the same purpose, angered the Virginias, and Henry led 350 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,199 Speaker 1: his militia company towards Williamsburg to demand compensation for the 351 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: stolen gunpowder. In response, Murray issued a proclamation of May sixth, 352 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy five, denouncing quote a certain Patrick Henry and 353 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: a number of deluded followers who have taken up arms 354 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: and put themselves in the posture of war. He also 355 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: directed quote all persons, upon their allegiance, not to aid 356 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: a bed or give countenance to the said Patrick Henry 357 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: close quote. Of course aught this did is It made 358 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,679 Speaker 1: Patrick Henry really well known. It strengthened his reputation. The 359 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,640 Speaker 1: governor had, in fact increased the power and the capacity 360 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: of his opponent. On May tenth, seventeen seventy five, Henry 361 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: attended the Second Continental Congress. Henry was asked to repair 362 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: the colony's final petition to the King, but his draft 363 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: was considered too radical. Frankly listened to that speech. You 364 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: can imagine why fellow Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee attempted 365 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: a second draft. The Congress opted for Pennsylvania's John Dickinson's draft, 366 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: which had a much gentler rhetoric. While Henry was in Philadelphia, 367 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: the Virginia Convention created two provincial regiments and elected Henry 368 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: colonel of the first Virginia Regiment and commander of the 369 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: overall militia. Henry tried to recruit and organize the troops, 370 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: but in December seventeen seventy five, William Woodford in the 371 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,480 Speaker 1: second Virginia Regiment was sent to challenge the British Army 372 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: near Fort Norfolk in the Battle of Great Bridge. Henry, 373 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: after being passed over for leading the battle, decided to 374 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: resign his commission. Many of the soldiers he recruited threatened 375 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,640 Speaker 1: to leave because Henry was leaving, but he persuaded them 376 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: to put the American cause first and accept their new leadership. 377 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: During the Virginia Convention of seventeen seventy six, Henry helped 378 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 1: to write Virginia's new constitution. Remember, these colonies become states 379 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: are all writing constitutions, which is great preparation a decade 380 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: later when they will have to go to Philadelphia to 381 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: write the Constitution the United States. So Henry's there in 382 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six helping write Virginia's new constitution, its declaration 383 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: of rights, and a resolution to Congress for posing independence. 384 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 1: On June twenty ninth, seventeen seventy six, Henry was chosen 385 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: as the first governor of Virginia. As governor, Henry worked 386 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: closely with George Washington to raise and equip forces. Henry 387 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: was reelected twice for one year terms and served as 388 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: governor until June seventeen seventy nine, when he was succeeded 389 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: by Thomas Jefferson. Henry remarried in October seventeen seventy seven, 390 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: and he and his second wife, Dorothy Dandridge, Henry had 391 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: eleven children together, adding to the six children from his 392 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: first wife. In seventeen seventy nine, Henry was elected to 393 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 1: the Virginia House of Delegates. During this time, Virginia politicians 394 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: were split into two factions, anti Federalists and Federalists. That is, 395 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 1: one side wanted to have a federal government in the 396 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: United States. The other side wanted to strengthen the states 397 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,160 Speaker 1: and called themselves the anti Federalists because they didn't want 398 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: a strong central government. They wanted to continue the Articles 399 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: of Confederation, which were very weak and which really reposed 400 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: power in each individual state. Henry often found himself in 401 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: opposition to James Madison over the separation of church and state. 402 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: James Madison and Thomas Jefferson advocated strict separation of church 403 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 1: and successfully pushed for the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Henry, 404 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: on the other hand, advocated for state support for religious teachers. 405 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: Was governor of Virginia, he introduced a plan for a 406 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: tax to support Christian teachers, a plan that was vividly 407 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:51,479 Speaker 1: opposed by Madison and Jefferson. Madison took this opportunity to 408 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,679 Speaker 1: rally support for Jefferson's bill for establishing religious freedom, and 409 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: since Henry was denied to vote in the legislature since 410 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: he been elected governor, the bill passed Henry and Madison 411 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: also different in what role the federal government should play. 412 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty five, Henry push to strengthen the Articles 413 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: of Confederation. He told Madison to sketch out some plan 414 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: for giving greater powers the federal government and he would 415 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: supported on the floor. Madison, however, pushed from much more 416 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: centralized national government, so where Henry wanted to strengthen the 417 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: Articles of Confederation, Madison wanted to replace them. Henry was 418 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,640 Speaker 1: elected but refused to attend the Constitutional Convention of seventeen 419 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 1: eighty seven, where the Articles of Confederation were supposed to 420 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: be revised. But in an amazing coup deetile by the way, 421 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: the Constitutional Convention decided they would replace the Articles, not 422 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: revise them. When Washington sent him a copy of the 423 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: Constitution and asked him to support it, Henry expressed concerns, 424 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: writing to Washington on October nineteen, seventeen eighty seven, quote, 425 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: I have to lament that I cannot bring my mind 426 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 1: to accord with the proposed Constitution. The concern I feel 427 00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: in this account is really greater than I am able 428 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: to express. Perhaps mature reflection may furnish me with reasons 429 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 1: to change my present sentiments into a conformity with the 430 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: opinion of those personages for whom I have the highest reference. 431 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: In other words, Henry found himself in the awkward position 432 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: of turning down his fellow Virginian and the first great American, 433 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: George Washington. But he did turn him down. During the 434 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: Virginia Convention of seventeen eighty eight, aimed at ratifying the Constitution, 435 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,719 Speaker 1: Henry and George Mason led the anti federalists in debate 436 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: against the plan, saying, and this is very important, because 437 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: you need to remember, this wasn't automatic. It was not 438 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: inevitable that we're going to end up with a centralized 439 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,120 Speaker 1: government and with a Constitution of the United States as 440 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,919 Speaker 1: opposed to a confederation of the individual states. So Henry 441 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,640 Speaker 1: and Madison wrote, quote, what right had they to say, 442 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 1: we the people who authorized them to speak the language 443 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: of we the people instead of we the states. If 444 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 1: the states be not the agents of this compact, it 445 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: must be one great consolidated national government. I am not 446 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: free from suspicion. I am apt to entertain doubts. I 447 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: arose yesterday to ask a question which arose in my 448 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: own mind. When I asked the question I thought the 449 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: meaning of my interrogation was obvious. The fate of this 450 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 1: question in America may depend on this. Have they said 451 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: we the states? Have they made a proposal of a 452 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: compact between states? If they had, this would be a confederation. 453 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: It is otherwise most clearly a consolidated government. The question turns, Sir, 454 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: on that poor little thing, the expression we the people 455 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: instead of the states of America. I need not take 456 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: much pains to show that the principles of the system 457 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:46,439 Speaker 1: are extremely pernicious, in politic and dangerous. Is this a 458 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: monarchy like England, a compact between prince and people, with 459 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: checks on the former to secure the liberty of the latter. 460 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: Is this a confederately like Holland? An association of a 461 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,680 Speaker 1: number of independent states, each of which retain its individual sovereignty. 462 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: It is not a democracy when the people attain all 463 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: their rights securely. Had these principles been adhered to, we 464 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: should not have been brought to this alarming transition from 465 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,159 Speaker 1: a confederacy to a consolidated government. We have no detail 466 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: of these great considerations, which, in my opinion, ought to 467 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: have abounded before we should recur to a government of 468 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: this kind. Here is a revolution as radical as that 469 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: which separated us from Great Britain. It is as radical 470 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: if in this transition our rights and privileges are endangered, 471 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: and the sovereignty of the states be relinquished. And cannot 472 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,919 Speaker 1: we plainly see that this is actually the case. The 473 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty the press, all 474 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: your immunities, enfranchises, all pretensions to human rights and privileges 475 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: are rendered insecure, if not lost, by this change so 476 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: loudly talked of by some and inconsiderately by others. Is 477 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: this same relinquishment rights worthy of free men? Is it 478 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: worthy of that manly fortitude that ought to characterize Republicans? 479 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: It is said states have adopted this plan. I declare 480 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,479 Speaker 1: that if twelve states and a half had adopted it, 481 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: I would, with manly firmness, and, in spite of an 482 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: erring world, reject it. You are not to inquire how 483 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: your trade may be increased, nor how you are to 484 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: become a great and powerful people, but how your liberties 485 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: can be secured, For liberty ought to be the direct 486 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: end of your government. Now, obviously, this is a huge 487 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: fight between those who want America to become a country 488 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: and those who want America to become a confederation of 489 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: independent states. On June fourth, seventeen eighty eight, in a 490 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: speech during the Virginia ratifying Convention later entitled a wrong 491 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: step now and the Republic will be lost forever, Henry said, quote, 492 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: I conceive the Republic to be in extreme danger. If 493 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: a wrong step be now made, the Republic may be 494 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: lost forever. If this new government will not come up 495 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: to the expectation of the people, their liberty will be lost, 496 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: and tyranny must and will arise. Henry was worried of 497 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: the powers that the executive branch would have, saying during 498 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: the Virginia Convention, quote, if you're American Chief, be a 499 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 1: man of ambition and abilities. How easy is it for 500 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: him to reduce himself absolute? The army is in his hands, 501 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: and where is the existing force to punish him? Can 502 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: he not, at the head of his army beat down 503 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: every opposition? What will then become of you and your 504 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: rights will not absolute despotism ensure. Despite this, Henry's opponents 505 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,959 Speaker 1: went over enough moderate anti federalist to ratify the constitution 506 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: eighty nine to seventy nine. But think about that in 507 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: the largest state, the central state that ultimately was the 508 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: key to whether or not you could create a United States. 509 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: The margin was ten votes, eighty nine to seventy nine, 510 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: So even with Washington on the other side, even with 511 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: Jefferson on the other side, there were still seventy nine 512 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: Virginians who said no. In seventeen ninety one and ailing 513 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: Henry retired from active politics. In seventeen ninety three, Henry 514 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: worked with John Marshall to defend a Virginia physician in 515 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: lawsuit by a British merchant house to recover pre war debts. 516 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: Henry won, cementing his reputation as a lawyer. Washington in 517 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety nine convinced Henry to return to politics after 518 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions were passed. Henry stood again 519 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: for election to the Virginia House of Delegates in the 520 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: spring of seventeen ninety nine, and he delivered his last 521 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: public speech on his election day quote, If I am 522 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: asked what is to be done when the people feel 523 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: themselves intolerably oppressed? My answer is ready overturn the government. 524 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,959 Speaker 1: Wait un least until some infringement is made upon your 525 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: rights that cannot be otherwise addressed. Otherwise, like failed republics 526 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: of the past, you might bid adio forever to representative government, 527 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: for you can never exchange the present government but for 528 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: a monarchy. Henry won the election, but he died on 529 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: June sixth, seventeen ninety nine, a few months before the 530 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: Assembly was to be convened. He was sixteenth three years old. 531 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 1: Henry left a small envelope of his last will and testament. 532 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: Inside in addition to his will was a single sheet 533 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: of paper with his seventeen sixty five resolutions against the 534 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: stampackt and on the back he left a brief message 535 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: about his resolutions. It says quote that within resolutions passed 536 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: the House of Burgesses in May seventeen sixty five, they 537 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: formed the first opposition to the Stamp Act and the 538 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: scheme of taxing America by the British Parliament. All the colonies, 539 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: either through fear or want of opportunity to form an opposition, 540 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: or from influence of some kind or other, had remained silent. 541 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 1: I had been for the first time elected a Burgess 542 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 1: a few days before, was young, inexperienced, unacquainted with the 543 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: forms of the House and the members that composed it. 544 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: Finding the men of weight, averse to opposition, and the 545 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: commencement of the tax at hand. And then no person 546 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,120 Speaker 1: was elected to step forth. I determined to venture, and alone, 547 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: unadvised and unassisted, on a blank leaf of an old 548 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: law book, wrote the work. Upon offering them to the House, 549 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: violent debates ensued, many threats ruddered, and much abuse cast 550 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 1: on me by the party for submission. After a long 551 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: and warm contest, the resolutions passed by a very small majority, 552 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: perhaps of one or two only. The alarms spread throughout 553 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: America with astonishing quickness, and the ministerial party were overwhelmed. 554 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 1: The great point of resistance to British taxation was universally 555 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: established in the colonies. This brought on the war which 556 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: finally separated the two countries and gave independence to ours. 557 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse will 558 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: depend upon the use our people make of the blessings 559 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 1: which a gracious God of the settlements. Pretty good line 560 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: for today too. On June fourteenth, seventeen ninety nine, the 561 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: Virginia Gazete announced the death of Patrick Henry, writing quote, 562 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: as long as our rivers flow, our mountains stand, Virginia 563 00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: will say to rising generations, imitate my Henry. It's about 564 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: as good a cause for liberty, for freedom, for thinking clearly, 565 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: for having the courage to stand for what you believe, 566 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,360 Speaker 1: as anything I've ever heard or read. And Patrick Henry 567 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: was essential in defining the cause of freedom, essential in 568 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,319 Speaker 1: establishing that we had to be a country that was 569 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: free and courageous in his willingness to stand up when 570 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: necessary to the British King and unnecessary to George Washington. 571 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: He's a life worth studying and he was a remarkable 572 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:34,839 Speaker 1: advocate for the freedom which we now cherish. Thank you 573 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 1: for listening to founding Father's Week on Newtsworld. You can 574 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,239 Speaker 1: learn more about Patrick Henry on our show page at 575 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: newtsworld dot com. Newsworld is produced by gingridh three sixty 576 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 1: and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Guarnsey Sloan and our 577 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:53,239 Speaker 1: researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show was 578 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: created by Steve Penley. Special thanks the team at Gingwish 579 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: three sixty. If you've been enjoying newswe I hope you'll 580 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,839 Speaker 1: go to Apple Podcast and both rate us with five 581 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,239 Speaker 1: stars and give us a review so others can learn 582 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,439 Speaker 1: what it's all about right now. Listeners of news World 583 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:14,240 Speaker 1: consign up for my three free weekly columns at Ginrich 584 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: three sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm at genrich. This 585 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 1: is Newtsworld.