Patrick Henry (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
Though he was enormously influential in his time, Patrick Henry’s accomplishments—other than his one great line “Give me liberty or give me death”—were subsequently all but forgotten. Historian Jon Kukla, author of a new biography of Henry, discusses why he finds that obscurity is less then deserved, and why his contributions to the nation’s early years merit more attention.
Born in 1736, Henry was an attorney and planter, and an outstanding orator in the movement for independence. A contemporary of Washington, Henry stood with John and Samuel Adams among the leaders of the colonial resistance to Great Britain that ultimately created the United States. The first governor of Virginia after independence, he was re-elected several times.
After declining to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Henry opposed the Constitution, arguing that it granted too much power to the central government. Although he denounced slavery as evil, like many other southern slave-owners he accepted its continuation. Henry pushed vigorously for the 10 amendments to the new Constitution, and then supported Washington and national unity against the bitter party divisions of the 1790s.
An authority on early American history, Kukla has directed research and publishing at the Library of Virginia and served as executive director of the Historic New Orleans Collection and of Red Hill, the Patrick Henry National Memorial, in Charlotte County.
His book, Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty (Simon and Schuster) is available for signing.
