Patrick (1736) HenryBirth Chart

Patrick Henry was a lawyer, planter, and a central political figure in the American Revolution, renowned for his incisive oratory—most famously the slogan “Give me liberty, or give me death.” He became one of the most influential and radical voices of the era, denouncing colonial corruption and defending civil rights against British rule. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and took part in the First Continental Congress; at the 1776 convention he was a member of the committee that drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the state constitution. Elected governor of Virginia, he served multiple terms between 1776–1779 and 1784–1786, and remained a prominent political figure in the following decades. Skeptical of a strong central government, he declined to participate in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and opposed ratification of the United States Constitution until a Bill of Rights was secured. A slave owner, he opposed the importation of enslaved people, though he did not champion a broad abolitionist program. Henry left a legacy as an orator and defender of republican principles, influencing the drive for independence and shaping the libertarian principles that marked Virginia politics and the young nation.