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w:aslazY~Dd agood-for-nothing.
aboutyoungPatnck
Henry. It was
a wasteof time sending him to school. He
didn't seem to learn anything, All he,
'
wanted ,to do was fish, or hunt in the
woods, Patrick's father;aVirginiaJanner,
didn't know whattodo with the boy.
Sometimes he whipped him, and other
times he prayed for him, Butrtothing
seemed to help.
Finally Patrick's father took hi1.11out
of schooL It was a happy day for' both
Patrick and his teachers. At horne,
.Patrick's father taught hint the Bible,
math,andLatin, Patrick really wasn't
stupid. He could leam-'-,-when hewanted
,to. The trouble was he did not like school.
He liked being out in the woods.
. Patrick's father worried about the boy.
HowwouJdheever
earn a living? The
elder Henry decided to start his son in
VIrginia in 1751. On
business. When Patrick
niee
days, he would -.
was 16, his father
1
just close the store
bought him country(
and go hunting. After
store to manage. But
,
a
while, Patrick's father
Patrick was no busihad
to 'dose the store for
nessman. And there
good.
were many wild animals in the forests of
a
At 18, Patrick fellin love with __
the daughter ofa poor farmer and married her.' Now he tried to make a Iiving. by
raising tobacco. But he had no luck at
,fanning and soon had to give itup. Then
he started another store, but he had to
close this one, too.
I
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,' That was-what so:nepeople said
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By this time, Patrick Henry had three'
children aswell as a wife to support. He
knewhe.had to make a living somehow.
There was ()TIething he did well: He was
a very good speaker So he decided to '
become a lawyer. He studied law books
night and day for six weeks. Then he took
a test and passed. At 24, Patrick Henry
began to practice law.
Questioning the King
Henry's gift for speaking helped hint'
win many cases. His first important case
came when he was 27. Ithad startedout
as an argument between the Virgirua
House of Burgesses, (agr.oup responsible
for making laws), and some chnrcbrninisters. Virginia at that time had a church
supportedbypublic
taxes. Many people
thought that the ministers of this church
were overpaid. So the Virginia legislature passed a law that cut the ministers' salaries.
The ministers were quite
angry about this. When King
George III heard about it, he was
angry too. He threw out the
Virginia legislature's new.law ..
Then.the ministers went to.court.
They wanted all the money they had
lost through the pay cut.
This was where lawyer Henry
stepped into the case. He argued that
Virginia didn't owe any back pay to the ".
ministers. Nobody thought he would
win. What jury would dare go against the
king? But when Henry got up to speak to
the jury, there was magic in his voice,
Henry asked, what right did the king
of England have to throw out a:law
passed by the people of Virginia? The .
voice ofthe people, he said', is the voice of
God. When a king rejects a law passed by
. the people, the people do not have to
obey hint .. '
This was pretty strong talk in the,
days when kings were very powerful.'
Some people in the courtroom were
shocked.But Patrick Henry won this
important case.
'
In,1763,'a youl1gVirgiill" lawyer named Patrick Heilry weiltto court tneppese Theparsons'Cause. At
the till1e,fewJhl1ericanswere.boldeitough to speak against the wishes of the English king.
Questioning
a Tax
Theyoung lawyer was now a heroin .
Virginia, He was-especially admired by
the small farmers and woodsmen. They
elected him to servein.the VirginialegislatureinWilliamsburg.
Soonafter, Henry
.really gave the people ofVirginia something to talk about. .
This time his subject was King
.
George's Stamp Act. The act had put a tax
on "every piece of paper" used in the
. American colonies. The primary purpose
of the Stamp Act was toraise money to
payoff British war debts, This meant that,
everylegalpiece
of paper had to have a
stamp on it. Not even a.marriage Iicense
would be valid without a stamp. Many
Americans were angry about this. They
didn't wantto pay for a stamp every time'
they signeda -----.
paper. Besides,
they believed that
" only-their own
legislatures had .
the rightto tax
, them. But few .:
people were brave
. enough to protest
aloud.,
..
, Then/on May
29, 1765,Patrlck .
. Henry got up to
speak in The
House of
"Burgesses. The
stamp tax was
. against the law, he
said. Under the
law, the people
could be taxed
.only by then- own •
representatives '
(those chosen to
. speak or act for
others). The'
colonists had no
representatives in
the BritiSh.govern-I
ment. So how
could the British 1
.
I
government place a stamp tax on the
colonists? It couldn't, Henry
argued"""":un1essitbroke the law.
Henrysaid that nobody in Virginia
should 'obey the Stamp Act. What he said
.nextreallyshocked many ofhis listeners.
He compared King George to a tyrant.
And he warned the king that tyrants were.
sometimes killed.
Suddenly, there were shouts of
"Treason! Treason!" from those who were
WORD MATCH
1. treason
2.. House Of Bwges$es
3. representatives
·4. Stamp Act
5. taxes
loyal to the king.
Hsnrv'waited
until the shouting
died down. Then .
he said, "If this be
treason, make the
,most of it!"
News of ,
Henry' sspee~'
traveled fast. .:
.Before long, .
Americans in:all
the colonies
refused to pay the
stamp tax.
Sometimes they
burned stamps
and beat up the
tax collectors. In
Boston, there
were riots.
Did the
British learn anything from the
.uproar over the
stamp tax? Some
Americans
thought so. The
British repealed
the Stamp Act in .'
1766. But at the
same time, they passed another
law-e-the Declaratory Act. This act said
that Britain had full power. to make laws
for the colonies and the people of
America=-=in an .cases, whatsoever. "
Henry continued to speak out
againsttheunjustBritish
laws; In a passionate speech, Henry cried out to the
House of Burgesses: 'We must fight! Is
life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be
purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I
know not what course others may take,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death!"
These were fighting words .
QUICK QUIZ
1.. How did the Stamp Act and the
Declaratory Act contribute to the separation of England and the colonies?
.2. Why were colonists afraid to protest
theactionsofParliamentout
loud?
THINK ABOUT IT
1.. As a boy, Patrick Henry didn't like
school and didn't seem to understand
the importance of an education .
Explain how and why his attitude
changed later.
.2. Explain the meaning of the phrase'
"taxation without representation." .
Does this issue continue to be important today? Discuss,
.
a. elected officials
. b. disloyalty .
.
. c. tax on legal papers _
d. money paid by citizens for government and public services
e. group resporisible for making laws in colonial Virginia
I
1
.