Not long after entering the legislature, Henry authored the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions in response to the Stamp Act of 1765, a controversial and, to many colonists, oppressive tax measure passed by the British parliament. A firebrand from the outset, he quickly established himself as one of Virginia's most radical politicians. Henry moved to Louisa County in 1764, where he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. He started a law practice and soon became involved in Virginia politics. Henry eventually found his calling as a lawyer, and in 1760 successfully completed his bar exam before notable Virginia attorneys Robert Carter Nicholas, Edmund Pendleton, John Randolph, and George Wythe.
Though academics were encouraged by his parents, for years he neglected his studies, and as a young man failed at various business ventures. Very little in Henry's early life indicated that he was destined to become a revolutionary icon. His father was a Scottish immigrant originally from Aberdeenshire, while his mother was a member of a prominent Virginia family. Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia on May 29, 1736. Henry is probably best known for his famous declaration, "give me liberty or give me death," made during a speech before the Virginia Convention in 1775. He later served as Governor of Virginia and as a member of the First Continental Congress. Henry was at the forefront of colonial agitation over British policy beginning with his fiery protests against the Stamp Act of 1765.
Founding framer and gifted political orator, Patrick Henry was one of the bright lights of the United States' revolutionary generation.
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