[Sidenote: =Why the king wished to tax America=]
=80. The Stamp Act.= The surrender of Quebec and the fall of New France
caused great rejoicing among the thirteen colonies. But the long, hard
war had left both England and her colonies deeply in debt. King George
III, however, thinking only of England's debt, decided that England
ought to tax the colonies to pay for an army which he wished to keep in
America.
[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY
_After the painting by Thomas Sully, owned by William Wirt Henry, the
orator's grandson, Richmond, Virginia_]
[Sidenote: =What the Stamp Act was=]
So the Parliament of England passed a law that all licenses to marry,
all deeds to property, licenses to trade, newspapers, almanacs, and
other pamphlets had to be printed on stamped paper. This paper ranged
in value from a few cents to many dollars.
[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES
_From an engraving after the original painting by Rothermal_]
Leading men in every one of the thirteen colonies spoke and wrote
against the Stamp Act. Of all the men who did so, Patrick Henry, of
Virginia, was the most eloquent and fiery. He had been elected by the
people of his county to go up to Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia,
to help make the laws. There were many able men in that old House of
Burgesses, but none of them wished to take the lead in opposing the
king's plan of a stamp tax.
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry in the House of Burgesses=]
One day young Henry, although a new member, snatched a blank leaf from
a law book and wrote down a set of resolutions declaring that only the
Virginia Assembly could tax Virginians, and that any one who asserted
the contrary was an enemy of the colony.
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry's famous speech=]
He backed up these resolutions with a speech that stirred the
Burgesses. He was so fiery and bold that men almost held their breath
while they listened to the young orator. He closed by declaring that
George III was acting like a tyrant, and that "Caesar had his Brutus,
Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third--" "Treason!
treason!" shouted the Speaker of the House. Waiting a moment till the
noise ceased, the orator, with a calm and steady voice, added, "may
profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it."
Henry's resolutions were passed, and were printed in almost every
newspaper in the colonies. They made the people more determined than
ever not to buy stamped paper.
Who was this young lawyer that stirred these dignified Virginia
gentlemen in powdered hair, knee breeches, and silver buckles?
[Sidenote: =Patrick as a boy=]
=81. The Orator of the Revolution.= Patrick Henry was born in Virginia
(1736). His father was a well-educated Scotchman, who taught school and
became a lawyer. His mother was of Welsh blood. Young Patrick went to
school, but he liked to hunt and fish far better than to study. He was
a puzzle to his parents.
[Sidenote: =Early failures=]
By the time he was eighteen he had failed as a student, as a clerk, and
as a storekeeper. He then married. The parents on both sides helped
them to start farming with a few slaves. In two years Patrick Henry was
forced to sell. Once more he tried keeping a country store. In three
years the store closed its doors and Patrick Henry, aged twenty-three,
was without an occupation.
[Sidenote: =Liked to study history and law=]
He now turned to the study of law. Although not in love with school
when a boy, he loved to read the Bible. He also had a strong liking for
history, and, in his youth, read the histories of Greece, of Rome, of
England, and of the colonies. By a few months of hard study of the law
he passed the examination. He succeeded from the first, and in less
than four years had been engaged in more than one thousand cases.
[Sidenote: =Succeeded as a lawyer=]
[Sidenote: =Patrick's father the judge=]
=82. The Parsons' Case.= In 1763 Patrick Henry set all Virginia to
talking about him as a lawyer. This colony had paid its clergymen from
the beginning. Each one received a certain number of pounds of tobacco
for his salary. But the price was now high and now low. A dispute
arose because of this and was taken into court. But no great lawyer
would take the people's side. Patrick Henry did. The courthouse was
filled with people, many clergymen among them. In the judge's chair sat
Patrick's own father.
[Sidenote: =Henry's first great speech=]
[Sidenote: =The people overjoyed=]
Henry began his speech in an awkward way. The clergymen felt
encouraged, while his friends and father felt uneasy. Soon he began
to warm up. His words came more freely, and his gestures grew more
graceful. The people began to listen, and then to lean forward
spellbound by the charm of his eloquence and the power of his argument.
The clergy grew angry and left the room. His father, forgetting that he
was judge, cried for joy. When Henry finished, the people seized him
and carried him on their shoulders from the court room and around the
yard, shouting and cheering all the while.
[Illustration: PEOPLE OF THE COURT CARRYING PATRICK HENRY ON THEIR
SHOULDERS AROUND THE GREEN]
[Sidenote: =Elected a lawmaker=]
Patrick Henry was now the people's hero. At the election the following
year his friends chose him to go to the House of Burgesses, and there,
in 1765, he made his stirring speech against the Stamp Act.
[Sidenote: =The Stamp Act repealed=]
Many great Englishmen, such as William Pitt and Edmund Burke, opposed
the Stamp Tax. Finally, King George and his Parliament repealed the
unpopular act. The Americans were happy when they heard of its repeal.
[Illustration: ON THE WAY TO THE GREAT CONGRESS AT PHILADELPHIA]
[Illustration: ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND]
[Sidenote: =The Americans angry over the Tea Tax=]
=83. New Taxes.= As if the king and Parliament could learn nothing,
they passed a Tea Tax the very next year, placing a tax on all the tea
imported into the colonies. Then the Americans everywhere refused to
buy the tea and pay the tax. When the tea ships came to America the
people of New York and Philadelphia sent them back, and the "Sons of
Liberty" at Annapolis burned a ship full of tea. The king's governor at
Boston refused to permit the ships to carry the tea back to England,
but the people, one night, threw the tea into the sea. King George grew
angry at such "tea parties," and had laws passed to punish Boston. More
British soldiers were sent there to force the people to obey these
detested laws.
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry meets Samuel Adams at the great Congress=]
The colonies, more excited than ever, decided to hold a great Congress
in Philadelphia (1774). Virginia, like the others, sent her best men.
There in Carpenter's Hall, a building still standing, Henry made
friends of leading men of other colonies. There he met Samuel Adams,
who was doing with his pen what Henry was doing with his tongue, and
they became life-long friends.
[Illustration: THE STOVE IN THE HOUSE OF THE BURGESSES
_This stove is now in the State Library of Virginia_]
[Sidenote: =A new sentiment=]
One day, when speaking in favor of united action, Patrick Henry
declared: "The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New
Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an
American."
As Patrick Henry talked with men from other colonies and heard how the
king's troops were acting at Boston, he was convinced that war must
come. He went home and urged the people of Virginia to arm for the
coming struggle. The king's governor refused to permit meetings in the
old capitol at Williamsburg, so they were held in St. John's Church,
Richmond, a church still standing.
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry's new resolutions=]
Here Patrick Henry offered resolutions declaring that Virginia should
arm herself for the coming war. It was a serious time, and these were
serious resolutions. Should the thirteen colonies go to war with one
of the greatest nations in the world? Would it not be wise to send
more petitions to the king? Some of the ablest men in Virginia opposed
Henry's resolutions.
[Illustration: DECLAIMING PATRICK HENRY'S FAMOUS SPEECH
_As a favorite declamation this great speech still rouses the spirit of
patriotism in America_]
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry's greatest speech=]
[Sidenote: =War is inevitable=]
=84. Patrick Henry Defends his Resolutions.= Patrick Henry listened
to the speeches with smothered excitement. When he rose to defend
his resolutions his face was pale and his voice was trembling. But
soon his audience forgot what other men had said. They leaned forward
and listened as if no other man had spoken. He stirred their deepest
feelings when he declared: "We must fight! I repeat it, Sir, we must
fight! An appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all that is left
to us. They tell us, Sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so
formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the
next week or the next year? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper
use of the means which the God of Nature hath placed in our power.
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are
forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is
inevitable, and let it come! I repeat it, Sir: Let it come!--The war is
actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to
our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brothers are already in the
field! Why stand we here idle! 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."
[Illustration: THE FLAG OF THE VIRGINIA MINUTEMEN]
[Sidenote: =What a listener in St. John's Church saw and heard=]
One who heard this speech says that when the orator spoke the words
"chains and slavery," he stood like a slave with his body bent, his
wrists crossed, as if bound by chains, and that his face looked like
that of a hopeless slave. After a solemn pause he raised his eyes and
chained hands toward heaven, and said, as if in prayer: "Forbid it,
Almighty God!" He then slowly bent his body still nearer the floor,
looking like a man oppressed, heart-broken, and helpless, and said:
"I know not what course others may take." Then, rising grandly and
proudly, with every muscle strained, as if he would break his imaginary
chains, he exclaimed: "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
[Illustration: OLD POWDER HOUSE, WILLIAMSBURG
_The removal of the powder from this house to a British man-of-war
caused the first uprising of the Virginians_]
[Sidenote: =What Washington saw in Boston in 1775=]
The men who heard this great speech never forgot it. The people of
Virginia now pushed forward the work of arming her men. And when her
own Washington went to take command of the army at Boston he found
Virginia soldiers there wearing on their hunting shirts the words
"Liberty or death!"
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry loved by Virginians=]
From this time on Patrick Henry was in the forefront of the struggle
with England. Virginia sent him to Congress, then she made him an
officer in the army, and finally not only made him the first governor
after independence was declared, but elected him to that office three
times in succession, and offered him the same office three times more.
[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY
_From the bronze figure of the Washington monument by Crawford at
Richmond_]
After independence was won Patrick Henry opposed the adoption of our
constitution, although Washington, Madison, and many of his friends
were in favor of it. When, however, he saw that the new constitution
was a good one, he gave his support to his friend, President Washington.
[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry in his old age=]
Patrick Henry finally retired to his plantation and refused all offers
of office. Many old friends and many great strangers went to visit him
in his old age as one of the great men of the American Revolution. In
the year of his death (1799), when some danger threatened Virginia,
Patrick Henry came forth at Washington's request, old and feeble as he
was, and aroused the people once more with his burning words. They
elected him to the House of Burgesses by a great majority, but he did
not live to take office.