HENRY, PATRICK
\hˈɛnɹi], \hˈɛnɹi], \h_ˈɛ_n_ɹ_i]\
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(May 29, 1736-June 6, 1799), was born in Hanover County, VA. He failed in farming and trading, and started his career as a lawyer, with somewhat slender equipment, in 1760. He attracted attention by a noted speech in 1763, and in 1765 he entered the House of Burgesses and uttered his famous arraignment of the Stamp Act. He was a leader in organizing the committees of correspondence, and was a delegate to the first Continental Congress. In 1775 occurred his "liberty or death" speech, and he was active in the beginning of hostilities as a colonel and commander of Virginia troops. He took the lead in organizing the Virginia State Government, and was its first Governor, being elected in 1776, 1777 and 1778, and in 1784 and 1785. His jealousy of State privileges and devotion to democracy led him to oppose the Federal Constitution of 1787. He was the Anti-Federalist leader in the State, and was prominent in the ratifying convention of 1788. For a short time, 1794-1795, he was U.S. Senator, was finally a Federalist, and was for many years a member of the Virginia Legislature. Patrick Henry was noted for eloquence, but did not in constructive statesmanship compare with some of the other great Virginians. His life has been recently written by William Wirt Henry. There are other lives by Wirt and M. C. Tyler.
By John Franklin Jameson
Word of the day
Platidiam
- An inorganic water-soluble platinum complex. After undergoing hydrolysis, it reacts DNA produce both intra interstrand crosslinks. These crosslinks appear to impair replication and transcription of DNA. The cytotoxicity cisplatin correlates with cellular arrest in G2 phase cell cycle.