The Timeline for Patrick Henry begins... | |
| Timeline for Patrick Henry - His early Life | |
| 1734 | Parents of Patrick Henry | The family settle in Hanover County in Virginia. His Scottish father, John Henry, marries Sarah Winston Syme in 1734
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| 1736 | Birth of Patrick Henry | Patrick Henry is born at Studley in Hanover County, Virginia on May 29, 1736. His father was a member of Virginia's landed gentry, and his mother belonged to a fine old Welsh family
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| 1740's | Early Life of Patrick Henry | Patrick Henry was not a good student, he enjoyed the outdoor life and playing the violin
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| 1748 | Great Awakening | Henry witnesses the preaching of evangelist Samuel Davies during the Great Awakening
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| 1751 | Clerk | Worked as a clerk into a little country store
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| 1752 | Failure | Patrick Henry opened a store of his own, but he was lazy and the business eventually failed
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| 1754 | Marriage to Sarah Shelton | Patrick Henry married Sarah Shelton and became a landowner and farmer. Her dowry was Pine Slash, a 300 acre tobacco farm in Hanover County with six slaves.
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| 1754 | Albany Congress, 1754 | June19 - July 11: Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of union but it was rejected by both the British and Americans
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| 1760 | Lawyer | The tobacco farm fails and Patrick Henry studies to become a lawyer. 1760 Henry passes the bar examination in Williamsburg and opens a law firm
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| 1763 | French and Indian War
(Seven years War) ends | February 10, 1763: The Peace Treaty of Paris 1763 ends the French and Indian War in North America. The British left with a massive war debt. The British look for ways of imposing new taxes in the colonies.
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| 1763 | English Policy of
Salutary Neglect ends | The British are left with a massive war debt and start to enforce the laws of the Navigations Acts and looked for ways of imposing new taxes in the colonies
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| 1763 | Proclamation of 1763 | October 7, 1763: The introduction of a massive boundary to separate white settlements from Indian country
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| 1764 | Sugar Act | April 5: Law setting a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies impacting the manufacture of rum in New England.
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| 1764 | Success as a Lawyer | He succeeded well in his law practice, and within a few years had so much business that people in his part of Virginia began to take notice of him
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| 1764 | Currency Act | September 1: Series of Laws that regulated paper money issued by the colonies - also refer to Colonial, Continental and Revolutionary Currency
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Timeline for Patrick Henry - The Stamp Act 1765 | |
| Timeline for Patrick Henry - The Stamp Act | |
| 1765 | Stamp Act of 1765 | March 22, 1765: Taxes imposed on legal papers, newspapers and pamphlets. Vehement opposition by the Colonies resulted in the repeal of the act in 1766 - also refer to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act
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| 1765 | Quartering Act of 1765 | March 24, 1765: The first of a series of Laws requiring the provision of housing, food and drink to British troops in the American colonies
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| 1765 | Member of the
House of Burgesses | May: Patrick Henry was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
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| 1765 | Patrick Henry, the great orator,
delivers the
'Caesar-Brutus Speech' | May 29: Patrick Henry delivers his famous 'Caesar-Brutus Speech' "If this be treason, make the most of it!" in the debate about his Resolutions against the Stamp Act. When Henry compared George III to the tyrants Julius Caesar and King Charles I, he was accused of treason.
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| 1765 | Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions
| May 30: The celebrated resolutions introduced by Patrick Henry against the Stamp Act was passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses
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| 1765 | Reaction to the Stamp Act
| Summer of 1765: Violent reactions leading to the Stamp Act Riots
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| 1765 | Stamp Act Congress
| October 7-25: Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists
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Timeline for Patrick Henry leading to Revolution | |
| Timeline for Patrick Henry - Timeline of events leading up to the Revolutionary War | |
| 1766 | Declaratory Act | March 18: Declaratory Act passed asserting the British right to make laws binding on the colonies
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| 1766 | Repeal of the Stamp Act | Repeal of the Stamp Act is approved by the House of Commons in February 1766
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| 1767 | Townshend Acts | June 29: Series of Laws placing duties on items imported by the colonists including glass, lead, paints, paper and tea
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| 1768 | English warships | October 1: English warships sail into Boston Harbor leaving two regiments of English troops to keep order
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| 1769 | The General Court
| Patrick Henry is admitted to the bar of the General Court | |
| 1770 | Boston Massacre
| March 5: 5 civilians killed by British soldiers | |
| 1770 | Repeal of the
Townshend Acts
| April: Repeal of the Townshend Acts and the Quartering Act | |
| 1771 | Defence of the Baptist Ministers | Patrick Henry defends persecuted Baptist ministers Jeremiah Walker, John Waller, and John Williams
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| 1773 | Tea Act | May 10: Law allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies, undermining colonial tea merchants
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| 1773 | The Committees of Correspondence | June 9: 1773 Henry helps create the Virginia Committee of
Correspondence. The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the 13 Colonies
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| 1773 | The Boston Tea Party | December 16: Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protested against the British Tea Act
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| 1774 | Intolerable Acts
(Coercive Acts) | The Intolerable Acts were a reprisal to the Boston Tea party rebellion. A package of five laws aimed at restoring British authority in its colonies
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| 1774 | Boston Port Act | March 31, 1774 - The Boston Port Act
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| 1774 | Massachusetts
Government Act
| May 20, 1774 The Massachusetts Government Act
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| 1774 | Administration of Justice Act | May 20, 1774 The Administration of Justice Act
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| 1774 | Quartering Act | June 2, 1774 - The Quartering Act
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| 1774 | Quebec Act | June 22, 1774 - The Quebec Act
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| 1774 | Elected to the
First Continental Congress
| August - Patrick Henry elected to the First Continental Congress | |
| 1774 | First Continental Congress | September 5 - October 26: First Continental Congress
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| 1775 | Patrick Henry
Give me Liberty Speech | March 23, 1775 - Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech "Give me liberty or give me death!"
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| 1775 | Elected to the
Second Continental Congress | March 25, 1775 Henry elected to Second Continental Congress |
| 1775 | Death of Patrick's first wife | April 1775: The death of Sarah Shelton Henry at Scotchtown leaving six children
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| 1775 | Paul Revere | April 18: General Gage orders British soldiers to destroy the colonists weapons depot in Concord. Paul Revere leaves Boston to warn colonists
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| 1775 | Edict against Patrick Henry | May 6, 1775 Governor Dunmore issues edict against Patrick Henry
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| 1775 | George Washington
Continental Army | June 15: George Washington appointed general and commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army
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| 1775 | Battle of Bunker Hill | June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill
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| 1775 | Taking Up Arms | July 6 1775: Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms stating that Americans are "resolved to die free men rather than live as slaves."
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| 1775 | Virginia Commander in Chief | August 5: Patrick Henry elected commander-in-chief of Virginia's military forces
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| 1776 | Revolutionary Convention | Patrick Henry attends Fifth Revolutionary Convention.
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| 1776 | Governor of Virginia | June 29, 1776: Patrick Henry elected first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
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| 1776 | Resigns Military Command | February 28, 1776: Patrick Henry resigns military command
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| 1776 | Preparing Documents | May-July: June 29, 1776 Henry elected first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and helps to write the Virginia Constitution - the Virginia Declaration of Rights
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| 1776 | Declaration of Independence | 1776 July 4. Thomas Jefferson presents the United States Declaration of Independence
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Timeline for Patrick Henry - The Revolutionary War | |
| Timeline for Patrick Henry - Timeline of events during the Revolutionary War | |
| 1777 | Re-elected Governor | May 29, 1777: Patrick Henry re-elected to second term as governor of Virginia
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| 1777 | Marriage to Dorothea Dandridge | October 9 1777: Patrick Henry marries Dorothea Dandridge - they will have eleven children together
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| 1778 | George Rogers Clark | January 2, 1778: Patrick Henry sends George Rogers Clark to defend the west
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| 1778 | Re-elected Governor | May 29, 1778 Patrick Henry re-elected to third term as governor of Virginia
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| 1779 | House of Delegates | June 1, 1779 Jefferson elected governor and Patrick Henry returns to House of Delegates
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| 1782 | Peace talks | April 12: Paris Peace talks begin
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| 1782 | Final Battle | November 10: The final battle of the Revolutionary War
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| 1783 | End to Hostilities | February 4: England officially declares an end to hostilities in America
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| 1783 | Treaty of Paris | September 3: The Treaty of Paris is signed by the United States and Great Britain
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| 1784 | American Revolutionary
War ends | January 14: The Peace Treaty of Paris 1783 is ratified by Congress and the American Revolutionary War officially ends.
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Timeline for Patrick Henry - Later Life | |
| Timeline for Patrick Henry - Timeline of his Later Life | |
| 1784 | Re-elected Governor | November 17, 1784 Patrick Henry elected to fourth term as governor
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| 1784 | Defeat of Bill | Legislature defeats Patrick Henry's Bill for Support of Teachers of the Christian Religion
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| 1785 | Re-elected Governor | November 25, 1785: Patrick Henry re-elected to fifth term as governor
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| 1786 | Resumes Law firm | November 30, 1786: Patrick Henry declines re-election as governor and resumes law practice
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| 1787 | Declines election | Patrick Henry declines election to Philadelphia Constitutional Convention
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| 1788 | Elected to Virginia Convention | March 1788 Patrick Henry elected to Virginia Convention of 1788
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| 1788 | Constitution Debate | June 2, 1788 Convention begins debate over Constitution
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| 1788 | Opposition to the Constitution | June 25, 1788 Virginia ratifies Constitution by 89 to 79 vote, Patrick Henry's opposition fuels movement for a Bill of Rights
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| 1789 | Amendments to the Constitution | September 25, 1789 Congress sends 12 constitutional amendments to the states
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| 1791 | Retires from House Delegates | November 12, 1791 Patrick Henry retires from the House of Delegates
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| 1791 | Federal Bill of Rights | December 15, 1791 Ten amendments ratified as federal Bill of Rights
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| 1793 | British Debts Case | May 1793 Patrick Henry argues British Debts Case
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| 1794/6 | Declines all appointments | 1794-1796: Henry declines sixth term as governor of Virginia and appointments as U. S. Senator, Chief Justice, Secretary of State, and ambassador to Spain and France due to his failing health
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| 1799 | Final Speech | March 4, 1799 Patrick Henry's final speech at Charlotte Courthouse
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| 1799 | Death of Patrick Henry | June 6, 1799: The Death of Patrick Henry at Red Hill
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| Timeline for Patrick Henry |
| Timeline for Patrick Henry |
