Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry (1736–1799) was an American lawyer, orator and politician from Virginia, one of the leading voices of the Revolution. He won fame by attacking the Stamp Act in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765, and in March 1775 he urged armed resistance to Britain in the speech ending "Give me liberty or give me death!" He served in the Continental Congress and as the first governor of independent Virginia. Later he opposed the federal Constitution as a threat to the states and to individual liberty, helping to bring about the Bill of Rights.