Henry's Early Life and Times (and other life events)

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• May 29, 1736 Patrick Henry born at Studley in Hanover County
  
  
• 1748 Henry witnesses preaching of evangelist Samuel Davies during Great Awakening
  
  
• 1760 Henry passes bar examination in Williamsburg
  
  
• 1760-1768 Henry's county court practice exceeds 3,200 cases
  
  
• December 1, 1763 Henry argues Parsons' Cause at Hanover Court House
  
  
• May 1765 Henry's first election to House of Burgesses
  
  
• May 29-30, 1765 Resolutions against Stamp Act and "Caesar-Brutus Speech"
  
  
• 1769 Henry admitted to the bar of the General Court
  
  
• 1770-1771 Henry defends persecuted Baptist ministers Jeremiah Walker, John Waller, and John Williams
  
  
• 1773 Henry helps create Virginia Committee of Correspondence
  
  
• August 1774 Henry elected to First Continental Congress
  
  
• March 23, 1775 "Liberty or Death" speech at St. John's Church in Richmond
  
  
• March 25, 1775 Henry elected to Second Continental Congress
  
  
• April 19, 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord
  
  
• May 6, 1775 Governor Dunmore issues edict against Henry
  
  
• August 5, 1775 Henry elected commander-in-chief of Virginia's military forces
  
  
• February 28, 1776 Henry resigns military command
  
  
• May-July 1776 Henry attends Fifth Revolutionary Convention; helps write Virginia Constitution and Declaration of Rights
  
  
• June 29, 1776 Henry elected first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  
  
• May 29, 1777 Henry re-elected to second term as governor
  
  
• January 2, 1778 Henry sends George Rogers Clark to defend the west
  
  
• May 29, 1778 Henry re-elected to third term as governor of Virginia
  
  
• June 1, 1779 Jefferson elected governor; Henry returns to House of Delegates
  
  
• November 17, 1784 Henry elected to fourth term as governor
  
  
• 1784 Legislature defeats Henry's Bill for Support of Teachers of the Christian Religion
  
  
• November 25, 1785 Henry re-elected to fifth term as governor
  
  
• November 30, 1786 Henry declines re-election as governor; resumes law practice
  
  
• 1787 Henry declines election to Philadelphia Constitutional Convention
  
  
• September 17, 1787 Convention publishes proposed Constitution
  
  
• March 1788 Henry elected to Virginia Convention of 1788
  
  
• June 2, 1788 Convention begins debate over Constitution
  
  
• June 25, 1788 Virginia ratifies Constitution by 89 to 79 vote, Henry's opposition fuels movement for a Bill of Rights
  
  
• September 25, 1789 Congress sends twelve constitutional amendments to the states
  
  
• November 12, 1791 Henry retires from the House of Delegates
  
  
• December 15, 1791 Ten amendments ratified as federal Bill of Rights
  
  
• April 1793 Henry defends Richard Randolph against charge of infanticide
  
  
• May 1793 Henry argues British Debts Case
  
  
• 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
  
  
• March 4, 1799 Henry' final speech at Charlotte Courthouse
  
  
• June 6, 1799 Death of Patrick Henry at Red Hill