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

1740's
Early Life of Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was not a good student, he enjoyed the outdoor life and playing the violin

1748
Great Awakening
Henry witnesses the preaching of evangelist Samuel Davies during the Great Awakening

1751
Clerk
Worked as a clerk into a little country store

1752
Failure
Patrick Henry opened a store of his own, but he was lazy and the business eventually failed

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.

1754
Albany Congress, 1754
June19 - July 11: Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of union but it was rejected by both the British and Americans

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

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.

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

1763
Proclamation of 1763
October 7, 1763: The introduction of a massive boundary to separate white settlements from Indian country

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.

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

1764
Currency Act
September 1: Series of Laws that regulated paper money issued by the colonies - also refer to Colonial, Continental and Revolutionary Currency

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

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

1765
Member of the
House of Burgesses
May: Patrick Henry was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses

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.

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

1765
Reaction to the Stamp Act

Summer of 1765: Violent reactions leading to the Stamp Act Riots

1765
Stamp Act Congress - October 7-25: Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists

1766
Declaratory Act
March 18: Declaratory Act passed asserting the British right to make laws binding on the colonies

1766
Repeal of the Stamp Act
Repeal of the Stamp Act is approved by the House of Commons in February 1766

1767
Townshend Acts
June 29: Series of Laws placing duties on items imported by the colonists including glass, lead, paints, paper and tea

1768
English warships
October 1: English warships sail into Boston Harbor leaving two regiments of English troops to keep order

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

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

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

1773
The Boston Tea Party
December 16: Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protested against the British Tea Act

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

1774
Boston Port Act
March 31, 1774 - The Boston Port Act

1774
Massachusetts
Government Act

May 20, 1774 The Massachusetts Government Act

1774
Administration of Justice Act
May 20, 1774 The Administration of Justice Act

1774
Quartering Act
June 2, 1774 - The Quartering Act

1774
Quebec Act
June 22, 1774 - The Quebec Act

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

1775
Patrick Henry
Give me Liberty Speech
March 23, 1775 - Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech "Give me liberty or give me death!"

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

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

1775
Edict against Patrick Henry
May 6, 1775 Governor Dunmore issues edict against Patrick Henry

1775
George Washington
Continental Army
June 15: George Washington appointed general and commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army

1775
Battle of Bunker Hill
June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill

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."

1775
Virginia Commander in Chief
August 5: Patrick Henry elected commander-in-chief of Virginia's military forces

1776
Revolutionary Convention
Patrick Henry attends Fifth Revolutionary Convention.

1776
Governor of Virginia
June 29, 1776: Patrick Henry elected first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia

1776
Resigns Military Command
February 28, 1776: Patrick Henry resigns military command

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

1776
Declaration of Independence
1776 July 4. Thomas Jefferson presents the United States Declaration of Independence

1799
Death of Patrick Henry
June 6, 1799: The Death of Patrick Henry at Red Hill