March 2006

March 23, 1775, a Thursday, was the fourth day of a revolutionary convention in Virginia. But just how revolutionary, nobody until that day could have predicted.

The convention was revolutionary because it was independent of the colonial government, yet many of its delegates hoped it would be perceived as conciliatory. Their main goal was to elect new representatives to serve at the pleasure of the English governor, Lord Dunmore. But Patrick Henry, a man who tended to speak out on subjects that others confined to their hearts, was there, convinced that something much more urgent was in the air.