Existing comment:
Patrick Henry
b 29 May 1736 / d 6 June 1799
Henry was "the greatest orator that ever lived."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Beginning in 1763, Patrick Henry delivered daring speeches that attacked the power of the English monarchy and government and advanced colonial rights. His powerful style of speaking was shaped by the evangelical preacher Samuel Davies, to whom he listened as a youth. George Mason explained, "Every word he says commands attention, and your passions are no longer your own when he addresses them." |