Patrick Henry Patrick Henry was a great patriot. He never used his fists or guns to fight for his country, but he used a much more powerful weapon for which he had great skill: his words. Perhaps the greatest orator of his time, his speeches such as "Give me liberty or give me death" struck a chord in the American psyche of those who opposed oppression and tyranny. Henry was born on May 29, 1736, in Studley, Virginia. His schooling was basic; primary school, then trained in the classics by his father. His father, John Henry, was an educated Scotsman who was a surveyor, colonel and judge of the local county court. Still young, Patrick Henry first ventured into commerce, where he failed twice, then into agriculture, which also proved to be a failure. Despite his early difficulties, he later married Sara Shelton and, with the new responsibilities of marriage, he took up the practice of law. He was naturally gifted for this new work and quickly achieved great success. The first signs of his "oratorical genre" were shown in the case where Virginia here presented a request for a change of law which had been refused by King George III. After this affair, he was soon accepted as a member of the House of Burgesses. There he gave another famous speech against the Stamp Act. After concluding this speech, calls of "Treason! Treason!" rang through the room, but Henry replied: "If it is treason, make the most of it." Thus began the story...