The motivation behind the speech was to incite the determination of the Virginia House members to raise a militia, or voluntary army, that would fight against the British army. However, Henry’s rhetoric was very effective, and his speech has become one of the more famous in American history.

During the case, Henry, then a relatively unknown attorney, delivered an impassioned speech against British overreach into colonial affairs, arguing “that a King by annulling or disallowing acts of so salutary a nature, from being Father of his people degenerated into a Tyrant, and forfeits all rights to his subjects’ …

The speech today is written and spoken by Patrick Henry. He is trying to convince everyone of voting independence from England so America can actually be independent.

The main purpose of Henry’s speech is to Persuade the colonists to enter into war against Britain In “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry says, surprisingly, that he must take a certain action against England in order to be a true patriot.

Patrick Henry’s tone is persuasive because he tells the attendees of the convention that they have done all that they can without having to fight to fix it: “Sir, we have done everything that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on” (4). He also uses a persuasive tone when he …show more content…

The roughly 120 delegates who filed into Richmond’s St. John’s Church were a veritable “who’s who” of Virginia’s colonial leaders. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both in attendance, as were five of the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Independence.

On June 29, the convention approved the first Constitution of Virginia. The convention chose Patrick Henry as the first governor of the new Commonwealth of Virginia, and he was inaugurated on June 29, 1776. Thus, Virginia had a functioning republican constitution before July 4, 1776.

The second convention met in Richmond, Virginia, for a one-week period in 1775, from March 20 to March 27. At this convention, Patrick Henry initiated a program for defensive action and presented his celebrated “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, which inspired the colonists to follow the cause.

Peyton Randolph

In June 1788, one hundred sixty-eight delegates from across Virginia met in Richmond to debate whether Virginia would ratify the United States Constitution. On June 25, 1788, by a vote of 89 to 79, they made Virginia the tenth state to ratify the Constitution.

Although a majority of Virginians were said to be against adoption of the Constitution, and the Anti-federalists had the oratorical advantage with Patrick Henry, the Federalists were better organized under the leadership of judges who had been trained by George Wythe, and former Continental Army officers who aligned …

The arguments of Henry and other Anti-Federalists compelled James Madison, the leader of the Virginia Federalists, to promise the addition of a bill of rights to the Constitution once the document was approved. After 25 days of heated debate, on June 26, 1788, Virginia became the 10th state to ratify the Constitution.

Henry lays out his concerns: 1) the Preamble is ordained by “We the People,” and not “We the States,” 2) the Constitution departs too far from the Articles of Confederation, 3) representation in the House is inadequate, 4) the rights of the people are not properly protected by a bill of rights from “the commands of …

Why was it especially important that New York and Virginia should ratify it? They were both populous and powerful; without their consent the Constitution would stand on shaky grounds. Name the states in order in which they ratified the Constitution and give the date each ratified it.

Why did Virginia finally ratify the Constitution? They finally ratified the Constitution because of promises that there will be a bill of rights.

In June, Virginia ratified the Constitution, followed by New York in July. On September 25, 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution—the Bill of Rights—and sent them to the states for ratification.

The Constitution was not ratified by all states until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document, and the Bill of Rights was not ratified to become part of the Constitution until the end of the following year.