Henry County / Patrick Henry
New Castle, Henry County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
County Named, 1798. For Patrick Henry, 1736-99, patriot, orator. "Give me liberty or give me death." Va. House of Burgesses, 1765; the Continental Congress, 1774-76; Gov. of Va., 1776-79 and 1784-86. Opposed Va. ratification of U.S. Const., 1788, without Bill of Rights; later added. Declined appointments as U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, Chief Justice, Minister to France.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Henry County, formed in 1798, carries the name of Patrick Henry, the Virginia orator whose cry of "liberty or death" helped ignite the American Revolution. A fixture of the House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he served as Virginia's first post-colonial governor and later opposed ratifying the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added—rights the nation soon adopted. He declined a string of high federal offices to remain in Virginia.
Why it matters
Henry's insistence on a Bill of Rights shaped the guarantees of individual liberty that define American citizenship.
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Related people
- · Patrick Henry
Themes & tags
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