Editing Patrick Henry (section)

== Independence and first time as governor (1776–1779) ==
Henry did not sit in the Fourth Virginia Convention which met in December 1775,{{sfn|Campbell|pp=172–173}} as he was ineligible because of his military commission.{{sfn|Kukla|p=201}} Once he was again a civilian, the freeholders of Hanover County in April 1776 elected him to the [[Fifth Virginia Convention|fifth convention]], to meet the following month.{{sfn|Campbell|p=196}} Most delegates were for independence but were divided on how and when to declare it. Henry introduced a resolution declaring Virginia independent and urging the Congress to declare all the colonies free. When he at last spoke, according to clergyman [[Edmund Randolph]], Henry "appeared in an element for which he was born. To cut the knot, which calm prudence was puzzled to untie, was worthy of the magnificence of his genius. He entered into no subtlety of reasoning but was roused by the now apparent spirit of the people as a pillar of fire, which notwithstanding the darkness of the prospect would conduct to the promised land."{{sfn|Kidd|pp=121–122}} The eventual resolution was based in large part on Henry's and passed unanimously on May 15, 1776. As well as declaring Virginia independent, the resolution instructed the state's delegates in Congress to press for American independence, which they would, with Lee introducing the motion and Jefferson penning [[United States Declaration of Independence|the Declaration]].{{sfn|Kidd|p=122}}

The convention then proceeded to consider a constitution for Virginia's government. Henry was appointed to a committee under the leadership of [[Archibald Cary]].{{sfn|Campbell|pp=223–224}} Much of the work fell to the final appointee to the committee, George Mason of Fairfax County, who did not arrive in Williamsburg until May 18, delayed by illness. Mason first drafted a [[Virginia Declaration of Rights|Declaration of Rights]]; it was discussed in the Cary Committee on May 25. Mason's draft, more than the final declaration, would be highly influential, used by Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence and by writers of many 18th and 19th century state constitutions. When the draft was debated, Henry, at the request of a young delegate from [[Orange County, Virginia|Orange County]], [[James Madison]], produced an amendment changing Mason's call for religious tolerance to one requiring full [[freedom of religion]]. This was seen as a threat to Virginia's established religion, Anglicanism, and did not pass. Madison reworked it and had another delegate introduce it, likely [[Edmund Randolph]], and it passed. Mason's draft called for a ban on [[Bill of attainder|bills of attainder]]. Henry got it removed by telling the delegates that some high offender might be reached by no other means.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=210–213}} The convention approved the Declaration of Rights on June 12.{{sfn|Kidd|p=126}}

Virginia's form of government, to be placed in its constitution, became a national concern; Jefferson, in Philadelphia though he would have preferred to be in Williamsburg, sent a plan, and John Adams sent Henry a pamphlet containing his own views, to which Henry replied, "your sentiments are precisely the same I have long since taken up, and they come recommended by you".{{sfn|Campbell|pp=225–226}} But it was Mason's plan for the government of Virginia which dominated, with much power given to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]], the lower house of the legislature. The House of Delegates and the [[Senate of Virginia]] together formed the General Assembly, as the Virginia legislature is known. Under the 1776 constitution, the governor, elected by the two houses of the legislature, was not even given the power to veto legislation and was required to act with the approval of the [[Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies|Governor's Council]] on important matters. Henry opposed the weakness of the governor, feeling it was risky at a time of war to have the executive so weak, but his views did not prevail. He had reason to rue the office's lack of power, as on June 29, 1776, the convention elected him as Virginia's first post-independence governor, by 60 votes to 45 for [[Thomas Nelson Jr.]]<ref name = "a" />{{sfn|Kukla|pp=214–217}} The election of Henry, at that time Virginia's most popular politician, helped assure acceptance of the new authorities{{sfn|Kidd|pp=129–135}} but also placed him in a figurehead position, removed from the true power in the new government, the House of Delegates.{{sfn|McDonnell|p=244}}

Henry was taken ill almost immediately upon being sworn in as governor on July 5 and recuperated at Scotchtown. He returned to Williamsburg in September and corresponded with General Washington about the military situation. Washington, who was less effective because of the inadequacies of his troops, complained about the state militias, feeling a [[Continental Army]] committed for the duration of the war was needed. Henry helped recruit new troops for Washington, but his efforts were hampered by several issues, including the weakness of Henry's office. In December 1776, with the General Assembly alarmed at reports Washington's army was in retreat as the British occupied Philadelphia, legislators granted Henry temporary expanded powers, something that Jefferson was still unhappy about years later, feeling that Henry was trying to set himself up as dictator. In March 1777, Henry wrote to Washington seeking permission to recruit soldiers for terms of up to eight months. Washington's anger in his response that such troops were not useful caused Henry to drop the matter, stating that he deferred to Washington's experience in military matters. Recruiting remained a problem; many Virginians were willing to be members of the county militia but did not want to join the Continental Army lest they be sent out of state or exposed to disease.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=129–135}}{{sfn|McDonnell|p=258}} Desertion was also a problem Henry labored to solve with limited success; many Virginians had been induced to enlist with promises they would not be sent outside the state or local area, and they left when orders came to march.{{sfn|McDonnell|p=266}}

Henry was elected to a second one-year term without opposition and took the oath on July 2, 1777. On October 9 at Scotchtown, he married [[Dorothea Dandridge Henry|Dorothea Dandridge]], daughter of his old client, Nathaniel West Dandridge of Hanover County.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=Red Hill {{!}} Patrick Henry Memorial|title=Patrick Henry's Family|url=https://www.redhill.org/patrick-henry/patrick-henrys-family/|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=Red Hill {{!}} Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation|language=en-US|archive-date=April 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412034014/https://www.redhill.org/patrick-henry/patrick-henrys-family/|url-status=live}}</ref> This made him closer kin to Washington, as Nathaniel Dandridge was [[Martha Washington]]'s uncle.{{sfn|Campbell|pp=247–248}} To add to the six children he had by Sarah Henry, he would have eleven more by Dorothea, though two by the second marriage died very young. She brought 12 slaves with her, adding to the 30 Patrick Henry already had. He sold Scotchtown in 1777 and moved to [[Leatherwood Plantation]] in [[Henry County, Virginia|Henry County]], which the General Assembly had just created and named for him.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=138–139}}

When Washington and his troops encamped [[Valley Forge National Historical Park|at Valley Forge]] in the winter of 1777–78, Henry arranged for livestock and other food to be sent to their relief. There was discontent against Washington, who was not seen by some as a successful general, and this resulted in the so-called [[Conway Cabal]]. Henry supported Washington when Dr. [[Benjamin Rush]] of Philadelphia, one of those unenthusiastic about Washington, sent the governor an unsigned letter, discussing machinations against the general. Henry immediately sent Washington the letter, and though it is uncertain if Henry recognized Rush's handwriting, Washington did, tipping him off to the conspiracy. President Washington wrote of Henry in 1794, "I have always respected and esteemed him; nay more, I have conceived myself under obligation to him for the friendly manner in which he transmitted to me some insidious anonymous writings in the close of the year 1777 with a view to embark him in the opposition that was forming against me at that time".{{sfn|Kukla|pp=233–238}}

In an effort to secure Virginia's vast claims in the West (to the Mississippi River and north to present-day Minnesota) against British and Native American forces, Henry in December 1777 sent [[George Rogers Clark]] on an expedition against [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], site of a British and French settlement. This part of Clark's mission was secret; his public orders merely stated he was to raise a militia and go to Kentucky (then part of Virginia). Clark captured Kaskaskia in July 1778 and remained north of the Ohio River for the remainder of Henry's governorship. Although the expedition did not turn out as well as hoped, Henry trumpeted its successes, but after he left the governorship in 1779 and was elected to the House of Delegates, he became a foe of Clark.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=139–141}}

[[File:Patrick Henry estate marker Henry County Virginia 1922.JPG|thumb|Boulder and plaque marking former location of Leatherwood Plantation in [[Henry County, Virginia]]]]
Henry was elected to a third term on May 29, 1778, again without opposition. Jefferson led the committee of notables sent to inform him of his election. In December 1778, Henry sent an urgent appeal to Congress for naval aid in protecting [[Chesapeake Bay]]. None was forthcoming,{{sfn|Campbell|pp=278–281}} and on May 8, 1779, in the final days of Henry's governorship, British ships under Sir [[George Collier]] entered the bay, landed troops, and took [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]] and [[Suffolk, Virginia|Suffolk]], destroying valuable supplies. The British departed on May 24, and Henry, limited to three consecutive terms in office by the 1776 constitution, left office soon after, succeeded by Jefferson, and with his family returned to Leatherwood.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=148–150}}