P[atrick]. Henry

For many, the quintessential image of Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry is Thomas Sullycs half-length portrait, now owned by the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. The Senate has an oil on canvas copy of Sully’s portrait by George Matthews. In 1896 John C. Yorsten & Co. also copied Thomas Sully’s painting as a metal engraving. Yorsten included below the portrait an image of the old Virginia Capitol in Williamsburg, site of many of Henry’s famous speeches. Henry will forever be remembered by Americans for his courageous patriotism and for his stirring words, "Give me liberty or give me death!" His eloquent call to arms, reported to be from a speech he delivered in 1775 at the second Virginia Convention, galvanized his fellow colonists to action. As the movement for independence grew, Henry served as a delegate to both the first and second Continental Congresses, and was largely responsible for the establishment of a colonial militia. He helped draft a constitution for the new state of Virginia, served as its first governor, and was among those most responsible for adding a bill of rights to the Constitution.