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    Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty
    Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty
    Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty
    Audiobook17 hours

    Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty

    Written by Jon Kukla

    Narrated by Paul Woodson

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    About this audiobook

    Born in 1736, Patrick Henry was an attorney and planter, and an outstanding orator in the movement for independence. A contemporary of Washington, Henry stood with John and Samuel Adams among the leaders of the colonial resistance to Great Britain that ultimately created the United States. The first governor of Virginia after independence, he was re-elected several times. After declining to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Henry opposed the Constitution, arguing that it granted too much power to the central government. Although he denounced slavery as evil, like many other southern slave-owners he accepted its continuation. Henry pushed vigorously for the ten amendments to the new Constitution, and then supported Washington and national unity against the bitter party divisions of the 1790s. He was enormously influential in his time, but his accomplishments, other than his oratory, were subsequently all but forgotten.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateAug 22, 2017
    ISBN9781681686707
    Author

    Jon Kukla

    Jon Kukla is the author of Patrick Henry, Mr. Jefferson’s Women, and A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America, as well as many scholarly articles and reviews. An authority on early American history, he has directed research and publishing at the Library of Virginia and served as executive director of the Historic New Orleans Collection and of Red Hill-The Patrick Henry National Memorial in Charlotte County, Virginia. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

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    • 4/5
      Excellent book about a patriot I'd not read much about before. For some years, I'd struggled with which local was truly accurate in claiming the home of the American Revolution: Boston or Williamsburg. This book proves to me that it was the latter and that Patrick Henry was at the forefront.Kukla writes in a clear, enjoyable style that's not arduous. I hate academic writing and there's little of that here although it's an exceedingly well-researched book.Highly recommend!
    • 4/5
      I wanted to read this biography of Patrick Henry because I grew up in Henry County, VA (where Leatherwood is located) and have lived my adult life in Patrick County, VA (which originally combined with Henry County to be Patrick Henry County. Yet, I knew little about the man himself.

      This biography proved to be more engrossing and enjoyable than I expected. I could appreciate the research that Jon Kukla did to bring the man to life. As he pointed out, many primary sources involving Patrick Henry have been destroyed or lost.

      Henry, like all others, was a complex man. He was one of the primary movers of the war for independence against Great Britain. When we were taught about the founding fathers in school, they were uniformly presented as wise men of integrity. If you do only a little investigation, you find that while they were exceptionally brilliant men, they were still very much human. Henry was one who truly wanted to live an honest life of integrity and courage. He wasn't trying to build a name for himself, he was seeking freedom for his fellow citizens.

      Yet, in spite of his opposition to slavery, Henry refused to move toward freeing Virginia's slaves. Kukla explores this dichotomy which, to the modern mind, seems unfathomable, and he does a good job of explaining the economic, social, and political factors that hindered Henry's efforts. In fact, he owned a number of slaves himself.

      Henry has been somewhat forgotten by history because, with the exception of few years in the Confederate Congress, he refused almost all positions offered to him in the national government. Instead, he focused on the state of Virginia, serving five terms as governor.

      I think the reason I enjoyed the book so much was that it opened a window into a period of our history that I know little about. It was disturbing to see that political factions, scheming, and backstabbing began early. Some things, it seems, never change.