Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty by Jon Kukla (review)

Near Patrick Henry's last will and testament, his executors found a small envelope sealed with wax containing a message intended to be read after his death. On a single sheet of paper, Henry had copied his 1765 resolutions opposing the Stamp Act. On the reverse side was a brief history of the resolutions, with these words: "'Whether [independence] will prove a Blessing or a Curse,' he wrote, 'will depend on the Use our people make of the Blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us.'" If the American people are wise, "'they will be great and happy.'" If they are of a contrary character, "'they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a Nation.'" He concluded, "'Reader! whoever thou art, remember this, and in thy Sphere, practice Virtue thyself, and encourage it in others. P. HENRY'" (p. 3). This document touched on or alluded to several recurring themes in Henry's life and thought: the blessings of political liberty, the call to resist tyranny, and the necessity for civic virtue informed by religion in a system that aspires to self-government.

Historians of Virginia and the American founding have long lamented that, notwithstanding the numerous biographies, there is still much to be written about Patrick Henry's life. Most Americans, even schoolchildren, recall Henry as the great orator of the Revolution and can recite his most famous line of revolutionary rhetoric, but few can elaborate on the substance of his contributions to the Patriots' cause. Much of Henry's life has been obscured by popular myths. Biographers have also been hampered by the fact that many of his papers have been destroyed or lost and that many of his most important expressions of ideas were spoken and not written down and, unfortunately, have now been lost to posterity. Moreover, some biographers have lacked the detailed knowledge of Virginia's social and political life required to provide essential contexts for Henry's life, thoughts, and deeds.

Such invaluable details and contexts, however, are not lacking in Jon Kukla's masterful biography Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty. Indeed, it is a model of biography writing at its finest, and students of biography and history will want to study it for this reason alone. Kukla is a first-rate historian and an engaging writer who ably marshals his encyclopedic knowledge of Virginia social, political, legal, economic, and religious cultures in recounting Henry's life. Nearly every paragraph brims with pertinent factual nuggets and insights that add color and texture to the narrative.

This tome is much more than a biography; it is a richly textured and documented chronicle of Henry's tumultuous times and, in particular, the birth of a new nation. It is replete with insights that will excite experts and novices alike. For the most part, the biography follows Henry's life chronologically, delving into the momentous events that shaped his life and legacy, such as the Parsons' Cause case, the "liberty or death" speech delivered at the Second Virginia Convention in March 1775, the Fifth Virginia Convention's resolution to declare independence in May 1776, the battles to redefine church-state relationships and secure religious liberty in Revolutionary Virginia, and the debate in Virginia over ratification of the national Constitution.

Kukla is attentive to recurring themes in Henry's public life. These include Henry's belief that political leaders must constantly gauge the opinions of and speak for ordinary citizens; that Virginians must act in concert with compatriots in the other colonies to protect liberty; and that religion, morality, and civic virtue are the indispensable pillars that buttress social order and give citizens the capacity for republican self-government committed to liberty under law. Henry fretted about a perceived decline in public morality in postwar Virginia, and he advocated policies that he believed would foster a public religion that would, in turn, inform civic virtue and morality.

As the subtitle indicates, Kukla...