Question

Patrick Henry made this statement in his speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention. The purpose of the speech was to explain why he opposed ratifying the Constitution without a Bill of Rights.

Quotation taken from a 1788 speech by Patrick Henry at the Virginia Ratifying Convention. It says, Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defense, the militia, is put into the hands of Congress?
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Why did Patrick Henry make this statement at the Virginia Ratifying Convention?

Answer 1

To support the idea that Congress would be better at managing a military than the people would

To support the idea that the people need a right to bear arms as a means of defending themselves

To emphasize the importance of state militias in international conflicts

To emphasize that Congress would be poor at managing a national military

@fantasiablueskys

Answer 2

@fantasiablueskys can you help me please

Answer 3

Henry soon became a leading political figure in Virginia. In 1773, together with Thomas Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee, he persuaded the House of Burgesses to appoint a committee of correspondence for Virginia. Committees were established in other colonies to exchange news, mobilize public opinion, and coordinate actions against Great Britain. Henry was a Virginia delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774, where he urged vigorous collective measures by the colonists. At the Virginia Convention in Richmond in 1775, he successfully sponsored measures for armed resistance to the British. His speech in support of the resolutions concluded with the now historic words, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

In 1775, while Henry was preparing to attend the Second Continental Congress, news of the battles at Lexington and Concord reached Virginia. Lord Dunmore, the colonial governor, ordered the colony’s supply of gunpowder and ammunition seized. Henry collected the militia, marched on Williamsburg, and forced the governor to return the supplies. He then proceeded to Philadelphia, where he took his seat in the new congress.

Henry had been appointed a colonel in command of the first regiment of Virginia, but after some friction with other commanders he resigned his commission in 1776. In the same year he was elected governor of Virginia for the first of three consecutive one-year terms. After the death of his first wife, Henry married Dorothea Dandridge and returned to his beloved plantation life. But Henry did not remain on the plantation for long: He returned to public service as a state legislator, a position he held from 1780 to 1784, and was reelected governor from 1784 to 1786. While he was governor, Henry helped draft the Virginia constitution, and he dispatched George Rogers Clark on a successful military expedition to the northwest.

When his fifth one-year term as governor expired, Henry was elected a member of the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. However, Henry opposed the formation of a stronger central government, and he declined to attend the convention in 1787 and 1788. In 1788, as a delegate to the Virginia convention called to ratify the new federal Constitution, Henry was the leading opponent of ratification. Henry opposed the document on the ground that it threatened the rights of states and individuals. Despite Henry’s opposition, the Constitution was ratified. Henry was an influential supporter of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, and he became reconciled to the federal government after these amendments were adopted.

Answer 4

I hoped that helped :)

Answer 5

i still dont get it

Answer 6

can you try and help some more please

Answer 7

@Nateyboo

Answer 8

i think i have someone that can help @willis97

Answer 9

maybe the first answer.....

Answer 10

@willis97 do you think you can help i don't really understand it sorry again @312856MLP