Patrick Henry was well-acquainted with life at Hanover Tavern. One of its earliest owners was John Shelton, the father of Patrick’s wife, Sarah. Patrick Henry lived and worked at the Tavern where he served guests, tended bar, and entertained with his fiddle playing. He studied law and through examination by prominent Virginia lawyers became a licensed attorney in 1760.
Although Patrick Henry is best known for his “give me liberty or give me death” speech delivered at Richmond’s St. John’s Church in 1775, his great oratory skills and patriotic fervor were first recognized when he argued damages for the defense in the famous Parson’s Cause.
The case touched on fundamental issues in the colonial struggle. Colonists were required to pay clergymen of the Anglican Church in tobacco. Following a poor harvest in 1758, the price of tobacco rose, artificially inflating clerical salaries. To protect themselves from financial ruin, the colonists enacted the Two Penny Act, which allowed ministers’ salaries to be paid in currency at two pence per pound. An enraged clergy thought the act an attempt to undermine their authority. They appealed to the King who promptly vetoed the act. The colonists saw the King’s action as a breach of their legislative authority. They were at an impasse. When the clergy sued for back pay, the court ruled the claim valid. All that remained was a determination of damages.
At Hanover Courthouse on December 1st, 1763, Patrick Henry presented an argument that was the first to publicly challenge the authority of the King and question the true motives of the clergy. In a stunning speech, Patrick Henry electrified his audience with these words:
The Two Penny Act of 1758 had every characteristic of a good law. It was a law of general utility, and could not be annulled if we are consistent with what the King called the original compact between himself and the people, stipulating protection on the one hand and obedience on the other.
A King, by disallowing Acts of this salutory nature, from being the father of his people, degenerates into a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his subjects’ obedience… This cause means more to all of us in the Colony than the question of a Clergyman’s pay… it touches our religions and political freedom.
The clergymen received one penny in damages. The award effectively nullified the King’s veto in a victory that signaled the growing revolutionary spirit in America.
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