Jon Kukla

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.… (más)