For the People, For the Country: Patrick Henry’s Final Political Battle

National Archives Museum
Online

In 1799, at the behest of President George Washington, Patrick Henry came out of retirement to defend the Constitution that he had once opposed and to thwart Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, whom Washington accused of putting party over country and threatening the fragile union. In For the People, For the Country, author John A. Ragosta will discuss the remarkable story of how the most eloquent public speaker of the American Revolutionary era and a leading Antifederalist during debates over ratification of the Constitution reemerged on the side of the Federalists and once again changed history. Joining the author in discussion will be Jack Rakove, author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution.

Presented in celebration of Constitution Day