A Firebrand Scorches Colonial Virginia  Our founders often spoke
in political extremes. They outraged the privileged and became
the voice for the people. Their well-bred opponents cried
'treason!' at their words, sending their popularity soaring.
They even had the audacity to call themselves 'patriots.' The
man of 'Give me liberty or give me death!' fame was once lost
among the obscure. Like Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams, Patrick
Henry had failed at just about everything early in life,
including farming and running a store. But in 1760 he was
hunting down his younger friend, Thomas Jefferson, on the
William and Mary campus to give him some news. Henry had been
reading Coke's law book in his spare hours while helping his
father-in-law run a tavern. After six weeks of browsing the
dense tome, Henry was on campus to ask legal examiners to
license him as a lawyer. In Virginia, if you wanted to practice
law you studied in London at the Inns of Court. If that was
beyond your means, you apprenticed with an establish