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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Patrick Henry: Forgotten Founder by University of Virginia

4.9
stars
177 ratings

About the Course

“Give me liberty, or give me death:” Remembering Patrick Henry, the Forgotten Founder Patrick Henry was enormously popular during the American Revolution. Even Thomas Jefferson, who over time developed a deep loathing of Henry (some would say jealousy), had to admit that “it is not now easy to say what we should have done without Patrick Henry.” Edmund Randolph, a patriot leader in his own right, explained that “It was Patrick Henry … awakening the genius of his country, and binding a band of patriots together to hurl defiance at the tyranny of so formidable a nation as Great Britain.” Yet, today, Patrick Henry is ill-remembered; most Americans might recall at best perhaps a snippet from a famous speech: “give me liberty, or give me death.” The reasons for our historic forgetfulness are several: after the Revolution, Henry chose to oppose ratification of the U.S. Constitution, believing that it created a distant and too-powerful government, and he refused proffered position in George Washington’s administration, diminishing his historic memory. Equally important, Henry died in 1799 shortly after a political campaign in which, at Washington’s behest, he opposed Jefferson’s and James Madison’s ill-advised radical states’ rights attack on the U.S. government, and Jefferson spent the next twenty-six years systematically attacking Henry’s legacy. Patrick Henry, who helped to ignite a revolution, deserves better. This course will explore how he over¬came challenges to reach the pinnacle of Virginia politics and unite Americans behind a challenge to Britain – the eighteenth century’s super-power, why he opposed the U.S. Constitu¬tion, and why he then came out of retirement to defend the people’s Constitution against the attacks of Jefferson and Madison. Participants should evaluate Henry’s role in proclaiming a revolution and consider whether he had an equally important role in saving it. The course should also develop an improved appreciation for the complex political, economic, and religious forces that shaped the early republic. As a biographical course, it also demonstrates how personalities play an important role in even the most foundational national history. Image Attribution: The background image for this webpage is Patrick Henry before the Virginia House of Burgesses by Peter F. Rothermel (1851) with special thanks to the owner, the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation. The painting of Patrick Henry's 1765 "Caesar had his Brutus" speech (discussed in the second lecture) is entirely romanticized -- neither Henry nor the House of Burgesses looked at all like this -- but it does show that hagiography of Henry, almost god-like veneration, began shortly after this death....

Top reviews

LM

Jun 30, 2019

Excellent course for anyone interested in American History. Enjoyable lectures. Loved that some of the lectures were filmed at the actual location. Easy to understand. Highly recommend.

HH

Apr 5, 2020

This was a wonderful course! Dr. Ragosta was knowledgable, and his lectures interesting and engaging. This course should be required viewing for anyone studying American history!

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76 - 97 of 97 Reviews for Patrick Henry: Forgotten Founder

By Maria C L

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Aug 31, 2020

Great lecture series on a founding father.

By Patricia H

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Dec 29, 2020

Really entertaining and I learned a lot!

By Marek D

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Jun 16, 2019

Prof John Ragosta is a great teacher. :)

By kevin p

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Dec 27, 2021

fun & very informative i learned a lot

By Peyton R W

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May 25, 2021

Very interesting and informative.

By Sam S

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May 1, 2020

Great Course and great instructor

By Matthew L

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Aug 19, 2017

Very interesting and informative.

By June S

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Jul 15, 2022

Quite informative and intresting

By Claudette D

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Oct 12, 2022

Fabulous & great Professor.

By patricia m

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Sep 21, 2020

very very interesting thanks

By zoe g

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Aug 5, 2018

Great material and teacher!

By ELIZABETH H

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Aug 20, 2024

EXCEPTIONALLY WELL DONE

By Winston A W

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Nov 30, 2020

Excellent, thank you.

By James S

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Apr 26, 2020

Outstanding Course

By Will J

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Feb 17, 2021

Wonderful course

By Joseph B

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Jun 7, 2024

Perfect!

By Kleber L d S

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May 6, 2020

Ótimo.

By 周鄭州

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May 2, 2019

有趣！

By Anne E

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May 31, 2022

The content of this course was fine. However, unlike other Coursera courses, this one was about 98% the talking head of the lecturer, with almost no interesting info appearing onscreen. Especially frustrating since in the final lecture, the instructor mentioned all these interesting places you could go to see aspects of Henry's legacy. I wish this would have been shown onscreen. I took off one star for the "talking head" aspect of this course.

By Richard S

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Nov 21, 2020

This was very entertaining introduction the life and times of Patrick Henry. I found it instructive and well organized. It is not an in depth history of Patrick Henry or the Revolutionary Era, however, I believe the course accomplished what it set out to do; engage the student in thinking about Henry's time and how it differed from ours, and more importantly how some values stand the test of time.

By Jo S

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May 23, 2020

Would have enjoyed seeing more of historic sites during lectures.

By Shirley K

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Jul 20, 2020

what a great course.