Some, in spite of the laws, shipped their products to other countries and
smuggled the goods they received in exchange; and some dared make articles
of iron, wool, or other raw material, both for their own use and to sell
to others.

"We will not be used as tools for England to make out of us all the profit
she possibly can," they declared. "We are not slaves but free-born
Englishmen, and we refuse to obey laws which shackle us and rob us of our
rights."

So when to these harsh trade laws the Stamp Act was added, great
indignation was aroused. Among those most earnest in opposing the act was
Patrick Henry.

Let us take a look at the early life of this powerful man. He was born in
1736, in Hanover County, Virginia. His father was an able lawyer, and his
mother belonged to a fine old Welsh family.

But Patrick, as a boy, took little interest in anything that seemed to his
older friends worth while. He did not like to study nor to work on his
father's farm. His delight was to wander through the woods, gun in hand,
hunting for game, or to sit on the bank of some stream fishing by the
hour. When not enjoying himself out-of-doors he might be heard playing his
violin.

Of course the neighbors said, "A boy so idle and shiftless will never
amount to anything," and his parents did not know what to do with him.
They put him, when fifteen years old, as clerk into a little country
store. Here he remained for a year, and then opened a store of his own.
But he was still too lazy to attend to business, and soon failed.