Virginia contributed leaders, politicians, military commanders, congresses, and held battles on their soil. Virginia gave the most important contribution during the American Revolution.

Virginian politicians and leaders proved vital to the American Revolution; leaders such as, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee.

In March 1775, Patrick Henry gave his renowned "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech (Stokesbury, 57). This speech helped spark revolution fever among the colonists. Henry attended the Virginia House of Burgess. He was also known for his exhilarating and rousing speeches, which sparked the Southern Colonies. Henry preached anti-British rule slogans, during and prior to the Stamp Act and Townsend Acts, "Whether of not Patrick Henry wa

Horatio Gates was the son of a Virginia gentleman. He was a knowledgeable military commander and served much of his term in New England. Gates was appointed Washington's Adjutant General in the spring of 1777. The British had devised a plan of splitting the northern and southern colonies from each other by conquering New York. This was known as the New York Campaign of 1776. Due to a miscommunication between British commanders, Burgoyne was left by himself to fend off the Revolutionary Army. Gates successfully beat Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War because it proved to the French that the colonists were capable of fending off the British in a battle. Shortly after the French declared war on Great Britain. The French aid was paramount to the independence of America. They provided troops, supplies, and naval reinforcements.

On September 5, 1774 the Continental Congress convened, with 56 delegates from 12 colonies, in Philadelphia (Boatner, 265). Randolph Payton was elected president, Payton was a Virginian. The congress wrote a declaration of rights and petitioned to the King of England for changes. The Continental Congress also created the Continental Association. This body's purpose was to enforce the boycott of British goods. It created a system of judges and penalties for people who were found breaking its regulations. IT was the first step towards an organized colonial government, and formed one of the bases for independence. The Association supported colonial self sufficiency, the boycott needed manufactured goods. The colonies were looking for alternative ways of receiving goods that could not be found or made in America; they turned to trading with other countries. The Continental Congress kept an anti-British standard alive.

The Virginia House of Burgess was the first representative government group in colonial America, "Virginia had been the foremost in opposition to the Crown. Its House of Burgesses had produced the most inflammatory statements of the American position, and its leaders, men such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, represented the intellectual spear point of resistance" (Stokesbury, 57). The House disapproved the British regulations. It rallied to create the Committee of Correspondence and

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Approximate Word count = 1582
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)