Born in 1732 at Stratford Hall VA, Richard Henry Lee was educated in England. After returning to America, he was elected in 1758 to the Virginia legislature, serving there until the outbreak of the American Revolution. In 1774, he was a delegate to the First Continental Congressal Congress in Philadelphia. Starting from a moderate position that favored economic pressure on Britain, he moved gradually to believe in the need for independence. It was Lee who introduced the resolution on June 7, 1776, that called for independence.
Lee was elected president of the Congress in 1784. Although he opposed ratification of the Constitution of the United States, he later served Virginia in the United States Senate. Before his death in 1794, he worked hard for the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
