Dictionary.net

(1721-1803), one of the principal Virginian patriots and orators, served in the House of Burgesses and as a member of a Committee of Correspondence, and was a delegate to the first Continental Congress. As president of the Virginia Convention, he was the head of the State Government 1775-1776, and afterward president of the Committee of Safety. He drew up the resolutions instructing the State representatives in Congress to agitate for independence. He was also Speaker of the Legislature and President of the Court of Appeals. His most important service was in 1788, when he was one of the leaders of the Federalist phalanx in the convention called to ratify the Federal Constitution.