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Give Me Liberty
Where Virginia chose liberty
1776
Virginia Declaration of Rights Adopted
1765
Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Speech
1776
Richard Henry Lee Proposes Independence Resolution
1775
Virginia's Response to Dunmore's Proclamation

Williamsburg

VA · American Revolution

Virginia's colonial capital was where Patrick Henry declared liberty or death.

The Capital
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Events
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Stories
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Connections
1776
Patrick Henry
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The capital of Virginia — and the home of its most dangerous orators.

Relevant
58.15/100
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**Williamsburg and the Revolution: The Capital Where American Liberty Took Shape**

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HISTORICAL VOICE

The Voice That Could Not Be Ignored

Patrick Henry was not the most educated man in the House of Burgesses. He was not the wealthiest or the best connected. What he had was a voice — not just the physical instrument, which contemporaries...

MODERN VOICE

What the Restored Town Gets Right and Wrong

People come to Colonial Williamsburg expecting a quaint colonial village, and what they find, if they pay attention, is a place where the most radical political ideas of the eighteenth century were fi...

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Upcoming Events

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Jul

4

festival

Colonial Williamsburg July 4th Celebration

Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area, Williamsburg, VA

Mar

reenactment

Williamsburg Under Siege

Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area, Williamsburg, VA

May

reenactment

Prelude to Independence

Colonial Capitol Building and Raleigh Tavern, Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA

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Eat & Shop

In & Around Williamsburg

★ HIFE Picks

Places chosen by HIFE — never paid for, always honest.

★ HIFE PickChowning's Tavern$$

109 E Duke of Gloucester St, Williamsburg, VA 23185

Monday: Closed, Tuesday: Closed, Wednesday: Closed, Thursday: Closed, Friday: 11 AM to 5 PM, Saturday: 11 AM to 5 PM, Sunday: 11 AM to 5 PM

You're sitting in a reconstructed 18th-century alehouse two blocks from where Virginia's burgesses debated whether to actually revolt — the gammon is historically accurate and the whole thing is a little surreal in the best way.

Restaurants

★ HIFE PickChowning's Tavern$$

109 E Duke of Gloucester St, Williamsburg, VA 23185

Monday: Closed, Tuesday: Closed, Wednesday: Closed, Thursday: Closed, Friday: 11 AM to 5 PM, Saturday: 11 AM to 5 PM, Sunday: 11 AM to 5 PM

You're sitting in a reconstructed 18th-century alehouse two blocks from where Virginia's burgesses debated whether to actually revolt — the gammon is historically accurate and the whole thing is a little surreal in the best way.

Directory data is refreshed regularly. ★ picks are chosen by HIFE and never paid for. Hours change — call ahead.

History Happened Everywhere.

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