Speaker to discuss Revolutionary War figure Patrick Henry

Dr. Thomas Kidd, professor of history and senior fellow in the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, will deliver this year's Crader Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Rose Theatre in Grauel Building at Southeast Missouri State University.

His topic is "Patrick Henry, First Among Patriots," examining Henry's leadership during the American Revolution and why his story deserves more attention.

The lecture is free to the public.

Kidd said he became interested in Henry because of his status as a founding father and his "one shining moment" -- the 1775 "Liberty or Death" speech. He wondered why Henry was not better-known.

"Part of the reason, I discovered, is that on two major issues -- the public role of religion and the Constitution -- Henry engaged in bitter political battles with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, coming out on the losing end of both fights," Kidd wrote.

Patrick Henry

"In particular, he warned that the government under Madison's new Constitution would eventually become a liberty-crushing monster. How right he was in this prediction is a matter of debate, but we can be sure that few of the founding fathers would be comfortable with the size and scope of our federal government today," he added.

Henry also was the most devout Christian among the major founding fathers, Kidd said.

"We debate the exact nature of Jefferson's and Washington's personal faiths, but with Henry, there is no question. I thought it would be interesting to investigate a traditional Christian's experience in the founding period, as Henry's faith probably better represented that of the rank-and-file patriots than, say, the deism of Jefferson.

"Henry also represented about half of the major founders in his view that the state governments should continue financially supporting churches and pastors after the Revolution. Jefferson and Madison, along with many evangelical Christians (like Baptists), disagreed and argued for full religious freedom and an end to religious 'establishments,'" Kidd wrote.

The Crader Family Endowment for American Values, within the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, is dedicated to education, research and public engagement in the historical traditions of the United States and Western civilization.