Thomas Nelson Jr. recalls his path from privilege to Virginia's independence movement. He proposed the 1776 resolution for independence, served as governor during the war, and spent his own fortune supplying troops. He died at 50, viewing his financial ruin as the price of liberty.
Questions this video answers
1761.
1776.
Yes.
50.
Chapters
I am Thomas Nelson, Jr. Soldier, signer, governor, and debtor to liberty. Born in Yorktown to privilege and pedigree, educated at Eton and Cambridge, I returned home in 1761, already elected to the House of Burgesses before I'd even disembarked from the ship. I joined the assembly just as Parliament tightened its grip on the colonies. When they shut down Boston Harbor, I sent supplies. When Lord Dunmore dissolved our legislature, I led a militia. I even hosted a Yorktown tea party of my own. Two half chests into the river. In 1776, I brought a resolution before Virginia's convention that our delegates are be instructed to fight for an immediate, clear and full Declaration of Independence. Patrick Henry seconded it. Congress acted. I signed. Later, they called me Governor of Virginia and General. The British marched to my hometown. Cornwallis, made his headquarters in Yorktown, and as I like to tell it, I pointed to my own house and. And told the gunners, fire there. Some say it never happened, but my house still stands with cannonballs in the wall. I spent my fortune feeding troops, raising militia, and financing the war. No compensation, no repayment, just bankruptcy, illness, and quiet suffering. I died at 50. One friend said it was grief that killed me, not just war. The exquisite tortures of the mind, he wrote, were the disease that destroyed his body. But I do not regret it. I served my country. I stood for freedom, and if ever asked, I'd make the same sacrifice again.
