There are no verbatim transcriptions of Henry's speech in opposition to the Stamp Act. Texts are reconstructions, for the most part based on recollections decades later, by which time both the speech and Henry had become famous. For example, Jefferson, still in his studies at the nearby College of William & Mary, recalled the splendor of Henry's oratory. No attempt was made to reconstruct Henry's words until 1790, when James Madison wrote to former burgess Edmund Pendleton, but Madison learned that Pendleton had not been present; a second attempt did not occur until Wirt began work on his biography of Henry in 1805. A French traveler whose name is not known and whose journal was discovered in 1921 recorded at the time of Henry's speech that "one of the members stood up and said that he had read that in former times Tarquin and Julius had their Brutus, Charles had his Cromwell, and he did not doubt but some good American would stand up, in favour of his country". As Henry had seemingly called for the killing of King George III, there were cries of "Treason!" in the chamber, including by Speaker John Robinson. John Tyler Sr. (father of the future president), who was standing with Jefferson as they watched the session, called this one of "the trying moments which is decisive of character", and both recalled that Henry did not waver: "If this be treason, make the most of it!".
There are no verbatim transcriptions of Henry's speech in opposition to the Stamp Act. Texts are reconstructions, for the most part based on recollections decades later, by which time both the speech and Henry had become famous. For example, Jefferson, still in his studies at the nearby College of William & Mary, recalled the splendor of Henry's oratory. No attempt was made to reconstruct Henry's words until 1790, when James Madison wrote to former burgess Edmund Pendleton, but Madison learned that Pendleton had not been present; a second attempt did not occur until Wirt began work on his biography of Henry in 1805. A French traveler whose name is not known and whose journal was discovered in 1921 recorded at the time of Henry's speech that "one of the members stood up and said that he had read that in former times Tarquin and Julius had their Brutus, Charles had his Cromwell, and he did not doubt but some good American would stand up, in favour of his country". As Henry had seemingly called for the killing of King George III, there were cries of "Treason!" in the chamber, including by Speaker John Robinson. John Tyler Sr. (father of the future president), who was standing with Jefferson as they watched the session, called this one of "the trying moments which is decisive of character", and both recalled that Henry did not waver: "If this be treason, make the most of it!".