The Declaration of Independence

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Peyton Randolph

Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Representing Virginia at the Continental Congress

Born: 1723 Education: Graduate of Oxford, Master of Arts (Lawyer) Work: Attorney General of Virginia, 1756; Member, Virginia House of Burgesses, c. 1763; Delegate, President, first Continental Congress, 1774-75. Died: October 22, 1775





Peyton Randolph was born into an eminent Virginia family and educated, in the tradition of the time, in England. He Graduated Oxford University with honors and returned to Virginia to study law. He joined the Virginia Bar and was later made Attorney General of the colony. Randolph was also a military leader in the defense of the colony against Indian attack during the French and Indian War. At the end of the war he was elected to the House of Burgesses, where he often presided. He was the House leader when Patrick Henry made his stand against the Stamp Act, and later when the House was dissolved by the governor for its resolutions against parliamentary aggression to Massachusetts. He left his seat in the House of Burgesses to attend the first Continental Congress in 1774, was elected President of the congress by unanimous vote and so became the first President of the united colonies. He was again elected President the following session but, his health failing, he resigned the office 14 days later. He resumed a seat in the congress the following September but died that October in Philadelphia.