The House of Burgesses could ratify all legislation. The king began to imprison people who opposed his policies. property owners were required to pay a tax to support the Church of England. The House of Burgesses was dissolved. Property owners were required to pay a tax to support the Church of England. After James I had revoked the Virginia Company's charter in 1624 in response to the uprising of the Powhatans, he turned Virginia into a royal colony in which he decreed the legal establishment of the Church of England, meaning that residents now had to pay taxes to support the clergy.
Patrick Henry represented the pent up frustrations of many colonists who were tired of the imposition of taxes and other penalties to pay for the expense of the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The Boston Massacre (1770), which was a response to the Intolerable Acts, Lexington and Concord (1775) and the First (1774) and Second Continental Congresses (1775) provided the backdrop for his famous declaration, ""Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death". His sentiments captured the desire of the colonists to engage in open rebellion against the British Empire. Independence was declared in 1776.