Henry did not sit in the Fourth Virginia Convention which met in December 1775, as he was ineligible because of his military commission. Once he was again a civilian, the freeholders of Hanover County in April 1776 elected him to the fifth convention, to meet the following month. Most delegates were for independence, but were divided on how to declare it, and over timing. Henry introduced a resolution declaring Virginia independent and urging the Congress to declare all the colonies free. When he at last spoke, according to clergyman Edmund Randolph, Henry "appeared in an element for which he was born. To cut the knot, which calm prudence was puzzled to untie, was worthy of the magnificence of his genius. He entered into no subtlety of reasoning but was roused by the now apparent spirit of the people as a pillar of fire, which notwithstanding the darkness of the prospect would conduct to the promised land." The eventual resolution was based in large part on Henry's, and passed unanimously on May 15, 1776. As well as declaring Virginia independent, the resolution instructed the state's delegates in Congress to press for American independence, which they would, with Lee introducing the motion, and Jefferson penning the Declaration.