page_title: Benjamin Harrison V
section_title: Governor of Virginia
hierarchical_section_title: Benjamin Harrison V / Governor of Virginia
caption_attribution_description: English: Berkeley Plantation, home of the Harrison family (two Presidents), initial construction of Georgian mansion in 1726. In Charles City County, Virginia. Building/structure dates: 1726 initial construction National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 71001040 Significance: Berkeley began as a settlement known as Berkeley-Hundred, patented in 1618. The property was purchased in 1722 by Benjamin Harrison IV, for whom the present house is believed to have been completed in 1726. His son, Benjamin Harrison V, born at Berkeley, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Virginia for 3 terms. Also born there was the signer's younger son, William Henry Harrison, 9th President. In 1862, Berkeley served as a camp and supply base for Union troops...
context_page_description: Benjamin Harrison V was an American planter, merchant, and legislator in colonial Virginia. He was a Founding Father of the United States and also served as Virginia's governor.
  Harrison served an aggregate of three decades in the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Surry County and Charles City County. He was among the early patriots to formally protest tyrannical measures imposed by King George and his Parliament upon the American colonies leading to the American Revolution. This was a stark contrast to Harrison's personal acceptance and practice of slaveholding, though he joined a 1772 petition delivered to the King in vain, requesting that he abolish the slave trade.
  As a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, and Chairman of its Committee of the Whole, Harrison attended and presided over the final debate of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration included the foundational philosophy of the United States: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Harrison was one of its signers in 1776.
context_section_description: The nation's Yorktown victory in October 1781 provided only brief respite for Harrison, age 55, who began to serve on November 30 as the fifth Governor of Virginia. He was also the fourth governor to assume the office in that year–the multiple successions were occasioned by wartime events in Virginia. Money was the primary problem that he confronted, as the war had drained the coffers of the Virginia treasury, and the government was plagued by creditors, both domestic and foreign. It was clear that there was no capacity for military action outside of the immediate area, so Harrison steadfastly opposed offensive action against Indians in the Kentucky and Illinois country. He alternatively pursued a policy of treating with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Creek Indian tribes, which allowed peace to last for the remainder of his term. The situation resulted in some contentious exchanges with General George Rogers Clark who urged offensive operations in the west.
  As Harrison's term was ending, Washington accepted an invitation to visit with the Harrisons in Richmond, saying, "And I shall feel an additional pleasure, in offering this tribute of friendship and respect to you, by having the company of Marsqs. de la Fayette...." The general made his visit in November 1784, though Lafayette was unable to accompany him. Harrison's service as governor was lauded, despite his inability to solve the commonwealth's financial problems which plagued his administration.
caption: Berkeley Plantation, Harrison family homestead in Charles City County, Va.
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