sentences:  Henry was elected to the convention from Prince Edward County without difficulty, though John Blair Smith, president of Hampden-Sydney, caused him some annoyance by having students read at an assembly, in Henry's presence, a speech by Henry and Smith's own rebuttal.Henry opposed the Constitution because of its grant of a strong executive, the president; he had not fought to free Virginia from King George to surrender such powers to what might prove a despot.Henry accordingly deemed the Constitution a backwards step, and a betrayal of those who had died in the Revolutionary cause.