Dorothea Dandridge was born on September 25, 1757, in Hanover County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Nathaniel West Dandridge and Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge and belonged to an extensive network of Virginia gentry families. Through the Dandridges she was related to Martha Washington, while her maternal ancestry connected her to Alexander Spotswood, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia. She grew up during the final years of the French and Indian War and the developing imperial crisis. Her family’s household was supported by plantation agriculture and enslaved labor. Like other daughters of her class, Dorothea was probably educated at home. Her preparation would have emphasized reading, writing, religion, sewing, household accounts, music, dancing, and the management of servants, provisions, and hospitality. No complete record of her tutors or curriculum survives, so specific educational claims should remain cautious. Dorothea reached marriageable age as Virginia moved toward revolution. Her family connections introduced her to political and legal circles, including that surrounding Patrick Henry, the celebrated orator and widowed father of six children. Henry was nearly twice her age. They married in October 1777, when Dorothea was twenty and the war was underway. She immediately entered a large, demanding household and became stepmother to Henry’s children by Sarah Shelton. Before this marriage brought her into greater public notice, Dorothea had been trained for precisely the sort of responsibilities she assumed: managing an elite Virginia household, caring for relatives, receiving political visitors, and maintaining family property during prolonged absences. Her youth was privileged, but that privilege existed within the inequalities of the plantation system. The Dandridge and Spotswood connections gave her social confidence and a wide support network, while wartime marriage required adaptability.