Volume 20 Number 026

Transcription

1 Volume 20 Number 026 America s Revolution (54) John Dickinson s Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania II Lead: In the 1700s the United States broke from England. No colony in history had done that before. This series examines America s Revolution. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts Content: In his long political career, Philadelphia lawyer and Delaware planter John Dickinson demonstrated a consistent moderation that often spoke to the heart of

2 American popular sentiment which often reflected fatigue in the long decades of revolutionary upheaval, dispute and war. He drafted the ultimately ineffective Articles of Confederation (1776) and then joined in calls for a stronger central government, represented Delaware at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and then worked for the passage of the Constitution. In the debates on independence he held out the hope for reconciliation with Great Britain and refused to sign the Declaration, but he was not a coward. He became the only founding father to manumit or free his slaves in the years between 1776 and 1787, a dangerous and potentially destructive act of moral and political courage. After the bitter fight over the imposition and then the repeal of the Stamp Tax, many Americans were weary over the constant conflict. Dickinson spoke into that weariness

3 with a gentle, but principled stand against taxation without representation. Over a twoyear period beginning in 1767 he wrote Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, one of the most influential documents in American history. It was written in response to Parliament s continued and stubborn determination to tax the colonies by the passage that year of the Townshend duties on lead, glass, paper and tea. The Letters were published in serial form in virtually every newspaper in America and then in a pamphlet collection on two continents. He made it very clear that he was opposed to Parliament s taxation scheme, that while the Houses could regulate commerce, the British Constitution absolutely forbade Parliament from taxing people to raise money, particularly if those taxed were not represented in Parliament. The problem with the Farmer s Letters, as they were

4 almost universally known, was it their meek, submissive tone. Next time: much to do about nothing. At the University of Richmond s School of Professional and Continuing Studies, I m Dan Roberts.

5 Resources Brooke, John. King George III. New York, NY: Constable Publishing, Cobbett, William. Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year (36 volumes). London, UK: R. Bagshaw, Dickinson, John, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania in Empire and Nation, Forrest McDonald, ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Harcourt and Brace, Higgenbotham, Don. The War of American Independence. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, Jacobson, David L., John Dickinson and the Revolution in Pennsylvania, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, Knollenberg, Bernhard. Origin of the American Revolution. New York, NY: Macmillan, Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Morgan, Edmund S. and Helen Morgan. The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, Peres, Richard. King George III and the Politicians. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Watson, J. Steven. The Reign of George III, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Copyright 2016 by Dan Roberts Enterprises, Inc.