Last week, I covered what happened to the Virginia signers of the Declaration. This week, I figured the next state would be Pennsylvania, since my dad grew up there. Let’s get a very brief look at the lives of the nine Pennsylvanian signers.
George is one of six men who signed both the Declaration and the Constitution. He was also a grandson of the original settlers of the Penn colony. George was very vocal about independence from Britain and wanted a united central government, which put him at odds with the Quakers of Pennsylvania. George served in the Continental Congress twice during the war, working to make sure the army had food and supplies. When people refused to go, George was one of the ones to volunteer and go see the battlefront for themselves. In 1776, Congress fled Philadelphia for Baltimore for fear of the British advances, but George was one of three who stayed, to make sure that the government would function and the army would be supplied. Later in the war, George chartered a bank to raise money privately, finding food and supplies, which the Commissioner General of the Continental Army said saved the army from dissolution. George had a full life – negotiated with the Cree, started the Philadelphia Bank and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and had quite a career in politics. He died in his home after an illness.
Probably the most famous signer you’ve heard of from the state of Pennsylvania. If you watched A Great Awakening, you would have noticed that he was a printer, having purchased the Pennsylvania Gazette, which is still in production. He also created Poor Richard’s Almanack. Benjamin’s son, William, was a Loyalist, moved to London, and the two never spoke again. Benjamin was sent to Parliament many times, and tried all he could to make sure war did not break out. His numerous attempts at getting the British to understand the plight of the Colonies was not successful, as the Revolutionary War began. After Richard Henry Lee called for a resolution, a committee was created, of which Benjamin was a member, to draft the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin played a large role in France joining the Americans against the British, when he was sent as a commissioner to France. Benjamin had a very influential role in America’s fight for independence, and over 20,000 people attended his funeral.
Robert Morris’ story is very fascinating, he was a very smart person. He was captured by French Privateers when he was a ship captain during the Seven Years War, but he ended up escaping. When the Stamp Act was passed, he protested and threatened the tax collector to send the stamps back, which the tax collector ended up doing. His shipping company ended the slave trade in Philadelphia, and he was asked to be warden of the Philadelphia port. Because of this, he convinced the captain to turn his ship back around and leave Philadelphia before anything started – and that his how the Philadelphia Tea Party was avoided. After war broke out at Lexington and Concord, Robert used his shipping company to provide weapons, gunpowder, and information on British plans. He was a member of the Second Continental Congress, and when the vote was taken for independence on July 2nd, Robert left so that independence could pass, without his negative vote. At this point, he was concerned that America could not handle freedom, but he was not a fan of the British, either. It’s unsure whether he was present July 4 when the Declaration was approved, but it is evident that he was present August 2nd, when the document was signed. He also signed the Articles of Confederation, and earned the name “Financier of the Revolution”. He ended up bankrupt, putting up millions of dollars and coordinated with the French to get their ships to the Chesapeake in time. He was in debtor’s prison for almost four years, and remained penniless to his death.
John was elected to the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was the deciding vote for Pennsylvania’s vote for independence July 2nd. Two of the delegates left so that they did not have to vote, two voted no, two voted yes. It was up to John to decide for Pennsylvania. John was also assisting with drafting the Articles of Confederation, but was the first of the signers to die, passing 8 months after he signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said John is why Pennsylvania is the Keystone state – without him, Pennsylvania would not have voted for independence and that would have made it a lot harder for the colonies without Pennsylvania’s support. He died of tuberculosis, but did not live long enough to see his son die as a British prisoner of war.
George studied law and opened his own practice in Lancaster, and served in the Second Continental Congress. His niece was Betsy Ross. As most lawyers of the time, he was a Tory, but changed his mind in 1774, a year after his wife died. He signed the Declaration in 1776, and died a few years later due to a severe case of gout. He did not live long enough to see the new country he voted for.
Benjamin helped his friend, Thomas create a title for his new pamphlet, Common Sense. Benjamin was a doctor in Philadelphia, was a chemistry professor for the now University of Philadelphia, and wrote the first American chemistry textbook. In a letter to John Adams, when he was recalling the signing, he stated:
The pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants. The silence and gloom of the morning was interrupted, I well recollect, only for a moment by Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, who said to Elbridge Gerry at the table, I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead. This speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.
As a physician, Benjamin travelled with the Continental Army and witnessed first-hand the atrocities of war. He was appointed Surgeon General of the Continental Army, and then promoted to Physician General the next year, and took no pay for either position. He served Philadelphia after the war through two yellow fever outbreaks, contracting yellow fever himself, and through the typhus fever epidemic, which he contracted and succumbed to in 1813.
James constantly fought and spoke for freedom from Britain. He organized a volunteer militia in York County, and he was elected Captain. Due to need, this militia grew to battalion size, and James stepped down to let a younger man lead, as he was nearing his sixties. James then served in the state assembly, and a year before he signed the Declaration, he made his sentiments known, putting him at odds with the Quakers:
If the British administration should determine by force to effect a submission to the late arbitrary acts of the British parliament, in such a situation, we hold it our indispensable duty to resist such force, and at every hazard to defend the rights and liberties of America.
After signing the Declaration, James was one of the members who rode with Dunlap’s Printings and proclaimed the Declaration to the public. He passed in 1806.
George came to the colonies as an indentured servant, and eventually leased the furnace company that he was indentured to. Under George, the company produced the cannon shot for Pennsylvania’s involvement in the French and Indian War. The company also supplied for the Continental Army. After signing the declaration, the owner of the furnace company was arrested for treason and George was allowed to finish his lease. When that ended, George had to find another furnace company to lease. Due to this, George died with very little money to his name.
James came to the colonies from Scotland, during the Stamp Act. As a law student under John Dickinson, someone who deeply opposed independence, James created a document that showed the legality of Parliament. He was surprised to find that the Acts of Parliament had no authority over the colonies. The colonists did deserve the same rights and privileges as their British counterparts, and this was valuable information for the stirring rebellion. His work was essentially a forerunner of the Declaration. James voted and signed for the Declaration of Independence. James Madison’s notes admitted that James was very influential in crafting the Constitution. After the war, James fell into bad investments, and lost a fortune, spending a couple years in prison until his son could scrape up enough money for his release, even though at the time he had a position on the Supreme Court. He died of acute mental distress, having moved into the home of a fellow Supreme Court judge, and he passed within a couple months.
As I did last time, I encourage you to click on the links to learn more about these men, as I could not possibly include all of the information about them here. Who were you most impressed with from the state of Pennsylvania? The image for this post was also taken at Colonial Williamsburg.
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