In 1767 and 1768, in protest to the
Townshend Acts, Dickinson published
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, which were first published in the
Pennsylvania Chronicle. Dickinson's letters were reprinted by numerous other newspapers, and they emerged among the most influential American political documents prior to the
American Revolution. Dickinson argued that the
British Parliament had the right to regulate commerce but lacked the right to levy duties for revenue. Dickinson further warned that if the colonies acquiesced to the Townshend Acts, Parliament would lay further taxes on the colonies in the future. After publishing these letters, he was elected in 1768 to the
American Philosophical Society as a member.
Continental Congress Dickinson was one of the delegates from the
Province of Pennsylvania to the
First Continental Congress in 1774 and the
Second Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776. In support of the cause, he continued to contribute declarations in the name of the Congress. Dickinson wrote the Olive Branch Petition as the Second Continental Congress' last attempt for peace with
King George III, who did not read the petition. But through it all, agreeing with George Read and many others in Philadelphia and the
lower counties, Dickinson's objective at first was reconciliation, not independence and revolution. Dickinson prepared the first draft of the
Articles of Confederation in 1776, after others had ratified the
Declaration of Independence despite his concerns that the Declaration would escalate the
Revolutionary War, which began in 1775 at the
Battle of Lexington and Concord. At the time, he chaired the committee charged with drafting the Articles of Confederation, Dickinson was serving in the Continental Congress as a delegate from the province of Pennsylvania. When the Second Continental Congress began the debate on the
Declaration of Independence on July 1, 1776, Dickinson reiterated his opposition to declaring independence at that time. Dickinson believed that the Congress should complete the Articles of Confederation and secure a foreign alliance before issuing a declaration. Dickinson also objected to violence as a means for resolving the
Thirteen Colonies' dispute with
Britain. He abstained or absented himself from the votes on July 2 that declared independence and absented himself again from voting on the wording of the formal declaration on July 4. Dickinson understood the implications of his refusal to vote saying, "My conduct this day, I expect will give the finishing blow to my once too great and, my integrity considered, now too diminished popularity." Dickinson refused to sign the declaration, and since a proposal had been brought forth and carried that stated "for our mutual security and protection", no man could remain in the Continental Congress without signing it, so Dickinson voluntarily departed and joined the Pennsylvania
patriot militia.
John Adams, a fierce advocate for independence and Dickinson's adversary on the floor of Congress, remarked, "Mr. Dickinson's alacrity and spirit certainly become his character and sets a fine example." Dickinson is one of only two members of the First Continental Congress who actively took up arms during the Revolutionary War. In the Pennsylvania militia, known as the
Associators, Dickinson was given the rank of brigadier general and led 10,000 soldiers to
Elizabeth, New Jersey, to protect that area against British attack from
Staten Island. But because of his unpopular opinion abstaining from supporting independence, two junior officers were promoted above him. In 1777, Dickinson, by then Delaware's wealthiest farmer and largest slaveholder, decided to free his slaves. While the number of slaves in Kent County was not as large as the
Southern Colonies and Dickinson had only 37 slaves, except for
Benjamin Franklin, who had freed his slaves by 1770.
President of Delaware On January 18, 1779, Dickinson was appointed to be a delegate for Delaware to the
Second Continental Congress, which was convening at what today is
Independence Hall in
Philadelphia. During this term, he signed the
Articles of Confederation, which he authored while serving in the
First Continental Congress as a delegate from
Province of Pennsylvania. In August 1781, while still a delegate in Philadelphia, he learned that Poplar Hall had been severely damaged by a Loyalist raid. Dickinson returned to the property to investigate the damage, and remained there for several months. In October 1781, while at Poplar Hall, Dickinson was elected to represent
Kent County in the
State Senate. Shortly after, the
Delaware General Assembly elected him president of Delaware. The General Assembly's vote was nearly unanimous; the only dissenting vote was cast by Dickinson himself. Dickinson took office on November 13, 1781, and served until November 7, 1782. Beginning his term with a "Proclamation against Vice and Immorality," he sought ways to bring an end what he perceived to be the disorder of the
American Revolution. It was a popular position and enhanced his reputation both in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Dickinson then successfully challenged the Delaware General Assembly to address lagging militia enlistments and to properly fund the state's assessment to the Confederation government. Recognizing the delicate negotiations then underway to end the American Revolution, Dickinson secured the Assembly's continued endorsement of the French alliance, with no agreement on a separate peace treaty with Great Britain. On October 10, 1782, Dickinson was elected to the
Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. On November 7, 1782, a joint ballot by the Council and the
Pennsylvania General Assembly elected him as president of the council and thereby president of Pennsylvania. But he did not actually resign as president of Delaware. Even though Pennsylvania and Delaware shared the same governor until very recently, attitudes were changing, and many in Delaware were upset at seemingly being cast aside so readily, particularly after Philadelphia newspapers began criticizing Delaware for permitting its office holders to be non-residents. Dickinson's constitutional successor,
John Cook, was considered too weak in his support of the Revolution. On January 12, 1783, Cook called for a new election to choose a replacement, leading Dickinson to formally resign.
President of Pennsylvania When the
American Revolution began, Dickinson fairly represented centrist views in Pennsylvania politics at a time when views varied over independence. The
Pennsylvania General Assembly at the time was dominated by the Loyalists and moderates who, like Dickinson, did little to support the burgeoning Revolution or independence, except protest. The Radicals took matters into their own hands, using irregular means to write the
Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which by law excluded from the franchise anyone who would not swear loyalty to the document or the Christian
Holy Trinity. In this way, all Loyalists, moderate Whigs, and
Quakers were kept out of government. This peremptory action seemed appropriate to many during the crises of 1777 and 1778 but less so in the later years of the Revolution, and the moderate Whigs gradually became the majority. Dickinson's election to the
Supreme Executive Council was the beginning of a counterrevolution against the Constitutionalists. He was elected president of Pennsylvania on November 7, 1782, garnering 41 votes to
James Potter's 32. As president he presided over the intentionally weak executive authority of the state and was its chief officer but always required the agreement of a majority to act. He was re-elected twice and served the constitutional maximum of three years; his election on November 6, 1783, was unanimous. On November 6, 1784, he defeated
John Neville, who also lost the election for vice president the same day. Working with small majorities in the General Assembly in his first two years and with the Constitutionalists in the majority in his last year, all issues were contentious. At first he endured withering attacks from his opponents for his alleged failure to fully support the new government in large and small ways. He responded ably and survived the attacks. He managed to settle quickly the old boundary dispute with Virginia in southwestern Pennsylvania but was never able to satisfactorily disentangle disputed titles in the
Wyoming Valley resulting from prior claims of Connecticut to those lands. An exhausted Dickinson left office October 18, 1785. On that day a special election was held in which
Benjamin Franklin was unanimously elected to serve the ten days left in Dickinson's term. Perhaps the most significant decision of his term was his patient, peaceful management of the
Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783. This was a violent protest of Pennsylvania veterans who marched on the Continental Congress demanding their pay before being discharged from the
Continental Army. Somewhat sympathizing with their case, Dickinson refused Congress's request to bring full military action against them, causing Congress to vote to remove themselves to
Princeton, New Jersey. And when the new Congress agreed to return in 1790, it was to be for only 10 years, until a permanent capital was found elsewhere.
United States Constitution '' a 1940 portrait by
Howard Chandler Christy depicting the ratification of the
Constitution at
Independence Hall on June 21, 1788 After his service in Pennsylvania, Dickinson returned to
Wilmington, Delaware, where he was quickly appointed to represent
Delaware at the
Annapolis Convention, where he served as its president. In 1787, Delaware sent him as one of its delegates to the
Constitutional Convention of 1787, along with
Gunning Bedford Jr.,
Richard Bassett, George Read, and
Jacob Broom. There, he supported the effort to create a strong central government but only after the
Great Compromise assured that each state, regardless of size, would have an equal vote in the future
United States Senate. As he had done with the Articles, he also carefully drafted it with the term "Person" rather than "Man" as was used in the Declaration of Independence. He prepared initial drafts of the
First Amendment. Following the Convention he promoted the resulting Constitution in a series of nine essays, written under the pen name
Fabius. Dickinson himself did not sign the constitution as he left early due to chronic illness but instead a colleague,
George Read signed his name. In 1791, Delaware convened a convention to revise its existing
Constitution, which had been hastily drafted in 1776. Dickinson was elected president of this convention, and although he resigned the chair after most of the work was complete, he remained highly influential in the content of the final document. Major changes included the establishment of a separate Chancery Court and the expansion of the franchise to include all taxpayers. Dickinson remained neutral in an attempt to include a prohibition of slavery in the document, believing the General Assembly was the proper place to decide that issue. The new
Constitution was approved June 12, 1792. Dickinson had freed his slaves conditionally in 1776 and fully by 1787. Dickinson returned to the State Senate for the 1793 session but served just one year before resigning because of his declining health. He was the Anti-Administration nominee in the
1795 United States Senate special election in Delaware, losing by one vote to congressman
Henry Latimer. In his final years, he worked to further the abolition movement and donated a considerable amount of his wealth to the "relief of the unhappy". In 1801, Dickinson published two volumes of his collected works on politics. ==Death and legacy==