John Dickinson
John Dickinson
“Penman of the Revolution”
1732-1808
1768- Excerpt from Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer defending rights of free-born Englishmen
There is [a] late act of Parliament, which seems to me to be
. . . destructive to the liberty of these colonies, . . . that is the act for granting duties on paper, glass, etc. It appears to me to be unconstitutional. The Parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all its colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a mother country and its colonies and necessary for the common good of all. He who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire has very slender notions of justice or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament, and we are as much dependent on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on another. I have looked over every statute relating to these colonies, from their first settlement to this time; and I find every one of them founded on this principle till the Stamp Act administration. All before are calculated to preserve or promote a mutually beneficial intercourse between the several constituent parts of the Empire. And though many of them imposed duties on trade, yet those duties were always imposed with design to restrain the commerce of one part that was injurious to another, and thus to promote the general welfare. . . . Never did the British Parliament, till the period abovementioned, think of imposing duties in American for the purpose of raising a revenue. . . . This I call an innovation, and a most dangerous innovation.
1775
Dear Diary, revolution seems to be inevitable now but I shall continue to push for a peaceful settlement between us and the crown. I have written numerous letters to the king pleading him to redress his
“Penman of the Revolution”
1732-1808
1768- Excerpt from Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer defending rights of free-born Englishmen
There is [a] late act of Parliament, which seems to me to be
. . . destructive to the liberty of these colonies, . . . that is the act for granting duties on paper, glass, etc. It appears to me to be unconstitutional. The Parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all its colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a mother country and its colonies and necessary for the common good of all. He who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire has very slender notions of justice or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament, and we are as much dependent on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on another. I have looked over every statute relating to these colonies, from their first settlement to this time; and I find every one of them founded on this principle till the Stamp Act administration. All before are calculated to preserve or promote a mutually beneficial intercourse between the several constituent parts of the Empire. And though many of them imposed duties on trade, yet those duties were always imposed with design to restrain the commerce of one part that was injurious to another, and thus to promote the general welfare. . . . Never did the British Parliament, till the period abovementioned, think of imposing duties in American for the purpose of raising a revenue. . . . This I call an innovation, and a most dangerous innovation.
1775
Dear Diary, revolution seems to be inevitable now but I shall continue to push for a peaceful settlement between us and the crown. I have written numerous letters to the king pleading him to redress his