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by Jane E. Calvert (Editor)
During the years 1764 through 1766, John Dickinson became a leading figure in the Pennsylvania Assembly and in the growing American resistance to unjust British taxation. The documents in this volume show that, in both roles, he sought to protect the fundamental rights of ordinary Americans. In the 1764 Assembly, after working to punish those responsible for the slaughter of peaceful Indians, Dickinson challenged Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Galloway in their plan to abolish Pennsylvania's unique Quaker constitution that secured liberty of conscience and place the colony under the control of the Crown. Then, in 1765, he served as primary draftsman at the Stamp Act Congress in New York, producing the first official American documents of the Revolutionary Era. In his private capacity, Dickinson continued to write through 1765 and 1766, publishing, among other documents, the first practical advice to Americans on how to resist Great Britain. The present volume also contains draft legislation, fascinating case notes from his legal practice, and personal correspondence.
Author Biography
JANE E. CALVERT is Associate Professor of History at the University of Kentucky and author of Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson.
JOHN DICKINSON (November 8, 1732-February 14, 1808) is known as the "Penman of the Revolution." He served as a delegate for Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress (1774-1776) and later as a delegate from Delaware in the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
