Not Your Father's Founders
Page 9
FEDERAL FACTS
Benjamin Harrison’s son, William Henry Harrison, won election as the ninth president of the United States. He died in office after serving less than a month. He earned the distinctions of being the first U.S. president to die in office and the shortest serving president.
PATRICK HENRY
Hanover County, Virginia
May 29, 1736−June 6, 1799
Master of Sound Bites
When Patrick Henry spoke, people listened. And he had plenty of opportunities to speak. He was a lawyer, legislator, five-term governor of Virginia, and a vociferous proponent of the right to bear arms. Most importantly, he was a champion for liberty and America’s greatest cheerleader for independence. His name is attached to ships, monuments, and other public structures. Henry may not be the most famous Founding Father, but his quotes are among the most recognized.
A Self-Taught Lawyer
Patrick Henry’s father, John, provided him with homeschooling that included a background in Latin. When it came to learning law, Patrick taught himself. He also acquired well-developed persuasive skills as a youth, which came in handy when he took his bar examination and throughout his political life.
Even though he had no formal training in the law, Henry easily passed his bar exam in 1760. He set up a practice in Williamsburg, Virginia, which flourished quickly.
Henry came to prominence in 1763 when he argued the Parson’s Cause in Hanover County, which was one of the first indications of a schism between Britain and the colonies. The case involved the relationship between tobacco and Anglican clergymen’s pay. A 1748 Virginia law allowed the clergymen to be paid in tobacco—16,000 pounds each per year. Normally, the market price for tobacco was two cents a pound. That is what the clergymen grew accustomed to, even though they thought they were underpaid. But due to droughts in 1759 and 1760, the market price of tobacco soared when the scarcity of the product created a seller’s market. That created a conflict with the unpopular Two Penny Act the Virginia House of Burgesses had passed in 1758, which mandated that debts in tobacco were to be paid in currency at two pennies per pound. The ramifications of the law upset the clergymen in the early 1760s; they thought they should be paid according to the higher market price. The clergymen appealed to British authorities, and King George vetoed the bill. The Virginia legislators interpreted the veto as an infringement on their right to self-rule.
One clergyman, James Maury, sued the county on his counterparts’ behalf for back pay to compensate for the uptick in the market price of tobacco in 1759 and 1760. Patrick Henry, still a novice attorney at the time, argued the county’s case. He focused on British interference in local politics as a central issue in the case, claiming that local law took precedence, and urged the jury to award Maury only one penny in damages. He was vociferous against British interference in his oratories during the trial.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“A KING, BY DISALLOWING ACTS OF THIS SALUTARY NATURE, FROM BEING THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE, DEGENERATED INTO A TYRANT AND FORFEITS ALL RIGHT TO HIS SUBJECTS’ OBEDIENCE.”
—PATRICK HENRY
In the end, the jury agreed with him. Henry won the case for the county and the clergy gave up their protest. Young Henry earned a reputation as an outspoken critic of British interference in domestic issues and established a pattern of arguing for the colonies’ right to independence. From that point on, Henry was in demand as a lawyer. The next step in his career was entering the political stage.
Patrick the Politician
In 1765, Henry was elected to the House of Burgesses, where he became an ardent supporter of the right to bear arms. The young firebrand was not popular at first, especially when he introduced five resolutions against the Stamp Act on May 30, 1765. The burgesses were for the most part still loyal to the king, and many of them considered Henry a traitor. He won them over, though, and the burgesses adopted four of his resolutions. Henry’s persuasive skills had nudged Virginia down the path to rebellion and independence. Moreover, he established his position as Virginia’s leader in its battle for independence.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“THE GREAT OBJECT IS, THAT EVERY MAN BE ARMED.”
—PATRICK HENRY
For the next ten years, Henry urged his fellow Virginians to throw off their allegiance to the king and push for their independence. He advised them to arm themselves, especially after word reached Virginia about the skirmishes between British troops and Massachusetts patriots.
Henry expanded his sphere of influence outside Virginia in the 1770s. He was one of Virginia’s seven delegates to the First Continental Congress. Henry was assigned to several committees, but it was his speaking skills that earned him notice when he introduced the idea of a unified America.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN VIRGINIANS, PENNSYLVANIANS, NEW YORKERS, AND NEW ENGLANDERS, ARE NO MORE. I AM NOT A VIRGINIAN, BUT AN AMERICAN.”
—PATRICK HENRY AT THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN 1774
Henry hit the high mark of his oratorical skills in March 1775 in his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in Richmond, Virginia. The words he used were typical of his pleas to Virginians to arm themselves for self-defense. His views were remarkable, since Henry was a Quaker, and Quakers were (and are) pacifists.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“IS LIFE SO DEAR, OR PEACE SO SWEET, AS TO BE PURCHASED AT THE PRICE OF CHAINS OR SLAVERY? FORBID IT, ALMIGHTY GOD! I KNOW NOT WHAT COURSE OTHERS MAY TAKE; BUT AS FOR ME, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE
ME DEATH!”
—PATRICK HENRY AT ST. JOHN’S CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, MARCH 23, 1775
Virginia’s royal governor John Dunmore, fearing an armed rebellion, ordered the removal of some gunpowder from a Williamsburg magazine. Henry the orator morphed into Henry the militia leader. Shortly after the British marched on Concord, Massachusetts, Henry forced Dunmore to return the gunpowder. Any chance of a reconciliation between the two leaders ended. Dunmore returned to England in July 1776. He retained his title, but his authority left the colonies with him.
A Statesman, Not a Soldier
Henry had a brief military career during the Revolutionary War, but he never served in the field. Since he did not have any significant military experience, that was probably a good thing. His peers were sure he would be more valuable as a statesman.
Henry served as Virginia’s governor from 1776 to 1779, and again from 1784 to 1786. In the interim, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. One of his preoccupations in the 1780s was fighting ratification of the proposed U.S. Constitution. Henry favored strong state governments and a weak federal government, whereas the U.S. Constitution being offered advocated just the opposite. It passed despite his opposition.
Patrick Henry’s spirit was sorely missed in Virginia after his death in 1799. Even though he had performed most of his public service in his home state, his contributions were felt nationally—and the words for which he is best known, “Give me liberty or give me death,” still resonate today.
FEDERAL FACTS
Virginia became the tenth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution via an 89−79 vote on June 25, 1788.
JOSEPH HEWES
Kingston, New Jersey
January 23, 1730−November 10, 1779
Man of Mystery
Joseph Hewes worked tirelessly in the background for his country while keeping the details of his life a closely guarded secret. He became an expert on maritime affairs while building a shipping business and worked tirelessly on committees to share his knowledge in the best interests of the country, especially its fledgling navy. Hewes went so far as to renounce his Quaker religion and sacrifice a large part of his business to promote independence. His early, adamant opposition to independence set him apart from many of the Founding Fathers. But he eventually came around to their way of thinking.
Hewes the Delegate
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nbsp; By the time he was thirty years old, the young Princeton graduate was a wealthy man living in New Jersey, where he had acquired a reputation as an honorable and ethical businessman. Despite his early success in New Jersey, Hewes moved to North Carolina in 1760 and launched successful shipping and merchant businesses in Wilmington. Within three years he was elected to the North Carolina legislature and was on his way to a successful political career.
In 1775, the royal governor of North Carolina dissolved the colony’s provincial legislature. Hewes, a Quaker and an outspoken critic of the British government but a proponent of reconciliation rather than independence, had been a member of the legislature for nine years by that time. North Carolinians disenchanted with British legislation issued a notice on February 11, 1775, requesting the election of representatives for a shadow provincial congress to be held on April 3rd. On March 1, 1775, Governor Josiah Martin informed his council that such proceedings were “highly derogatory to the dignitary of the Legislature, which had been appointed to meet on the same day, and in every light illegal, and inconsistent with good order and government.”
The North Carolina patriots defied Martin and created a separate legislature. Hewes went on to represent North Carolina at the ongoing Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, and again in 1776, along with William Hooper and John Penn.
The North Carolina Provincial Congress, the colony’s shadow legislature, provided clear instructions to its delegates. It told Hewes, Hooper, and Penn “to concur with the delegates of other colonies in declaring Independence and to form foreign alliances.”
A Tireless, Quiet Worker
Joseph Hewes was an anomaly at the Second Continental Congress. Instructions to the contrary, he was firmly anti-independence at the beginning, even though he disagreed with British tax policies. He tried to convince pro-independence delegates that the country did not have to separate from Britain to get the relief they wanted from Parliament.
Hewes was not always successful in getting his points across, though, because he did not possess well-refined persuasive skills. Therefore, when he tried to convince his peers that independence was not the way to go, they often laughed at or scolded him. So he stopped talking and started working on committees instead. Strangely enough, he generally worked with committees that favored independence. Finally, he had an epiphany and accepted independence as a solution.
In the end, he had to make personal sacrifices to support his principles. As a Quaker, he was expected to abide by pacifist beliefs.
Early in 1775, the Society of Friends (the Quakers) held a convention to denounce the congress meeting in Philadelphia. Not only did they oppose war, they also opposed the committees formed by delegates at the Second Continental Congress.
As a result, Hewes broke his affiliation with the Quakers in favor of independence, committee work—and war. In so doing, he acted on both his religious and political convictions.
Even though he was not always willing to put his mouth to work in Congress, Hewes was willing to put his money where his mouth was. That, more than anything, set him apart from other members of the group.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“IT IS DONE! AND I WILL ABIDE BY IT.”
—JOSEPH HEWES’S EPIPHANY ON JULY 1, 1776, AS JOHN ADAMS ARGUED FOR INDEPENDENCE
What’s Mine Is Yours
In 1774 the First Continental Congress had recommended a system of nonimportation to hit the British in their pocketbooks. The suggestion had not gained much traction between then and 1776. Hewes changed that. He and some of his counterparts worked to develop a nonimportation association.
Belonging to the nonimportation association was costly for Hewes. A large chunk of his business involved imports from British merchants, with whom he had been dealing for over twenty years. When Hewes gave them up voluntarily, it cost him a considerable amount of money.
Hewes also put his ships at the new country’s disposal. In one of those little coincidences of history that rarely—if ever—get into history books, Hewes pushed hard to get a navy commander’s assignment for his friend John Paul Jones. And Jones went on to become the country’s first naval hero. Hewes’s knowledge of maritime affairs was invaluable to the Americans. In 1776, he offered his ships to the Continental armed forces.
Hewes served on a committee to rig the first navy ship and as the secretary of the Naval Affairs Committee until 1779. As a result of his work, he can be considered the “Father of the Navy,” although he has stiff competition for the claim from people like Jeremiah O’Brien and John Paul Jones.
By the time Hewes signed the Declaration of Independence, he had given the country a lot more than his time. He had provided ships, sacrificed part of his business, brought John Paul Jones’s name to the attention of military leaders, and denounced his Quaker heritage. Sadly, he would not live to see his dedication pay off.
No Airs, No Heirs
Hewes was tired and ill when he signed the Declaration of Independence. He went home afterward to settle some of his business and private affairs and serve with the North Carolina legislature. Hewes was reelected to Congress again in 1779, and returned to Philadelphia.
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
Few people knew much about Hewes’s private affairs. The soft-spoken man was a lifelong bachelor, only because his fiancée, Isabella Johnston, died a few days before their wedding. Thus, he had no heirs to carry on his family name—or his history.
On October 29, 1779, Hewes fell ill and never recovered. He died on November 10. The entire Congress attended his funeral the next day, along with the general assembly of Pennsylvania, its president and supreme executive council, the minister plenipotentiary of France, and a large number of citizens.
The ceremony was a fitting sendoff for a man whom few people actually knew well, and whom history books seldom mention. All they knew was that he had given up a lot to help create the United States, which was a price he was willing to pay.
FEDERAL FACTS
Congress resolved to wear crepe armbands for one month in honor of Joseph Hewes after his death.
STEPHEN HOPKINS
Providence, Rhode Island
March 7, 1707−July 13, 1785
Willing to Wait a Long Time
If there was anyone at the Second Continental Congress who was familiar with the tempestuous history between Britain and the American colonies, it was Stephen Hopkins. Hopkins was not only an educator and a student of the history between them, he had lived it. The self-educated Hopkins was sixty-nine years old on the day he signed the Declaration of Independence, and well versed in how badly the relationships between Britain and America had been deteriorating for years. Hopkins was not averse to keeping the political pot boiling by stirring up his fellow patriots against the Crown and always being ready to defend the colonies against its domineering laws and policies. He was one of the first patriots to advocate a “United States” long before the call for independence became fashionable.
Hopkins the Writer
Stephen Hopkins, a farmer in his youth, held several political offices in his hometown of Scituate, such as the town clerk, justice of the peace, and president of the town council. He served in the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1732–52, acting as Speaker from 1738–44 and again in 1749. Significantly, Hopkins was an early advocate of uniting the colonies. He supported Ben Franklin’s plan to consolidate the northern colonies in 1755, his first year as governor of Rhode Island. After a meeting in Albany, New York, attended by delegates from seven of the thirteen colonies, he wrote A True Representation of the Plan Formed at Albany for Uniting All the British Northern Colonies.
The Albany Congress had been convened to discuss unifying the colonies. While it was adjourned before any agreement was reached, it laid the groundwork for the Continental Congress in 1776.
Hopkins’s second major treatise, The Rights of the Colonies Examined, was published in 1765. In it he analyzed Parliament’s authority and justified col
onial opposition to it. He did not suggest in his document that the colonies break away from Britain. He expressed a wish in his conclusion that the king and his consorts gain a little wisdom in the way they ruled the colonies and “perpetuate the sovereignty of the British constitution, and the final dependency and happiness of all the colonies.” If that required drastic action on the colonists’ part, so be it.
Hopkins the Instigator
Hopkins played a central role in what might be considered the first actual military battle of the Revolutionary War, the Gaspee incident. History books don’t often assign it the importance it deserves—if they mention it at all. In 1772, the British customs schooner Gaspee, commanded by Lieutenant William Dudingston, entered Rhode Island waters to enforce unpopular trade regulations. The ship ran aground. On June 10, 1772, about 100 local patriots boarded, burned, and sank the Gaspee, shot and wounded Dudingston, and captured the crew. The British did not take kindly to the incident. They threatened to identify the miscreants, ship them to England, and try them for treason.
Hopkins, the chief justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court at the time, made a show of cooperating with the British. He promised to provide the British commission investigating the incident with a full written account of his own findings. There is no evidence that he ever did—or ever intended to comply with the commission’s demands.