John Dickinson

(1732-1808)

BIRTH

November 13, 1732

PLACE

Talbot County, Maryland

DEATH

February 14, 1808

PLACE

Wilmington, Delaware

FAMILY

FATHER

Samuel Dickinson

(1690-1760)

BROTHER

Philemon Dickinson

(1739-1809)

WIFE

Mary Norris Dickinson

(1740-1803)

CHILDREN

Samuel Dickinson

(1690-1760)

HOMES

John Dickinson's Plantation

DE - Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (DE)

1787

Delegate to the Continental Congress (PA)

NICKNAMES

Penman of the Revolution

POLITICAL VIEWS

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OPPONENT, RECONCILIATION WITH BRITAIN ADVOCATE

RELIGIOUS VIEWS

CHRISTIAN

QUAKER

MEMBERSHIPS

DICKINSON COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR

AWARDS

John Dickinson, a Founding Father of the U.S., was an attorney and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware. Dickinson was educated at home by his parents and by recent immigrants employed for that purpose. Both of these attempts to negotiate with King George III of Great Britain failed. He either abstained or was absent from the vote on the Declaration of Independence and refused to sign the document after its passage.

EARLY LIFE

Dickinson was educated at home by his parents and by recent immigrants employed for that purpose. Among them was the Presbyterian minister Francis Alison, who later established New London Academy in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Most important was his tutor, William Killen, who became a lifelong friend and who later became Delaware's first chief justice and chancellor. Dickinson was precocious and energetic and in spite of his love of Poplar Hall, and his family was drawn to Philadelphia.

As a member of the First Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, Dickinson drafted most of the 1774 Petition to the King, and then, as a member of the Second Continental Congress, he wrote the 1775 Olive Branch Petition. Both of these attempts to negotiate with King George III of Great Britain failed. Dickinson also reworked Thomas Jefferson's language to write the final draft of the 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms.

While in Congress, Dickinson served on the committee that wrote the Model Treaty, a template for seeking alliances with foreign countries, but he opposed independence from Great Britain. He either abstained or was absent from the vote on the Declaration of Independence and refused to sign the document after its passage. Nevertheless, Dickinson wrote the first draft of the 1776–1777 Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union and served as a militia officer during the Revolution. He later was elected president of the 1786 Annapolis Convention, which called for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and as a delegate from Delaware, he signed the United States Constitution.

One of the wealthiest men in the British American colonies, Dickinson served as president of Delaware (1781–1783) and president of Pennsylvania (1782–1785).

CAREER

DEATH

Dickinson died at Wilmington, Delaware, and was buried in Friends Burial Ground in Wilmington. Shortly before his death, he unconditionally freed all of his slaves. While he had been economically reliant on them, he also wanted slavery to end. By freeing all of his slaves upon his death, he thought this would contribute to the United States having a future without slavery. Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law (now part of the Pennsylvania State University), separate institutions each operating a campus located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on land inherited and managed by his wife, Mary Norris, were named for them. Dickinson College was originally named "John and Mary's College" but was renamed to avoid an implication of royalty by confusion with "William and Mary." And along with his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, Dickinson also authored The Liberty Song. Dickinson Street in Philadelphia is named in his honor, as is Dickinson Street in Madison, Wisconsin. The John Dickinson School in the Wilmington area of Delaware was also named for him. The former John Dickinson Residence Hall Complex at the University of Delaware also bore his name. An original stage play Except, Mr. Dickinson was presented at the 15th Street Meeting House in an off-Broadway setting. The show was written by August Nigro.

Grave of John Dickinson

401 N West St, Wilmington, DE 19801