Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: DICKINSON JOHN DICKINSON, an American statesman, was born at Crosia-Dor6, Maryland, May 13, 1732. He received a legal education in Philadelphia, and at the Middle Temple, London, where among nis fellow students were the future Lord Thurlow, and the poet Cowper. Returning to America he began the exercise ot hia profession in Philadelphia, entering political life as a number of the Assembly of Delaware in 1760, and being transferred to that of Pennsylvania In 1762, where he served until 1765 and again, 1770-76. He represeated Pennsylvania in the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and also In the Continental Congress, 1774-76. Deeming the proposal for American Independence premature, he spoke against it and thereby lessened his former popularity. After leaving Congress he served for some time as a volunteer private soldier in the American army. In 1781 he was made governor of Delaware, which he had represented in Congress for a part of 1779, and in 1788 became governor of Pennsylvania. He was member of the Constitutional Convention in 1788, and his
Fabius
letters, which appeared that year, warmly advocated the adoption of the Federal Constitution. A second series of
Fabius
letters in 1797 were concerned with the relations between France and the United States. Hia other writings Include in part
Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer to the Inhabitants of the Colonies, 1767, which had an extensive reputation and did much service in fostering patriotic sentiment;
Essay on the Constitutional Power of Great Britain over the Colonies in America, 1774. He was one of the foremost literary men among the patriots of the Revolutionary period, and from the great number of important state papers of which he was the author has been styled the
Penman of the American Revolution. Owing to his…