John Dickinson's Address To The Cause And Necessity Of Taking Up Arms
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John Dickinson
John Dickinson was one the few people in the continental congress. He was born in Talbot County, Maryland on November 13, 1732. John was born into a somewhat wealthy family. His father was a judge to the Court of Pleas in Delaware. When John was younger he went to the Temple of London, one of the best schools at the time, and studied to become a lawyer. After school Dickinson became a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1764 and followed by the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 where he drafted the Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress. Also during this he wrote a series of essays, Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer, regarding the nonimportation and nonexportation agreements against Gr. Britain. Benjamin Franklin published these essays…show more content… The following year Dickinson and Thomas Jefferson combined to write the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. During his time in the Continental Congress, Dickinson was highly against separation from Great Britain. Anytime the discussion of Independence was brought up he would decline or oppose the vote. Dickinson was one of the major loyalist during the fight for Independence. Dickinson was so highly against the Declaration of Independence that he refused to sign the declaration at all. He was the only member of the Continental Congress to not sign the document. Dickinson was not like many loyalist though. He was loyal to King George and not the British Parliament. After the declaration was signed, John Dickinson went and joined the British army to fight for what he thought was right. Also at this time Thomas M'Kean (a signer of the Declaration), appointed Dickinson a Brigadier-General in the Continental Army as a somewhat cruel joke mocking Dickinson for going against the new nation. Although Dickinson was against the declaration, he was supposedly one of the first to put on a uniform and defend the new…show more content… Dickinson was the only person in the congress that didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence which is what stood out to me. He was highly against it from the beginning. Each time that John Adams brought up independence or a vote for it was issued, he would speak for all three delegates in Pennsylvania, and decline the vote. Hence the reason that Benjamin Franklin asked for the final vote from Pennsylvania to be majority rule. John Dickinson was a very outspoken man and almost as outspoken as John Adams himself on the issue. He stood up for what he believed in, even until the end. Judge Wilson was pressured into voting for Independence but Dickinson held to what he thought was right and declined and left the Continental