The Patriot Post® · The Future of the Colonies

The windows were closed to ensure no information regarding the debate about the future of the colonies would be carried to the people. The men gathered in the stuffy Philadelphia room are now often viewed as demigods for their courage and tenacity as patriots, but in May 1775, they were simply colonists toying with the idea of treason.

Standing alongside John Adams, Richard Henry Lee, Roger Sherman, Dr. John Knox Witherspoon, and Dr. Lyman Hall were others who today occupy the annals of United States history.

John Adams described the quietly efficient Caesar Rodney as “the oddest-looking man in the world; he is tall, thin and slender as a reed, pale; his face is not bigger than a large apple, yet there is a sense of fire, spirit, wit and humor in this countenance.” Adams, in writing about his friend, kindly did not mention the large, probably cancerous facial growth that plagued Rodney most of his later years, often partially obscured by a large handkerchief to reduce the stares. Most have never heard of Rodney, but it was his vote that added Delaware to the “Yea” column.

As the debate raged in 1776 regarding independence, Delaware’s two other delegates, George Read and Thomas McKean, were split on how to cast the colony’s vote. Rodney was home organizing the state militia when he learned there was a tie vote. He left immediately and raced on horseback, through a horrible thunderstorm, to Philadelphia, 80 miles away. Letters record that Rodney dashed into the convention and broke the deadlock that threatened the passage of the Declaration of Independence.

Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate and perhaps the best known, quickly became the peacemaker of the convention, his wit defusing tense moments. He had returned from Great Britain in May and, on the following day, had been elected a delegate. Interestingly, delegates did not know where Franklin stood on the issue of independence; he attended the sessions, quietly observed, and seldom joined the others for dinner. John Adams was overheard muttering that Franklin was treated with reverence even when he was “sitting in silence”; Adams was seldom silent.

On the same day (July 5, 1775) that the Olive Branch Petition, offering a path for reconciliation, was signed by the delegates, the delegates learned exactly how Franklin felt. A letter he had written to his English friend William Strahan, a fellow printer, was “leaked” to the public. His words predicted the future, as he wrote: “You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends: You are now my enemy, and I am Yours. B. Franklin.” Franklin never mailed the letter, perhaps written for political purposes only, but he emerged as one of the strongest advocates for revolution.

Anyone who has ever seen a copy of the Declaration of Independence has noticed John Hancock’s large signature and has probably heard about his quip that he wanted King George to be able to read it “without his spectacles.” But who was this vocal proponent of independence who was elected president of the convention? Hancock, heir to a colonial fortune and a Harvard graduate at age 17, had become one of Boston’s most influential merchants. It was a conflict between patriot protestors and red-coated British soldiers on Hancock’s wharf that had led to the Boston Massacre. Hancock and his close friend, Samuel Adams, had organized the Sons of Liberty and engaged in covert rebellion, including the famous Boston Tea Party. Hancock and Adams were so despised by the royal governor and British military that they were identified as enemies of the Crown and warrants were issued for their arrest. Hancock’s verbal skills along with a quick mind made him a natural choice for the first president of the Second Continental Congress.

And then there was New York’s John Jay. A successful attorney who had graduated from King’s College, Jay was not an immediate convert to the cause for independence, but by 1774 and the First Continental Congress, he embraced independence and authored “The Address to the People of Great Britain,” an eloquently written explanation of the colonies’ grievances. He helped push the New York delegates to vote for independence, aided by his colleague Robert Livingston’s position on the “Declaration of Independence” committee. Jay would later serve a term as president of the Second Continental Congress, write New York’s first constitution, and be appointed as the first chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, but that future was uncertain in 1775.

While we associate the Second Continental Congress with the writing of the Declaration of Independence, certainly its most significant action, the delegates accomplished more as they became the government of the newly created alliance of colonies. One of their first actions was to respond to the Battles of Lexington and Concord by appointing Virginia’s George Washington as commander of the Continental forces. The delegates worked together, often in committees, to “run” the government — appointing ambassadors, recruiting soldiers, organizing military units by appointing generals, issuing paper currency, and dealing with issues as they arose. None of them had any experience in “birthing a nation,” but they were learning…