Thomas McKean

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Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, and the second President of the U.S. Congress under the Articles of Confederation. He was at various times a member of the Federalist Party, the Democratic-Republican Party, and an Independent, who served as Acting President of Delaware, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania and Governor of Pennsylvania. McKean is usually pronounced McKane.

Contents

1 Early life and family
2 Early career
3 American Revolution

3.0.1 Stamp Act Congress
3.0.2 Continental Congress and Declaration of Independence
3.0.3 U.S. Congress and the Articles of Confederation

4 Government of Delaware
5 Government of Pennsylvania
6 Death and legacy
7 Public offices

7.1 Election results

8 Notes
9 References

9.1 Images

10 External links

10.1 Places with more information

Early life and family

McKean was born March 19, 1734 in New London Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, son of William McKean and Letitia Finney. His father was a tavern keeper in New London and both his parents were Ulster-Scots who came to Pennsylvania from Ireland as children. He married first Mary Borden in 1763, had six children, Joseph, Robert, Elizabeth, Letitia, Mary, and Anne and lived at 22 The Strand in New Castle, Delaware. Mary died in 1773 and was buried at Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle. He married secondly, Sarah Armitage in 1774, established an additional residence at the northeast corner of 3rd and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and had four more children, Sarah, Thomas, Sophia, and Maria. They were all members of the New Castle Presbyterian Church in New Castle and the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Sarah's son, Carlos Fernando de Yrujo, would later become Prime Minister of Spain.

Early career

McKean's education began at the Reverend Francis Allison's New London Academy. At the age of 16, McKean went to New Castle, Delaware to begin the study of law under his cousin, David Finney. He was admitted to the Bar in Delaware, or the Lower Counties as they were known, in 1755 and likewise in the Province of Pennsylvania the following year. In 1756 he was appointed deputy Attorney General for Sussex County, Delaware. From the 1762/63 session through the 1775/76 session he was a member of the General Assembly of the Lower Counties, serving as its Speaker in 1772/73. From July 1765 he also served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and began as a customs collector at New Castle in 1771. In November 1765 this Court of Common Pleas became the first such court in the colonies to establish a rule that all the proceedings of the court be recorded on un-stamped paper.

Eighteenth century Delaware was politically divided into loose factions known as the "Court Party" and the "Country Party." The majority Court Party was generally Anglican, strongest in Kent County and Sussex County, worked well with the colonial Proprietary government, and was in favor of reconciliation with the British government. The minority Country Party was largely Ulster-Scot, centered in New Castle County, and quickly advocated independence from the British. McKean was the epitome of the Country party politician and was, as much as anyone, their leader. As such he generally worked in partnership with Caesar Rodney from Kent County, and in opposition to their friends and respective neighbors, George Read and John Dickinson.

American Revolution

Stamp Act Congress

At the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, McKean and Caesar Rodney represented Delaware. McKean proposed the voting procedure that the Continental Congress later adopted: that each colony, regardless of size or population, has one vote. This decision set the precedent and the practice was adopted by the Congress of the Articles of Confederation, and the principle of state equality continued in the composition of the United States Senate.

McKean quickly became one of the most influential members of the Stamp Act Congress. He was on the committee that drew the memorial to Parliament, and with John Rutledge and Philip Livingston, revised its proceedings. On the last day of its session, when business was concluded, Timothy Ruggles, the president of the body, and a few other timid members, refused to sign the memorial of rights and grievances. McKean arose, and, addressing the chair, insisted that the president give his reasons for his refusal. After refusing at first Ruggles remarked that "it was against his conscience." McKean then clamored over his use of the word "conscience" so loudly and so long that a challenge was given and accepted between himself and Ruggles in the presence of the congress. However, Ruggles left the next morning at daybreak, so that the duel did not take place.

Continental Congress and Declaration of Independence

In spite of his dual residence in Philadelphia, McKean remained the effective leader for American Independence in Delaware. Along with George Read and Caesar Rodney, he was one of Delaware's delegates to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776. Being an outspoken advocate, his was a key voice in persuading others to vote for the Declaration of Independence. When George Read voted against independence, it was McKean who requested that the absent Caesar Rodney ride all night from Dover, Delaware to break the tie on Delaware's vote in favor of independence.

A few days after McKean cast his vote, he left the Continental Congress as Colonel in command of the fourth Battalion of Philadelphia "Associators," to join Washington's defense of New York at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Along with John Dickinson, he was one of only two members of the Continental Congress to actually serve in the Continental Army. Being away, he was not available when most of the Signers placed their signatures on the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776. Since his signature did not appear on the printed copy that was authenticated on January 17, 1777, it is assumed that he signed after that date.

U.S. Congress and the Articles of Confederation

Because of their strong advocacy of American Independence, the conservative 1st Delaware General Assembly did not reelect either McKean or Caesar Rodney to the Continental Congress in October 1776. However, McKean was returned a year later, in October 1777, by the 2nd Delaware General Assembly and served until February 1, 1783. He helped draft the Articles of Confederation and voted for their adoption on March 1, 1781. When poor health caused the Congress' first president, Samuel Huntington, to resign in July 1781, McKean was elected its second president, serving from July 10, 1781, until November 4, 1781. In this position McKean presided over the unicameral assembly of the United States Congress, and held the highest political office in the United States at the time and he was the first person to whom the title “President of the United States” was applied in an official document. However, it was not an executive position in any way comparable to the Presidency as configured in the later U.S. Constitution of 1787. During his term in office, a British Army surrendered at Yorktown.

Government of Delaware

Meanwhile McKean led the effort in the General Assembly of the Lower Counties to declare its separation from the British government, which it did on June 15, 1776. Then, in August, he was elected to the special convention to draft a new state constitution. Upon hearing of it, McKean rode the long ride to Dover, Delaware from Philadelphia in a single day, went to a room in an Inn and that night, virtually by himself, drafted the document, which was adopted September 20, 1776. The Delaware Constitution of 1776 thus became the first state constitution to be produced after the Declaration of Independence.

McKean was then elected to Delaware's first House of Assembly or State House of Representatives for both the 1776/77 and 1778/79 sessions, succeeding John McKinly as Speaker on February 12, 1777 when McKinly became President of Delaware. Shortly after President McKinly's capture and imprisonment, McKean served as the Acting President of Delaware for a month from September 22, 1777 until October 20, 1777, that being the time needed for the rightful successor to John McKinly, the Speaker of the Legislative Council or State Senate, George Read, to return from the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and assume the duties.

At this time Delaware was in about as much chaos as anytime in its history. The British Army occupied Philadelphia, Wilmington and much of northern New Castle County. Its navy controlled the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. As a result the state capital, New Castle was unsafe as a meeting place, and the Sussex County seat, Lewes, was sufficiently disrupted by Loyalists that it was unable to hold a valid general election that autumn. As President McKean was primarily occupied in recruitment for the militia and keeping some semblance of civic order in the portions of the state still under his control.

Government of Pennsylvania

McKean started his long tenure as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania on July 28, 1777, and served in that capacity until 1799. There he largely set the rules of justice for revolutionary Pennsylvania. According to biographer John Coleman "only the historiographical difficulty of reviewing court records and other scattered documents prevents recognition that McKean, rather than John Marshall, did more than anyone else to establish an independent judiciary in the United States. As chief justice under a Pennsylvania constitution he considered flawed, he assumed it the right of the court to strike down legislative acts it deemed unconstitutional, preceding by ten years the U.S. Supreme Court's establishment of the doctrine of judicial review. He augmented the rights of defendants and sought penal reform, but on the other hand was slow to recognize expansion of the legal rights of women and the processes in the state's gradual elimination of slavery."

He was a member of the convention of Pennsylvania which ratified the Constitution of the U.S. In the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention of 1789/90, he argued for a strong executive and was himself at that time a Federalist. But in 1796, dissatisfied with Federalist domestic policies and compromises with England, he became an outspoken Jeffersonian Republican or Democratic-Republican.

McKean was elected Governor of Pennsylvania and served three terms from December 17, 1799 until December 20, 1808. In 1799 he defeated the Federalist Party nominee, James Ross, and again more easily in 1802. At first, McKean ousted Federalists from state government positions. Because of that he has been called the father of the spoils system. However, in seeking a third term in 1805, McKean was at odds with factions of his own Democratic-Republican Party and the Pennsylvania General Assembly instead nominated Speaker Simon Snyder. Governor McKean forged an alliance with Federalists, called "the Quids," and defeated Snyder. Afterwards, he began removing Jeffersonians or Democratic-Republicans from state positions.

The governor's beliefs in strong executive and judicial powers were bitterly denounced by the influential Aurora newspaper publisher, William Duane, and the Philadelphia populist Dr. Michael Leib. After they led public attacks calling for impeachment, McKean filed a partially successful libel suit against Duane in 1805. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives impeached the governor in 1807, but his friends prevented a trial for the rest of his term and the matter was dropped. When the suit was settled after McKean left office, his son Joseph angrily criticized Duane's attorney for alleging out of context that McKean referred to the people of Pennsylvania as "Clodpoles" (clodhoppers).

Some of McKean's other accomplishments included expanding free education for all and, at age eighty, leading a Philadelphia citizens group to organize a strong defense during the War of 1812. McKean retired to Philadelphia where he spent the remainder of his life writing, discussing political affairs and enjoying the considerable wealth he had earned through investments and real estate.

Death and legacy

McKean died June 24, 1817 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was first buried in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Philadelphia. In 1843 his body was moved to the Laurel Hill Cemetery, also in Philadelphia. Thomas McKean High School in New Castle County, Delaware is named in his honor, as is McKean Street in Philadelphia and McKean County, Pennsylvania.

McKean was over six feet tall, always wore a large cocked hat and carried a gold headed cane. He was a man of quick temper and vigorous personality, "with a thin face, hawk's nose and hot eyes." He was known for a "lofty and often tactless manner that antagonized many people," as well as for being "cold, proud and vain." Some thought "his popularity with his clients was difficult to understand. He seldom mixed with people except on public occasions. Many people found his company insufferable. Still others concluded that he attracted so much business because people simply had confidence in his integrity and impressive credentials." John Adams described him as "one of the three men in the Continental Congress who appeared to me to see more clearly to the end of the business than any others in the body." As Chief Justice of Pennsylvania after the war and especially later as governor of that state, he was frequently the center of controversy.

"|Preceded by:
John McKinly

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Simon Snyder |- |}

Public offices

At this time Delaware elections were held the first of October. Members of the House of Assembly took office on the twentieth day of October for a term of one year. Before 1776, six Assemblymen were elected, at large, from each county. After 1776 the number increased to seven and an upper house was created, the Legislative Council, which had three State Councilmen elected, at large, from each county for a term of three years.

The General Assembly chose the Continental Congressmen for a term of one year and the State President for a term of three years.

Election results

{| class=wikitable style="width:94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center" |-bgcolor=#cccccc |Year |Office |State | |Subject |Party |Votes |% | |Opponent |Party |Votes |% |- |1799 |Governor |Pennsylvania | |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |Thomas McKean |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |Democratic-
Republican |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |38,036 |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |54% | |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |James Ross |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |Federalist |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |32,641 |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |46% |- |1802 |Governor |Pennsylvania | |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |Thomas McKean |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |Democratic-
Republican |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |47,879 |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |83% | |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |James Ross |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |Federalist |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |9,499 |bgcolor=#E6E6AA |17% |- |1805 |Governor |Pennsylvania | |bgcolor=#E2C7C7 |Thomas McKean |bgcolor=#E2C7C7 | Independent |bgcolor=#E2C7C7 |43,644 |bgcolor=#E2C7C7 |53% | |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |Simon Snyder |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |Democratic-
Republican |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |38,438 |bgcolor=#CCFFCC |47%

Notes

References

Images

Portrait courtesy of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Dover.
Courtesy of Independence National Historical Park.

External links

Places with more information

[University of Delaware Library] 181 South College Ave., Newark, Delaware (302) 831-2965.
[Newark Free Library] 750 Library Ave.,Newark Delaware (302) 731-7550.
[Corbit-Calloway Memorial Library] 2nd and High St. Odessa Delaware (302)378-8838.
[Historical Society of Delaware] 505 Market St., Wilmington, Delaware (302) 655-7161.
[Historical Society of Pennsylvania] 1300 Locust St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (215) 732-6200.
[Laurel Hill Cemetery] 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (215) 228-8200.

United States Congress
Senate • • • Senate Committees •
House • • • House Committees • • Districts

	State of Delaware • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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