EVERY JULY, Americans go a little crazy over history.
OK, that’s not quite right. Every July, Americans go crazy over explosive materials. As far back as 1776, John Adams could predict the rockets and fireworks that would be set off every year — though possibly not the Black Cats, bottle rockets and cherry bombs. Even Founding Fathers have their limits, after all.
Still, most people usually have at least a vague awareness of what we’re celebrating as we wake up the neighbors and terrify their dogs with the noise. Independence. Freedom. Hard-won victory. And most could probably name at least a few of the key players who were in at the country’s birth.
Benjamin Franklin’s the easy one, of course — you know, the guy with the pot-bellied stove and the pot-bellied belly? And it’s not too hard to call to mind Thomas Jefferson with his pen, George Washington with his sword, Sam Adams with his beer ... well, maybe not that last, but you know what I mean.
The real crackerjacks can probably nail down John Adams, “The Colossus of Independence,” or John Hancock, the guy with the fancy signature. And then of course, there’s John Dickinson.
Oh, you don’t know John?
Not surprising. Except for historians and fans of the musical “1776,” not many people remember Mr. Dickinson anymore. But go ahead. Track down his signature on the Declaration of Independence. I’ll wait.
You didn’t find it, did you?
There’s a good reason. John didn’t sign it. Wouldn’t sign it. Refused to sign it even at the cost of his seat in Congress.
This may sound like a strange man to remember on July 4. You don’t know the half of it.
Dickinson could be argumentative, dogmatic, impossible. He came into an extended political conflict with Benjamin Franklin once that devolved to the level of personal attacks and mudslinging. But that same hardheadedness pushed him right into the middle of Revolutionary politics.
He and Jefferson wrote “On The Necessity of Taking Up Arms,” exhorting Americans “to die free men rather than live as slaves.” But while Jefferson threw himself into revolution, Dickinson tried to find another way. He hoped to mend relations, to see American rights respected while remaining part of the richest, strongest, freest empire on earth.
He was still trying to find that way when the Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776. And when the Congress ruled that every delegate had to sign or leave, Dickinson left the building.
But he didn’t leave the fight. He kept doing what seemed right, no matter the consequences.
He joined the Delaware militia as a private for a short time, fighting to preserve liberties even though he felt the fight was doomed.
He freed his 37 slaves, even though by law he had to post a bond for every single one ... an expensive act.
He even managed to turn around and help craft a Constitution for the government he had once believed could never be independent — an act that would probably have him labeled as a hopeless flip-flopper today. But then, sometimes admitting your own mistakes is the greatest act of courage of all.
In short, John Dickinson had guts. He wasn’t always right. But he was always willing to take the risk of being wrong.
That’s a commodity in short supply today. And that’s unfortunate. Do we want a nation where focus groups set policy? Do we want a land where political opponents brand each other as traitors or worse? Or would we rather respect the right to be wrong, even if it means not everyone is marching to the same drum?
So here’s to Mr. Dickinson. He may not have voted for independence. But he never shied away from the fireworks.
Scott Rochat’s e-mail address is rochat@emporiagazette.com.
madhouse (anonymous) says...
very interesting. I did not know that.
July 5, 2007 at 1:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )