Ford Evening Book Talk: Penman of the Founding

About the Book

John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and Delaware was an early leader of the resistance to British rule in the American colonies. In fact, to many, he was the most prominent figure in the struggle for independence, though his Quaker-influenced opposition to violence kept him from signing one of its most famous documents in July 1776. 

Still, Dickinson, one of the wealthiest men in the colonies, did more to promote the cause behind it than almost anyone else, not only as the lead draftsman in all the national Congresses, but in his popular writing. His hugely influential Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania educated colonists about their rights and instructed them in how to defend those rights in non-violent ways. In essence he taught the colonists to think of themselves as Americans, united in a common cause. 

Despite his refusal to sign the Declaration of Independence, he continued to serve the nation in a number of capacities--in Congress, as governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania, as president of the Annapolis Convention, as delegate to the Federal Convention, and as president of the Delaware constitutional convention. 

Because of his close association with Quakerism, he also took stances unlike any other major figure of his day, making him among the first to advocate civil disobedience as a form of protest, freeing his slaves and embracing abolitionism, advocating rights for women, Indians, prisoners, and the poor. He nonetheless volunteered for active service in the Delaware militia during the War of Independence.

About the Author

Jane E. Calvert (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2003) is the Founding Director and Chief Editor at The John Dickinson Writings Project. She is currently the foremost Dickinson scholar, having worked on him for over two decades. Her book, Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson (Cambridge, 2009), is the first work to give a comprehensive explanation of his thought, action, and contribution to the founding of America. 

Her research has been sponsored by top institutions around the country, including the Newberry Library, the Huntington Library, the American Philosophical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia/Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the David Library of the American Revolution. Dr. Calvert speaks to academic and public audiences around the country on Dickinson and issues related to the American Founding. 

She is a member of the Association for Documentary Editing and a 2010 graduate of the Editing Institute sponsored by the National Historic Preservation and Records Commission and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Her biography of Dickinson, Penman of the Founding, was published by Oxford University Press in October 2024.