Letter to John Adams, 1814 January.

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Letter to John Adams, 1814 January.

McKean agrees with Adams's assessment that a third of the colonists were against the Revolution, citing specifically Quakers, Mennonites, Episcopalians and officers of the Crown as well as the timid and discontented. He regrets that he is too old to set down his recollections as others, including Benjamin Rush, have wished but will write down an historical fact for him. McKean then recalls his role in assuring that Delaware voted for independence by summoning the absent Caesar Rodney whom he "met at the State House Door on the 4th of July in his Boots ... The question was taken, Delaware voted in favor of Independence ... ;Pennsylvania ... voted also for it ... Then the thirteen States were unanimous in favor of Independence." McKean goes on the correct a popular misconception about the signing of the engrossed copy of the Declaration, noting that no one signed on the fourth, that George Read who voted against Independence eventually signed, and that signers entered or left Congress between the vote and the signing, so that voters and signers did not correspond.

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SNAC Resource ID: 8018668

University of Virginia. Library

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