John Dickinson
Pursuit of Happiness: “We Cannot be Happy without Being Free”
The “pursuit of happiness” is a foundational principle enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. In the Founders’ view, this was inextricably linked to individual liberty and property rights. John Dickinson explained it this way in the last of his 12 Letters from...
The Founders and the Constitution: John Dickinson
Like James Madison, the subject of the last essay in this series, John Dickinson was one of those Founders about whom it could be said, “Without him, we probably would not have a Constitution.” However, Madison’s contribution is justly renown, while Dickinson’s has...
Liberty, Power, Precedent and the People
While most people have never heard his name today, Founding Father John Dickinson was famous at the time of the Revolution. In 1767, he authored the 12 “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania” in response to the hated Townshend Acts. These essays quickly became the...
Liberty Without Tumult: Understanding the Politics of John Dickinson
John Dickinson is among America’s “Forgotten Founders.” Despite authoring the most widely-read documents on American liberty before 1776, representing Pennsylvania at the Second Continental Congress, and being a primary author of the Articles of Confederation, many...