Delegate Discussions: Benjamin Rush's Characters

Delegate Discussions In February 1790, Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote a letter to John Adams, disparaging the histories of the American Revolution that had been written thus far: "Had I leisure, I would endeavor to rescue those characters from Oblivion, and give them the first place in the temple of liberty. What trash may we not suppose has been handed down to us from Antiquity, when we detect such errors, and prejudices in the history of events of which we have been eye witnesses, & in which we have been actors?" John Adams felt much the same, lamenting in his response written in April, "The History of our Revolution will be one continued Lye from one End to the other. The Essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklins electrical Rod, Smote the Earth and out Spring General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his Rod--and thence forward these two conducted all the Policy Negotiations Legislation and War. These underscored Lines contain the whole Fable Plot and Catastrophy."

Benjamin Rush, by Charles Willson Peale In the context of this conversation, Rush informed Adams that he had written "characters of the members of Congress who subscribed the declaration of independence." These characters are a part of Rush's autobiography, Travels Through Life or Sundry Incidents in the Life of Dr. Benjamin Rush, which was completed around 1800. The autobiography was intended for Rush's children and was later published, but in 1790, Rush offered Adams a glimpse.... Read more about Delegate Discussions: Benjamin Rush's Characters

A Conversation with Steven Pincus

Conversations Steven Pincus is the Bradford Durfee Professor of History at Yale University, and co-director of the Center for Historical Enquiry and the Social Sciences at Yale. He is the author of Protestantism and Patriotism: Ideologies and the Making of English Foreign Policy, 1650-1668, England's Glorious Revolution 1688-89, and 1688: The First Modern Revolution. His newest book, The Heart of the Declaration: The Founders' Case for an Activist Government, will be published by Yale University Press this fall. Pincus talked to Emily Sneff about the inspiration for his new book, the global context of the Declaration of Independence, and common misconceptions about the Declaration.

August Highlight: A Tale of Two Declarations

Research Highlights "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..."

The opening lines of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities have a universal quality -- relevant to their original subject, the French Revolution; relevant to the earlier American Revolution; relevant in Dickens' time; relevant today. Let's focus on the American Revolution, and more specifically on two characters: Benjamin Franklin and Lord Howe.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of a resolution for independence first presented in June. On July 4th, they approved the document we call the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin helped to craft the Declaration as a member of the Committee of Five, and signed the engrossed parchment in August.

HMS Eagle, off the coast of New England. On June 20th, Vice Admiral Lord Howe issued a declaration as one of the King's Commissioners for Restoring Peace. The trouble was, he didn't make it to New York Harbor to deliver his declaration until July 12th.

Howe believed that, if he had arrived a few days sooner, his message from the King could have prevented the Declaration of Independence. In actuality, his declaration galvanized the patriots' position. This month, we examine these two declarations through the words of two friends and leaders on opposite sides of the American Revolution.

Arrival of British Troops in New York