A bit of History for you from Sonny

Here is a paper Sonny wrote for his Constitution & Freedom class in our Friday Co-op. (for more info on our co-op go to www.teachcoop.com ) Enjoy!!


John Dickinson
By Sonny Collins

John Dickinson was an amazing person. Born in Philadelphia P.A. November 13, 1732, he went to London to study law. Later, he became a lawyer. After his return, he alerted town people the Townshed Acts. The people got very angry. Some were sons of liberty and caused the Boston Tea Party which led to the Intolerable Acts. John did not like this. Later, he wrote the most detailed account of the Boston Massacre.
John also wrote other articles such as, Letters of a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the British. Some of his works were printed and taken by Ben Franklin when he went to see the King of England. Some copies are in French and Italian as well as others. He also co-wrote A Declaration of the Right to Bear Arms. Although his writings were against the British, he did not want independence from them. Instead of war he thought the king would settle the acts of the British on the Americans.
Much later, after the Declaration of Independence was signed, he was put in the army as a Brigadier-General. He didn’t stay long in the army. Once the war was done he was called to continental congress to represent Pennsylvania. He wrote the first draft of our constitution. He wrote more things such as a series of 9 essays, using a pename, Fabius.
John Dickinson retired from public life, in 1797, to his home in Wilmington where he later died on 14 February 1808. Later, in his memory a college was named after him and his wife. The college was first a grammar school. Its original name was John and Mary’s College. It was changed to Dickinson’s College. Today, many students are taught there. Some might even become writers like John Dickinson.