
John Dickinson was a prominent Founding Father of the United States, recognized for his influential writings and political contributions during the American Revolution. Born in Pennsylvania, he initially pursued a career in law and politics, becoming known as the 'Penman of the Revolution' for his articulate defense of colonial rights in his twelve Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, published in 1767 and 1768. These letters laid the groundwork for colonial resistance against British policies and showcased his ability to blend legal argumentation with passionate rhetoric. Additionally, he composed 'The Liberty Song' in 1768, further solidifying his role as a voice for American liberty. As a delegate to both the First and Second Continental Congresses, Dickinson played a crucial role in drafting significant documents such as the Olive Branch Petition and the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. Despite his initial reluctance to fully embrace independence, he contributed to the formation of the Articles of Confederation and was instrumental in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he signed the United States Constitution. Dickinson's legacy lies not only in his writings and political actions but also in his complex stance on independence, reflecting the nuanced debates of his time regarding governance and liberty.
“These are all direct quotes, except every time they use a curse word, I'm going to use the name of a famous American poet:'You Walt Whitman-ing, Edna St. Vincent Millay! Go Emily Dickinson your mom!''Thanks for the advice, you pathetic piece of E.E. Cummings, but I think I'm gonna pass.''You Robert Frost-ing Nikki Giovanni! Get a life, nerd. You're a virgin.''Hey bro, you need to go outside and get some fresh air into you. Or a girlfriend.'I need to get a girlfriend into me? I think that shows a fundamental lack of comprehension about how babies are made.””
“Honor, justice and humanity call upon us to hold and to transmit to our posterity, that liberty, which we received from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our children; but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. No infamy, iniquity, or cruelty can exceed our own if we, born and educated in a country of freedom, entitled to its blessings and knowing their value, pusillanimously deserting the post assigned us by Divine Providence, surrender succeeding generations to a condition of wretchedness from which no human efforts, in all probability, will be sufficient to extricate them; the experience of all states mournfully demonstrating to us that when arbitrary power has been established over them, even the wisest and bravest nations that ever flourished have, in a few years, degenerated into abject and wretched vassals.””
“You know, Emily Dickinson is here too. All she does is write poems about life all the time. The irony! She keeps asking me to read them. I refuse, of course. The days are long enough as it is.””
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