John+Dickinson

Ryan McCormick John Dickinson



__Introduction__ The Constiution convention was in Philadelphia. They were having the convention because the only laws they had was the articles of confederation which was not working. It was not working because it had no cheif executive, no court system, and the central government could not tax. The convention was in 1787 from May to September. 55 delegates all together attended the convention but not every delegate attened every day of the convention except James Madison. In the time of the convention they created the document that has made the united states the best country in the world, the U.S Constitution. __Backround__ John Dickinson was born in 1732 in Talbot country, Maryland. He was the son of a prosperous farmer. He was an educated boy with private tutors. He trained to be a lawyer in London, England. He came back to the colonies where he practiced law in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia he became a well known trial attorney. He married Marry Norris daughter of a wealthy merchant and together they had one daughter. Dickinson was then voted to be the president of Delaware from 1781-1782. And from 1782-1785 he was governor of Pennsylvania. In 1787 he was sent by Delaware to the Constitutional Convention. He died in 1808 at the age of 75.

__Role at Constitutional Convention__ John Dickinson was a representative of Delaware in the Constitutional Convention along with Gunning Bedford Jr., Richard Bassett, George Read, and Jacob Broom. He went to the convention in an effort to help create a strong central government. Sadly he missed most of the convenion because he got sick. He was a nationalist. For the time that he was not sick he worked tirelessly to help Delaware vote for the Constitution. He did not get a chance to sign the Constitution but he got his good friend George Read to sign it for him.

__DBQ__ Federalism: John Dickinson was a Federalist meaning he was for federalism. Federalism is similar to separation of powers but instead of separation of powers of the three branches it referse to States vs. Central government. He did not want the states to have too much power over the central government because he went to the convention hoping to strengthen the central government.

Separation of powers: Dickinson was also for separation of powers. He wanted separation of powers because he was for the whole Constitution in general. Separation of powers is very similar to federalism excpt for it separates the powers between the three branches.

Checks and Balances: Dickerson was for Checks also. He wanted it for the same reason of separation of powers, because he was for the whole Constitution. Checks and balances also has to do with the three branches of the government excpt for it deals with the powers that they have over each other so one branch does not rule over another.

Big States vs. Small States: He was for the powers that the states had over each other. Because he was sent by Delaware he supported the New Jersey plan because Delaware is a smaller state. He thought that the compromise between the Virginia and the New Jersey plan was a very good idea. He thought it was a good compromise because although the amount of seats each state gets in the house of representatives is based on population, the senate had only two seats no matter what state. [|tyranny_DBQ[1.doc]] (this is my DBQ on how the Constitution guarded against tyranny)

__Attendance Record__ John Dickinson was very devoted to the Constitional Convention but that fact that he was very ill during some of the convention made him not present for some if it. He missed the most during the second act when had the illness because he missed 18 or 19 days and was only there for 8 to 11 days. In the next act he is to believed to not have missed one day which really made up for missing so many days the act before. Even though he missed from 24 to 32 days in all he still managed to be there 76% of the entire convention. John Dickinson’s Attendance during the Constitutional Convention
 * || ** Present ** || ** Absent ** || ** Do Not Know ** || ** Probably Present ** || ** Probably Absent ** ||
 * ** Act 1 ** || 14 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 1 ||
 * ** Act 2 ** || 8 || 18 || 0 || 3 || 1 ||
 * ** Act 3 ** || 22 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 ||
 * ** Act 4 ** || 9 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 0 ||
 * ** Totals ** || 53 || 24 || 0 || 8 || 3 ||
 * ** % ** || 60 || 27 || 0 || 9 || 3 ||

__Primary Sources__ Constitution Connection: I think that the part of the Constitution that John Dickinson disagreed with the most was in article 1 section 2 and it was the fact that the amout of representatives that each state had in the House of Representatives was based on the population of thst state. He did not like this part of the Constitution because he was representing Delaware and Delaware was one of the smaller state and had a small population. I think that this is one of the few problems that John Dickinson had with the Constitution. Even though he did not agree with every line in the Constitution he still rallied behind it and helped his state vote for it and it ended up that Delaware was the first state to sign off on it.

Bill of Rights: I believe that the part of the Bill of Rights that John Dickinson disagreed with the most was the 2nd Amendment or the right to bare arms. John Dickinson did not like fighting because he never wanted to start anything with England. He thought that anything that could lead to fighting could be resolved in writing, thatis how he got his most famous nickname "penman of the Revolution". He thought that the only need there would ever by for guns would be in war and he did not like that in the first place.

__Work Cited__ Pictures: []

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"John Dickinson." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. [|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com].

"John Dickinson: Penman of the Revolution." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. [|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com].

"John Dickinson: "From a Farmer," Letter II (1768)." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. .