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The Cost of Liberty: The Life of John Dickinson
“[Murchison] employ[s] his incomparable pen and vivid historical imagination in the cause of bringing back to life one of the most underrated and misunderstood of the Founders.”
— The American Conservative
The Cost of Liberty offers a sorely needed reassessment of a great patriot and misunderstood Founder.
It has been more than a half century since a biography of John Dickinson appeared. Author William Murchison rectifies this mistake, bringing to life one of the most influential figures of the entire Founding period, a principled man whose gifts as writer, speaker, and philosopher only Jefferson came near to matching. In the process, Murchison destroys the caricature of Dickinson that has emerged from such popular treatments as HBO’s John Adams miniseries and the Broadway musical 1776.
Dickinson is remembered mostly for his reluctance to sign the Declaration of Independence. But that reluctance, Murchison shows, had nothing to do with a lack of patriotism. In fact, Dickinson immediately took up arms to serve the colonial cause—something only one signer of the Declaration did. He stood on principle to oppose declaring independence at that moment, even when he knew that doing so would deal the “finishing blow” to his once-great reputation.
Dubbed the “Penman of the Revolution,” Dickinson was not just a scribe but also a shaper of mighty events. From the 1760s through the late 1780s he was present at, and played a significant role in, every major assemblage where the Founders charted America’s path—a claim few others could make. Author of the landmark essays Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, delegate to the Continental Congress, key figure behind the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, chief executive of both Pennsylvania and Delaware: Dickinson was, as one esteemed historian aptly put it, “the most underrated of all the Founders.”
This lively biography gives a great Founder his long-overdue measure of honor. It also broadens our understanding of the Founding period, challenging many modern assumptions about the events of 1776 and 1787.
— The American Conservative
The Cost of Liberty offers a sorely needed reassessment of a great patriot and misunderstood Founder.
It has been more than a half century since a biography of John Dickinson appeared. Author William Murchison rectifies this mistake, bringing to life one of the most influential figures of the entire Founding period, a principled man whose gifts as writer, speaker, and philosopher only Jefferson came near to matching. In the process, Murchison destroys the caricature of Dickinson that has emerged from such popular treatments as HBO’s John Adams miniseries and the Broadway musical 1776.
Dickinson is remembered mostly for his reluctance to sign the Declaration of Independence. But that reluctance, Murchison shows, had nothing to do with a lack of patriotism. In fact, Dickinson immediately took up arms to serve the colonial cause—something only one signer of the Declaration did. He stood on principle to oppose declaring independence at that moment, even when he knew that doing so would deal the “finishing blow” to his once-great reputation.
Dubbed the “Penman of the Revolution,” Dickinson was not just a scribe but also a shaper of mighty events. From the 1760s through the late 1780s he was present at, and played a significant role in, every major assemblage where the Founders charted America’s path—a claim few others could make. Author of the landmark essays Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, delegate to the Continental Congress, key figure behind the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, chief executive of both Pennsylvania and Delaware: Dickinson was, as one esteemed historian aptly put it, “the most underrated of all the Founders.”
This lively biography gives a great Founder his long-overdue measure of honor. It also broadens our understanding of the Founding period, challenging many modern assumptions about the events of 1776 and 1787.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 3, 2019
I have been spending quite a bit of time in recent weeks reading primary documents from, and historical accounts about, the Founding generation in order, in our current time of constitutional violations and tawdry political behavior, to reacquaint myself with how they understood power and the threats they regarded as the most grave to the survival of the democratic republic they bequeathed us.
This excellent, brief, well-written, and very readable account of one of the most important of them -- if, historically, one less celebrated in our own time -- was a welcome portrait of a man of character, conviction, and empathy.
John Dickinson was one of the more "conservative" of the men so prominent in the Founding generation, although we must understand "conservative" in the long, honorable tradition of political thought rather than the thoroughly debased, phony "conservatives" of our own time who, unlike the Founders, seem to think little of principals and only of political gain and retaining power.
Dickinson was the only member of the Founders who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence -- because he believed it was a step too far at a time when we were not yet prepared -- and yet then enlisted in the rebel cause as an officer to fight the British. He had a most distinguished political career in the states of both Pennsylvania and Delaware, was the primary author of the first national government of the new republic -- that formed by the Articles of Confederation -- and a vigorous, participating, and creative member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Throughout he remained a man of his word and faithful to his core beliefs, despite the fact that his always-tenuous health frequently caused him to absent himself from key negotiations for days at a time.
This lovely book makes it clear that he needs to be placed among the more familiar pantheon of the "Founding Fathers" of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Franklin.
For all who love American history, but especially for those who wish to bathe in the ideas of the Founders, I highly recommend this book, the prose of which at times leaps into poetry.
This excellent, brief, well-written, and very readable account of one of the most important of them -- if, historically, one less celebrated in our own time -- was a welcome portrait of a man of character, conviction, and empathy.
John Dickinson was one of the more "conservative" of the men so prominent in the Founding generation, although we must understand "conservative" in the long, honorable tradition of political thought rather than the thoroughly debased, phony "conservatives" of our own time who, unlike the Founders, seem to think little of principals and only of political gain and retaining power.
Dickinson was the only member of the Founders who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence -- because he believed it was a step too far at a time when we were not yet prepared -- and yet then enlisted in the rebel cause as an officer to fight the British. He had a most distinguished political career in the states of both Pennsylvania and Delaware, was the primary author of the first national government of the new republic -- that formed by the Articles of Confederation -- and a vigorous, participating, and creative member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Throughout he remained a man of his word and faithful to his core beliefs, despite the fact that his always-tenuous health frequently caused him to absent himself from key negotiations for days at a time.
This lovely book makes it clear that he needs to be placed among the more familiar pantheon of the "Founding Fathers" of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Franklin.
For all who love American history, but especially for those who wish to bathe in the ideas of the Founders, I highly recommend this book, the prose of which at times leaps into poetry.
April 29, 2023
This book is, unfortunately, not very good at being a biography. Special and affectionate mention, however, to the series of letters between Dickinson and Thomson that Murchison quotes that are essentially Dickinson catastrophising and Thomson replying "people like you even if you make it extremely difficult for them to do so sometimes." They were truly like us in the 18th century but they had to use quills instead of Discord.
Edit: I am revising my review of this one down to one star, on account of the fact that I have learned more about the life of John Dickinson from a biography of Charles Thomson, a man who, while interesting in his own right, was not in point of fact John Dickinson. Why write a biography of somebody if you aren't actually interested in your subject?
Edit: I am revising my review of this one down to one star, on account of the fact that I have learned more about the life of John Dickinson from a biography of Charles Thomson, a man who, while interesting in his own right, was not in point of fact John Dickinson. Why write a biography of somebody if you aren't actually interested in your subject?
August 9, 2022
Having toured the John Dickinson House in Delaware, I was excited to find a book about the life of a man who instantly intrigued me. Unfortunately, this biography is a colossal disappointment. A more appropriate title for this book would have been "The POLITICAL Life of John Dickinson," because other than that, it provides shockingly little information about the rest of his life. His wife is barely included, and the five children born to him receive exactly three sentences of mention--on page 213. The book is more a history about the years leading up to the Revolutionary War and its outcome, and Dickinson's role as one of the country's Founding Fathers. If you want anything more than that, look elsewhere. This book does not include it.
December 3, 2025
William Murchison’s “The Cost of Liberty: The Life of John Dickinson,” is a clear and concise biography of John Dickinson, the “Penman of the Revolution.” While Forest McDonald called Dickinson our most underrated founding father, Hollywood and many historians have not been so kind. Murchison describes Dickinson as a genius but concedes that he was not an original thinker. His common law training at the Middle Temple induced him to approach problems from a circumscribed, historical perspective. As Murchison notes, Dickinson oft remarked, “Experience must be our only guide. Reason may mislead us.
Dickinson’s role in the run-up to the War of Independence was that of a moderating force. Dickinson eschewed abstraction and theory; his political philosophy—to the extent he had one—suggested the conservatism of Burke or Oakeshott. Like Burke, he wanted to avoid ahistorical, novel approaches to political problems; and, like Oakeshott, he disdained rationalism in politics.
Dickinson’s most famous broadside was his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. Preceding Paine and Jefferson and other “radical Whigs,” Dickinson invoked the historical rights of Englishmen to buttress his claims for liberty. To Adams’ chagrin John Dickinson did not wish to sign the Declaration of Independence and when Congress called for the vote, Dickinson absented himself from the proceeding. Despite Dickinson’s subsequent willingness to fight in the revolution, many historians are reluctant to fully acknowledge his role or his writings prior to 1776. In fact, in many respects he did more than most to propel his countrymen to that momentous decision.
Dickinson feared declaring independence before America was prepared to deal with the consequences was imprudent. This is not to impugn Dickinson’s patriotism; Dickinson sought to establish firm foreign alliances, particularly with the French, prior to any consideration of hostilities.
The Pennsylvania Farmer was also concerned with what form of government should be adopted following our separation from Britain. And, once separated from Britain, a nation with which we shared a common ethos, as well as religious, political, legal, linguistic and commercial inclinations, whither America? Will there follow a void that will leave us adrift at sea?
Dickinson, like Burke in his “Reflections,” recognized the need for prudence in any enterprise which sought to eliminate the structures of government absent a plan for constructing a viable alternative.
After his military service, Dickinson lent his rhetorical talents to the American cause. He produced the initial draft of the Articles of Confederation and was part of the Constitutional Convention, a founding document to which he did affix his signature. As Murchison notes, Dickinson will be remembered for his persistence to the idea of ordered liberty, a faith in God’s providence in human affairs, and a healthy respect for the experience of mankind.
Dickinson’s role in the run-up to the War of Independence was that of a moderating force. Dickinson eschewed abstraction and theory; his political philosophy—to the extent he had one—suggested the conservatism of Burke or Oakeshott. Like Burke, he wanted to avoid ahistorical, novel approaches to political problems; and, like Oakeshott, he disdained rationalism in politics.
Dickinson’s most famous broadside was his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. Preceding Paine and Jefferson and other “radical Whigs,” Dickinson invoked the historical rights of Englishmen to buttress his claims for liberty. To Adams’ chagrin John Dickinson did not wish to sign the Declaration of Independence and when Congress called for the vote, Dickinson absented himself from the proceeding. Despite Dickinson’s subsequent willingness to fight in the revolution, many historians are reluctant to fully acknowledge his role or his writings prior to 1776. In fact, in many respects he did more than most to propel his countrymen to that momentous decision.
Dickinson feared declaring independence before America was prepared to deal with the consequences was imprudent. This is not to impugn Dickinson’s patriotism; Dickinson sought to establish firm foreign alliances, particularly with the French, prior to any consideration of hostilities.
The Pennsylvania Farmer was also concerned with what form of government should be adopted following our separation from Britain. And, once separated from Britain, a nation with which we shared a common ethos, as well as religious, political, legal, linguistic and commercial inclinations, whither America? Will there follow a void that will leave us adrift at sea?
Dickinson, like Burke in his “Reflections,” recognized the need for prudence in any enterprise which sought to eliminate the structures of government absent a plan for constructing a viable alternative.
After his military service, Dickinson lent his rhetorical talents to the American cause. He produced the initial draft of the Articles of Confederation and was part of the Constitutional Convention, a founding document to which he did affix his signature. As Murchison notes, Dickinson will be remembered for his persistence to the idea of ordered liberty, a faith in God’s providence in human affairs, and a healthy respect for the experience of mankind.
September 10, 2017
Brief (216 pages with generous blank pages) but dense (including fun vocabulary like flummery*, pettifoggery and asseverate) biography of a man generally known, if he is known, as the milquetoast antagonist in 1776.
Murchison argues well that Dickinson deserves the label founding father though he voted against the second continental congress' independence resolution and would not sign the Declaration of Independence. He shows that Dickinson's opposition was with regard to timing rather than absolute opposition to independence, and that he was one of only a very few of the members of that congress who served the United States in a military capacity during the Revolutionary War. Other scholars have said that Dickinson refused to sign the Declaration based on its reasoning in the inalienable rights all people have, rather than being based on British laws and precedents and their rights being based in British citizenship which were being denied, but Dickinson does not stress that.
Dickinson was part of the constitutional convention, too, and Murchison points out how the document we've inherited as the framework of our government is different for Dickinson's contributions. He was as influential as Hamilton or Morris in the final document, perhaps as influential as anyone but Madison. Dickinson's overriding insight was seeing the states themselves as checks on the executive power, instead of just the federal congress and judiciary.
I can't compare this to other biographies of Dickinson, because I haven't read any (and this is the first one in a long while), but if it makes people more aware of this deserving person, that alone makes it a good book.
Note: One thing I think is a mistake is the claim that Dickinson was the only representative of the constitutional convention who had freed his slaves. I know Ben Franklin had owned a handful of slaves and freed them, and because slavery was already illegal in several northern states by 1787, I would think that there were other members among that affluent body of white men who could make the claim. Perhaps Murchison meant Dickinson was the only one who had freed his slaves when slavery was still legal where they lived. Then for all I know it's true. And remarkable.
* Spellcheck thinks flummery is not a word.
Murchison argues well that Dickinson deserves the label founding father though he voted against the second continental congress' independence resolution and would not sign the Declaration of Independence. He shows that Dickinson's opposition was with regard to timing rather than absolute opposition to independence, and that he was one of only a very few of the members of that congress who served the United States in a military capacity during the Revolutionary War. Other scholars have said that Dickinson refused to sign the Declaration based on its reasoning in the inalienable rights all people have, rather than being based on British laws and precedents and their rights being based in British citizenship which were being denied, but Dickinson does not stress that.
Dickinson was part of the constitutional convention, too, and Murchison points out how the document we've inherited as the framework of our government is different for Dickinson's contributions. He was as influential as Hamilton or Morris in the final document, perhaps as influential as anyone but Madison. Dickinson's overriding insight was seeing the states themselves as checks on the executive power, instead of just the federal congress and judiciary.
I can't compare this to other biographies of Dickinson, because I haven't read any (and this is the first one in a long while), but if it makes people more aware of this deserving person, that alone makes it a good book.
Note: One thing I think is a mistake is the claim that Dickinson was the only representative of the constitutional convention who had freed his slaves. I know Ben Franklin had owned a handful of slaves and freed them, and because slavery was already illegal in several northern states by 1787, I would think that there were other members among that affluent body of white men who could make the claim. Perhaps Murchison meant Dickinson was the only one who had freed his slaves when slavery was still legal where they lived. Then for all I know it's true. And remarkable.
* Spellcheck thinks flummery is not a word.
May 5, 2020
I found this book to be very well-written, engaging, and successful in its purpose. It certainly made me think better of John Dickinson. First, he was no wilting flower, writing eloquently against the British encroachments as The Pennsylvania Farmer. I also found it interesting, and not discussed in popular history, that Dickinson wrote the Olive Branch Petition while also contributing heavily to the Declaration for the Necessity of Taking Up Arms. Murchison uses these facts well to show Dickinson as preaching prudence but not shrinking from the need to defend rights. For that reason, I found his position somewhat consistent. Especially when one learns that he devoted lots of time to the first draft of the Articles of Confederation and urged strongly for the ratification of the Constitution. And, amazingly, he grew more supportive of individualism as he grew older, moving himself more into Jefferson's camp. This is not the man portrayed in television and theater. He is no staunch Royalist nor blind to the follies of the English crown. He merely refused to precipitate a breach with Britain on prudential grounds. That is not a stance worthy of criticism, as such an argument would have some cache in similar circumstances today. At the very least it isn't irrational.
If the book suffers from any flaw, it is too brief to be wholly satisfactory. But if the goal was to rescue John Dickinson from History's List of Proscription, then it succeeded. The writing was also delightful, with many excellent turns of phrase.
If the book suffers from any flaw, it is too brief to be wholly satisfactory. But if the goal was to rescue John Dickinson from History's List of Proscription, then it succeeded. The writing was also delightful, with many excellent turns of phrase.
August 1, 2021
Though it is intended for the popular level, Murchison's writing is vivid, informative, and engaging. The Cost of Liberty has been an excellent introduction for me to the person of John Dickinson, about whom I first learned in HBO's John Adams miniseries. The book explicitly endeavors to correct the common caricature of him in popular interpretations (even and especially the aforementioned miniseries) as a timid and myopic obstacle to independence. In its place, Murchison offers a more comprehensive and celebratory picture of a deep thinker, brilliant communicator, and dedicated proponent of both liberty and peace.
January 9, 2022
What an empty excuse of a book. I was intrigued by the book's premise: the John Dickinson in HBO's John Adams series was in real life an important patriot whose story should be told. In the hands of a more capable historian, it could have been interesting. But this book reads like a term paper that was written on the bus before class. There was a little bit about Dickinson's life in London as a law student that was kind of interesting. Murchison apparently read a couple of very old biographies of Dickenson, and stitches what he read in between empty sentences that stretch and strain to get to 200 pages. The book is nothing short of an embarrassment.
February 14, 2021
An enjoyable read looking at one of the more "obscure" founding father, who should not be a victim of obscurity. Establishes Dickinson as a man of character and clarity. My biggest frustration with the work lies in his attempt to place Dickinson as something more than a theist, without presenting sufficient quotes to illustrate this fervency of faith the author asserts.
August 25, 2019
Very good book. Dickinson is worth more attention and consideration.
July 5, 2015
Can you claim to be a Founding Father if you didn't sign the Declaration of Independence? What if not signing it is your crowning moment of infamy? This biography of John Dickinson is part of a series on the lives of forgotten founding fathers, but his name may ring a bell moreso than the rest .Who beyond revolutionary historians has any idea who Luther Martin is, for instance? But Dickinson was the antagonist of both 1776 and an episode or two of John Adams, where he opposes the titular solon's argument that independence is the only route left to the American people. In 1776, he is cast as a sneering and aloof aristocrat, more concerned with protecting his money than with rights and liberties. In the other, he is a sniveling knave, horrified at the prospect of having to take a stand against the Mother Country. The Cost of Liberty gives the lie to both accounts, delivering an portrait of a man who knew how to fight for his principles, and would – before his peers at the bar and in Congress, or on the field of battle. John Dickinson made his name infamous by resisting the Declaration of Independence, but he was a leader of the Revolution even so , putting pen to paper to cry “Injustice” against Parliament long before Congress was ever assembled. Though after 1776 he never achieved any national greatness, he had already made himself a champion in the eyes of his contemporaries.
While he never signed the Declaration of Independence, nor would he play a part in the national government, Dickinson was nonetheless a leader in the revolution. For Dickinson, of course, it was less a revolution than a restoration. Brought up in a well-placed Quaker family, he sought advancement in the law, studying at the Inns of Court in London. His upbringing and this experience on the home isle gave him a keen appreciation for deep English roots; though he and Thomas Jefferson would eventually become friends, even collaborating on the Virginian’s Necessity for Taking Up Arms, they approached human liberty from different perspectives. Whereas Jefferson believed in natural rights, Dickinson had a less idealistic conviction. They might be instilled in us by the Creator, but they were guaranteed only through law and force. Hundreds of years of excellent strife had given the colonists their rights as Englishmen, and it was for that dignity Dickinson would fight. He was a constitutionally prudent man; when the people of Pennsylvania asked the king to assume direct control over their colony, overriding the Penn family which 'owned' it in a propriety charter, Dickinson resisted: Pennsylvanians had lived and contended with the Penns for decades, and had earned a status as the freest colony on the seaboard. Were the king to assume direct control, all those accomplishments could be cast to the wind; even if the king were the noblest of fellows, his governors might not be, and Pennsylvanians could find themselves set back to square one, having to fight for their freedoms all over again, and this time against a far stronger authority. The resistance Dickinson would later display against the Declaration of Independence did not stem from any special loyalty to the king, but more to an acute sense that great changes have unpredictable results.
William Murchinson takes readers through the pivotal early years of the Revolution, where Dickinson takes the lead. His Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania not only gave strength to resistance against the Tea and Coercive acts at home, but generated popular support in England. Dickinson was never one for rabble-rousing, urging mobs to commit violence against the authorities, but he did argue passionately for civil resistance. Dickinson's fall from grace came in 1776 when the American temper was so aroused against Britain that war had already erupted. Dickinson continued to hope that changes might be effected cautiously, still in connection to England, but the blood shed at Lexington and Concord lit a fire under the king, as well. The rebels would pay for their defiance, and so the path of reconciliation was ignored by both the patriots and the king, to the dismay of men like Dickinson in America and Edmund Burke in Britain.
After the war, Dickinson would continue to lead at the local level in both Pennsylvania and Delaware, but he would not assume great office and his name has faded with the ages. Murchison's reappraisal of this man of peace, prudence, and principled resistance is a welcome balm.
In the words of his friend, Thomas Jefferson...
"A more estimable man, or truer patriot, could not have left us. Among the first of the advocates for the rights of his country when assailed by Great Britain, he continued to the last the orthodox advocate of the true principles of our new government and his name will be consecrated in history as one of the great worthies of the revolution."
While he never signed the Declaration of Independence, nor would he play a part in the national government, Dickinson was nonetheless a leader in the revolution. For Dickinson, of course, it was less a revolution than a restoration. Brought up in a well-placed Quaker family, he sought advancement in the law, studying at the Inns of Court in London. His upbringing and this experience on the home isle gave him a keen appreciation for deep English roots; though he and Thomas Jefferson would eventually become friends, even collaborating on the Virginian’s Necessity for Taking Up Arms, they approached human liberty from different perspectives. Whereas Jefferson believed in natural rights, Dickinson had a less idealistic conviction. They might be instilled in us by the Creator, but they were guaranteed only through law and force. Hundreds of years of excellent strife had given the colonists their rights as Englishmen, and it was for that dignity Dickinson would fight. He was a constitutionally prudent man; when the people of Pennsylvania asked the king to assume direct control over their colony, overriding the Penn family which 'owned' it in a propriety charter, Dickinson resisted: Pennsylvanians had lived and contended with the Penns for decades, and had earned a status as the freest colony on the seaboard. Were the king to assume direct control, all those accomplishments could be cast to the wind; even if the king were the noblest of fellows, his governors might not be, and Pennsylvanians could find themselves set back to square one, having to fight for their freedoms all over again, and this time against a far stronger authority. The resistance Dickinson would later display against the Declaration of Independence did not stem from any special loyalty to the king, but more to an acute sense that great changes have unpredictable results.
William Murchinson takes readers through the pivotal early years of the Revolution, where Dickinson takes the lead. His Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania not only gave strength to resistance against the Tea and Coercive acts at home, but generated popular support in England. Dickinson was never one for rabble-rousing, urging mobs to commit violence against the authorities, but he did argue passionately for civil resistance. Dickinson's fall from grace came in 1776 when the American temper was so aroused against Britain that war had already erupted. Dickinson continued to hope that changes might be effected cautiously, still in connection to England, but the blood shed at Lexington and Concord lit a fire under the king, as well. The rebels would pay for their defiance, and so the path of reconciliation was ignored by both the patriots and the king, to the dismay of men like Dickinson in America and Edmund Burke in Britain.
After the war, Dickinson would continue to lead at the local level in both Pennsylvania and Delaware, but he would not assume great office and his name has faded with the ages. Murchison's reappraisal of this man of peace, prudence, and principled resistance is a welcome balm.
In the words of his friend, Thomas Jefferson...
"A more estimable man, or truer patriot, could not have left us. Among the first of the advocates for the rights of his country when assailed by Great Britain, he continued to the last the orthodox advocate of the true principles of our new government and his name will be consecrated in history as one of the great worthies of the revolution."
March 8, 2017
I loved this book because there are not many other books about John Dickinson. It helps you get an idea of him as a founding father as well as an understanding of his culture.
October 22, 2014
As much of a fan as I am of 1776, I was glad to learn somewhat recently that John Dickinson was a much better person in real life than he is portrayed in the movie, so when I also recently learned a new biography about him had come out, I finagled a copy (as well as the rest in this set from our friends at ISI Books). I would have been glad to give this another star or two, but ofttimes Murchison gets in the way of one's enjoyment of the work. It's not that his vocabulary is too erudite for us monolingual public school graduates, it's more often his tone of amused-at-the-entire-goings-on. Clearly Murchison is lauding Dickinson, as well he should, but far too frequently Murchison detracts from the important work of explicating an unjustly forgotten Founding Father with a demeanor of blase chuckling (as contradictory as that sounds, it's the best I've been able to conjure for this strange component of an otherwise fine work). For me another slight deterrent is Murchison's attitude to 1776 - true, the movie is inaccurate with some things, but Murchison is also somewhat unfair. By his accounts, the attitude of Dickinson and the Southern Colonies are more akin to their 1775 attitudes, so not the wholly inaccurate perspective Murchison accuses the movie of portraying. There is more truth to the movie as a representation of the attitudes and conflicts of the Continental Congress of its duration simply compacted into the span of the film than Murchison is willing to credit it, which is disappointing. I have nothing with which to compare Murchison's presentation of the other parts of Dickinson's life beyond a public school education (and, thus, a total absence of knowledge of Dickinson outside of a lifetime of watching 1776), so I did appreciate reading and learning about his pre- and post-Declaration abstinence life, especially his oft ignored Articles of Confederation life (a period of time glossed over if not wholly ignored in most "US History" courses). That Adams and Jefferson and others came to a calm "reconciliation" with Dickinson was good to learn. That he was welcome by most and befriended by others (Meade, Rodney, Rush) and useful to Delaware and Pennsylvania for the rest of his days was likewise a reassuring experience to read. I recommend this book with only the slight misgivings of Murchison's sometimes failed attempt at what he supposes to be humor - it is, on the whole, a worthwile read, especially to repair our misunderstanding if not absence understanding of a truly important historical figure and, more importantly, especially if the final chapter is to be believed, a humble God-fearing man who lived his life in the pursuit of liberty, justice, and truth for all. Read this book, flaws and all: you will gain for yourself a new hero.
November 25, 2014
John Dickinson survives in history merely as a caricature. Contrary to popular misrepresentation, he led the fight to defend American rights, helped justify military rebellion and drafted the nation's first constitution. He then put his stamp on the actual Constitution. Even when he famously withheld his signature from the Declaration of Independence, he ensured the vote would succeed by withdrawing to the hallway rather than scuttle it by voting no (the vote was required to be unanimous) . He also, unlike many more fire-breathing patriots, served in the Continental Army. William's book is a good corrective to current historical mythology and should be required reading for those interested in the nation's origins.
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July 11, 2014"If the Founders of the American nation were engaged in the establishment of a “new science of politics,” to use Tocqueville’s term, then one needs to point out that the science was not settled, and still isn’t.
All the more reason, then, to be grateful that the veteran journalist William Murchison has chosen to employ his incomparable pen and vivid historical imagination in the cause of bringing back to life one of the most underrated and misunderstood of the Founders, whose intelligence and courage are badly needed in our time: John Dickinson (1732 – 1808)."
Read the full review here: http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
All the more reason, then, to be grateful that the veteran journalist William Murchison has chosen to employ his incomparable pen and vivid historical imagination in the cause of bringing back to life one of the most underrated and misunderstood of the Founders, whose intelligence and courage are badly needed in our time: John Dickinson (1732 – 1808)."
Read the full review here: http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
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