A Wide Range of Talents
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John Dickinson, previously of Pennsylvania and now the leading delegate from Delaware, the smallest of the States, had been a chief leader of
the Continental Congress and chairman of the committee that drafted the
Articles of Confederation. Also, he was the composer of the young republic’s most popular anthem, ‘‘The Song of the Farmer.’’ He was cautious and persuasive, and many of his views were incorporated into the
Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton, from New York, was born in the West Indies. He
was a master of finance, a successful soldier, a considerable political
thinker, and the close friend of George Washington. He later became the
first Secretary of the Treasury under the Constitution, and died in a duel
with Aaron Burr. He was not able to exert much influence at the Convention, but he later did much to obtain the Constitution’s ratification in
New York and elsewhere.
John Rutledge, of South Carolina. He was a man of great force of character whose approval would have been required for any new constitution—not merely in South Carolina, but nationally. He was insistent
upon the security of private property in any social order.
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, had studied under the
great English jurist Sir William Blackstone at Oxford University. He also
studied botany, chemistry, and military science in France. He was convinced that the United States must develop military strength for national
defense, and that the public debt must be drastically reduced through
sound fiscal policies.
Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, an astute politician, had also succeeded as a merchant. Like George Mason, he was suspicious of consolidation and centralized government. A powerful spokesman for States’
Rights, he was elected Vice President of the United States on the ticket
with James Madison in 1812.
Rufus King, of Massachusetts (later of New York), was one of the
younger delegates. Very much a Yankee, he was rather hostile toward
the South and the West. He was an outspoken opponent of slavery; he
also advocated constitutional guarantees to prohibit the States from violating the sanctity of contracts.
William Samuel Johnson, a Connecticut lawyer originally trained for the
church. He held degrees from Yale, Harvard, and Oxford, and was al-