Suspected of independence
Subtitle: the life of Thomas McKean, America's first power broker
By: David McKean
Edition: First edition.
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 278
ISBN-13: 9781610392211
Subjects: Governors; Signers; United States; United States. Continental Congress; History; Biography; Statesmen
Description: The last signatory to the Declaration of Independence was one of the earliest to sign up for the Revolution: Thomas McKean lived a radical, boisterous, politically intriguing life and was one of the most influential and enduring of America's Founding Fathers. Present at almost all of the signature moments on the road to American nationhood, from the first Continental Congress onward, Thomas McKean was a colonel in the Continental Army; president of the Continental Congress; governor of Pennsylvania; and, perhaps most importantly, chief justice of the new country's most influential state, Pennsylvania, a foundational influence on American law. His life uniquely intersected with the many centers of power in the still-formative country during its most vulnerable years, and shows the degree of uncertainty that characterized newly independent America, unsure of its future or its identity. Thomas McKean knew intimately not only the heroic figures of the Revolutionary era--George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin--but also the fascinating characters who fought over the political identity of the new country, such as Caesar Rodney, Francis Hopkinson, and Alexander Dallas. His life reminds us that America's creation was fraught with dangers and strife, backstabbing and bar-brawling, courage and stubbornness. McKean's was an epic ride during utterly momentous times.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: the grand procession; title: Part I. The patriot; title: The early years; title: The Stamp Act Congress; title: A new city; title: Soldiers and statesmen; title: The fight for independence; title: War; title: "Love me and pray for me"; title: Part II. The jurist; title: Chief Justice McKean; title: Occupation of Philadelphia; title: Alliance with France; title: The treason trials; title: President McKean; title: The Siege of Yorktown; title: The Longchamps Affair; title: The end of war; title: "An assembly of demigods"; title: Rule of law; title: Part III. The politician; title: The tides of change; title: The election of 1796; title: The rise of republicanism; title: Governor McKean; title: The election of 1800; title: Pinnacle of power; title: The last signer; title: Epilogue.