January 2, 2024: 2024 Anniversaries: The First Continental Congress in 1774

[As I’vedone for each of thelast few years, this week I’ll start 2024 by AmericanStudying a fewanniversaries for the new year. Leading up to a special post on the 200thanniversary of a frustratingly familiar election.]

Oninteresting stories from three of the less well-known of the 56men who served as delegates to the FirstContinental Congress in Philadelphia.

1)     SilasDeane (1738-1789): Connecticut delegate Silas Deane is likely the best-knownof the three figures I’ll highlight in this post, thanks to the strange and mysteriouslate-life (and thus late-Revolution, since Deane only lived a few years pastthe Revolution’s end) circumstances detailed in that hyperlinked piece surroundingDeane’s supposed opposition to the Revolutionary cause and even potentialtreason. Those ambiguities become even more strange when we remember thatDeane played as pivotal a role in the Revolution as any individual, when henegotiated (alongsideBen Franklin) the 1778Treaty of Alliance that helped ensure the French as a vital ally to theU.S. throughout the Revolution. A good reminder that each and every delegate,like each Revolutionary figure, had a complex identity and story that makes theidea of a unified “Founding Fathers” community pretty silly.

2)     Christopher Gadsden(1724-1805): South Carolina delegate Christopher Gadsden left as lasting aninfluence as any Revolutionary figure, if one that has become significantlymore complicated in the last couple decades: he designed the “Don’tTread on Me” Gadsden Flag that has come to be so fully associatedwith right-wing extremism in 21st century America. But flagdesigner was only one of many impressive roles that Gadsden played during andafter the Revolution, including serving as aBrigadier General in the Continental Army, helping draft South Carolina’s firstConstitution in 1778, and becoming the state’s first Lieutenant Governorshortly thereafter. The states, like the new nation, didn’t just randomlyemerge—they were created by the contributions and efforts of figures likeGadsden.

3)     RobertTreat Paine (1731-1814): Massachusetts delegate Robert Treat Paine holds aspecial place in my heart because Stonehurst, the Waltham estate highlighted atthat hyperlink and which belongedto Paine’s descendant of the same name, was just a few minutes from where Ilived for 6.5 years and was an impressive spot I visited frequently. But Painehimself was also very impressive as a legal mind andvoice in the Revolutionary era, and a reminder of how many ways such legalthinkers could influencethe new nation: in Paine’s case he not only attended the ContinentalCongress and signed the Declaration of Independence but also served on multipleMassachusetts courts including the state Supreme Court, served as Speaker ofthe Massachusetts House of Representatives, helped draft the 1780 state constitution,and was MA Attorney General for more than a decade during and after theRevolution. Like his 55 fellow delegates, a figure well worth remembering morefully!

Nextanniversary tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Whatdo you think?