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Signing Their Rights Away Page 2


  Delaware was first to ratify the new Constitution (and if you’ve ever wondered why it’s nicknamed “The First State,” now you know). It was followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina. When New Hampshire became the ninth to ratify the document, the Constitution “went live,” but the arguments over the new government never ceased. In fact, many of the same arguments continue to this day.

  A Constitutional Time Line

  Key milestones in the saga of the U.S. Constitution

  March 1781: The Articles of Confederation becomes the governing document of the United States.

  1783: The Treaty of Paris is signed by Britain and the United States, ending the Revolutionary War.

  September 1786: The Annapolis Convention. Five states formally request that Congress schedule a meeting to discuss defects in the Articles of Confederation.

  February 21, 1787: The Continental Congress calls for a Constitutional Convention.

  May 25, 1787: The Constitutional Convention begins in Philadelphia. George Washington is elected Convention President.

  September 17, 1787: The U.S. Constitution is signed by thirty-nine delegates.

  December 7, 1787: Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution.

  December 12, 1787: Pennsylvania is the second state to ratify.

  December 18, 1787: New Jersey is the third state to ratify.

  January 2, 1788: Georgia is the fourth state to ratify.

  January 9, 1788: Connecticut is the fifth state to ratify.

  February 6, 1788: Massachusetts is the sixth state to ratify.

  April 28, 1788: Maryland is the seventh state to ratify.

  May 23, 1788: South Carolina is the eighth state to ratify.

  June 21, 1788: New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify. With nine states on board, the Constitution takes effect as the governing document of the United States.

  June 25, 1788: Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify.

  July 26, 1788: New York becomes the eleventh state to ratify.

  March 1789: The Congress of the United States meets for the first time under the U.S. Constitution.

  April 30, 1789: George Washington is sworn in as first president of the United States under the U.S. Constitution.

  September 1789: The Supreme Court of the United States is established under the Constitution.

  November 21, 1789: North Carolina becomes the twelfth state to ratify.

  May 29, 1790: Rhode Island finally ratifies. The Constitution is in effect throughout the entire United States.

  1791: The Bill of Rights (Amendments I–X) is ratified.

  The Signers of the

  U.S. Constitution

  These biographies are arranged in the order in

  which the men signed the constitution—from north

  to south. The only exception is George Washington,

  who, as head of the convention, signed first.

  I. New Hampshire

  The Signer Who Picked Up the Tab

  BORN: June 25 or 26, 1741

  DIED: September 18, 1819

  AGE AT SIGNING: 46

  PROFESSION: Merchant, shipbuilder, politician

  BURIED: Old North Cemetery, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

  A man possessing that rare combination of great wealth and a willingness to share it, John Langdon went from the sea to the battlefield and very nearly to the vice presidency. One of the Constitution’s best-regarded signers has a list of accomplishments that far outweighs the credit he’s received for them in modern times. Take it from James Madison, the so-called Father of the Constitution, who described the delegate from the Granite State as a “true patriot and a good man.”

  Langdon was raised in and around Portsmouth to a family of prosperous farmers. Portsmouth was a major seaport, and, once Langdon’s basic elementary education was out of the way, he apprenticed with a merchant. He sailed on a cargo ship to the West Indies and established his own firm. His fortunes grew quickly.

  Many of his fellow wealthy merchants were more likely to side with their wallets than with the revolutionary cause, but Langdon was decidedly anti-British. In 1774, two years before independence was declared, he helped colonists storm a British fort and made off with the munitions before the royal governor could get his hands on them. In 1775, he entered New Hampshire politics and served as speaker of the assembly. In 1776, he was elected to the Second Continental Congress. There, his merchant background landed him on the committee that helped develop the first Continental Navy. He left in early 1776 to fight in his colony’s militia and operate as New Hampshire’s marine agent.

  Once back home again, Langdon started a shipyard and began work on a continental frigate, the Raleigh. He also oversaw the building of the country’s first warship, the America. In 1777, he built the Ranger, whose command was given to the legendary John Paul Jones, the new nation’s first naval officer. (The Ranger had the distinction of being the first warship ever to fly the American stars and stripes.) That same year Langdon married Elizabeth Sherburne, and the couple had one daughter who survived to adulthood.

  Langdon’s largesse was perhaps most influential in the summer of 1777 during the Bennington campaign, which prevented British general Burgoyne from working his way down the Hudson River. This achievement also paved the way for victory in the crucial battle of Saratoga. Langdon offered his militia—and his money—to both. “I have a thousand dollars in hard money,” Langdon said. “I will pledge my plate for three thousand more.” He also offered to sell off his “seventy hogsheads of Tobago rum” (around four thousand gallons). He was willing to give all this and more “in the service of the state.”

  After the war, Langdon built a stunning house in Portsmouth. In 1785, he served a one-year term as governor of New Hampshire, a post he would hold another three times throughout his life. He was serving as Speaker of House in the New Hampshire legislature when he received his invitation to the Constitutional Convention; the only problem was that his state wasn’t willing to send him. Some believe that New Hampshire was too broke to pay the bill; others claim they just doubted the crazy convention would accomplish anything. Whatever the case, Langdon had to fork over the money himself, and pay for delegate Nicholas Gilman as well. The two men didn’t reach Philadelphia until July, long after the convention had started, but better late than never.

  They had been sorely missed. The debates over representation were already well under way, as smaller states like Delaware and New Jersey were feeling pushed around by delegates from big states like Virginia and Pennsylvania. They hoped new voices from New Hampshire would add credibility and volume to their arguments.

  Langdon was active at the convention and reportedly spoke more than twenty times. His experience as a financier of military operations may have contributed to his belief that a strong central government would make it easier for the new country to defend itself. He “saw no more reason to be afraid of the central government than of the state governments.”

  “The general and state governments are not enemies to each other,” he said, “but different institutions for the good of the people of America. As one of the people, I can say, the National Government is mine, the State Government is mine. In transferring power from one to the other, I only take out of my left hand what it cannot so well use, and put it into my right where it can be better used.”

  Upon returning to New Hampshire, Langdon worked to secure ratification, but convincing his colleagues back home was no easy task. In February of 1788, he wrote to George Washington to express concern that ratification might not win the necessary votes. Fearing the worst, Langdon had the vote postponed until June; with the extra time, he was able to convince several people on the fence to hop over to his side. The gambit worked, and in June of 1788 New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, officially putting the Constitution in effect.

  The next year, Langdon had the honor of supervisi
ng the first presidential electoral vote, making him America’s first president pro tempore. He tallied the votes and then wrote a note to George Washington, informing his fellow signer that he had been elected as the first president of the United States.

  Langdon remained active in New Hampshire politics (serving as governor and in the legislature) but declined all offers to move into the national spotlight. As president, Thomas Jefferson offered him the post of Secretary of the Navy, but Langdon turned it down. When, a few years later, presidential candidate James Madison offered the vice-presidential candidacy, Langdon declined that post as well.

  John Langdon lived to be seventy-eight years old (no small achievement at the time), and although he was exceptionally generous in financing the nation’s war, such contributions appear not to have threatened his prosperous way of life. George Washington was quoted as saying that Portsmouth had many fine houses, but “among them, Col. Langdon’s may be esteemed the first.” If you travel today to that picturesque seaside city, you may still visit Langdon’s stately Georgian mansion and surrounding gardens.

  The Most Handsome Signer

  BORN: August 3, 1755

  DIED: May 2, 1814

  AGE AT SIGNING: 32

  PROFESSION: Merchant, politician

  BURIED: Exeter Cemetery, Exeter, New Hampshire

  Politics can be ugly—especially when you’re pretty. Nicholas Gilman, the blond-haired, blue-eyed delegate from New Hampshire, suffered plenty of abuse from his colleagues because of his handsome features and cocky attitude. But look at it another way: if you were handsome in an age when most people sported rotting teeth, pronounced small-pox scars, and countless other afflictions, you might ooze overconfidence, too.

  Gilman was born in Exeter to a family that figured prominently in the settling of New Hampshire. (His boyhood home, known as the Ladd-Gilman House, is open to visitors.) Like his father and grandfather, who served in the French and Indian War, Gilman left the family general store at age twenty to enter the military, accepting a post as an administrative officer in a New Hampshire regiment that saw action at Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Monmouth, and, in 1781, the decisive battle of Yorktown—regarded as the last major conflict of the war. After the death of his colonel, young Captain Gilman was selected by George Washington to determine the number of British troops that would be surrendered by the defeated General Cornwallis.

  Upon the death of the Gilman family patriarch, in 1783, the last year of the war, his three sons inherited various slices of his business. The oldest was bequeathed the ships; the youngest, Nathaniel, was left the general store; and middle son Nicholas received a modest inheritance of cash and land. Casting about for a career, Nicholas chose politics. In 1786, he was selected by his home state to serve in the Congress of the Confederation, but something about him rubbed fellow politicians the wrong way. Maybe it was his lack of political experience; maybe it was his less-than-stellar attendance; maybe it was the way he carried on like he owned the place. His colleagues referred to Gilman with the derisive nickname “Congress”—as in, “How’s it going, Congress?” or “Fancy a pint at the pub afterward, Congress?”

  Yet, despite his unpopularity, Gilman was chosen by his state to attend the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Why would New Hampshire send a man few believed was up to the task? One likely answer is that they didn’t want to change the federal constitution, and so they sent someone who couldn’t possibly accomplish anything. In fact, New Hampshire wasn’t even willing to cover the costs of Gilman’s trip, and fellow delegate John Langdon generously picked up the tab. The two men arrived at the convention in July, after most of the important decisions had been made.

  At thirty-one years old, Gilman likely felt overwhelmed upon arriving at the convention. When you’re surrounded by some of the greatest legal and political minds in the states, good looks don’t count for much. Georgia delegate William Pierce (who ultimately didn’t sign the Constitution but penned some pretty wicked thumbnail descriptions of his fellow delegates) noted that “there is nothing brilliant or striking in [Gilman’s] character.” Another contemporary described him as a “young man of pretensions; little liked by his colleagues.” Gilman’s lack of participation certainly didn’t help matters. If you scan the meticulous records kept by James Madison, you will find not one word uttered by him during the entire convention. No wonder a modern historian unhesitatingly characterizes Gilman as “mediocre.”

  We would argue that Gilman redeemed himself by promoting the Constitution to his fellow citizens. The day after signing, he wrote to a friend to say that so much was riding on it being adopted by the states. According to him, the document would decide “whether we shall become a respectable nation or a people torn to pieces by commotions and rendered contemptible for ages.” His enthusiasm helped ensure New Hampshire’s place of honor as the ninth state to sign, upon which the U.S. Constitution became a binding document.

  Under the new government, Gilman continued his service as a U.S. representative, serving in the House for seventeen years. In 1802, at age forty-seven, he failed in his bid for the Senate. Also around that time, he squabbled with his older brother, John Taylor Gilman, who was running for reelection as governor of New Hampshire on the Federalist ticket. Gilman threw his support behind his sibling’s opponent, a member of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party.

  It always helps to have a handsome man on your side. John Taylor Gilman lost the election, and New Hampshire welcomed its new governor, John Langdon, the same man who had paid the younger Gilman’s way to Philadelphia eighteen years earlier, on the eve of a more perfect union. As a reward for his loyalty, the party swept Gilman into office as senator. He served nine years but died suddenly while on the road during his second term. He was fifty-eight years old and left behind no immediate family.

  An interesting footnote: despite his celebrated good looks and a resume that would have made any debutante swoon, Gilman never married and is one of three bachelor signers of the Constitution.

  II. Massachusetts

  The Signer who Considered a Monarchy

  BURN: May 27, 1738

  DIED: June 11, 1796

  AGE AT SIGNING: 49

  PROFESSION: Merchant

  BURIED: Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Massachusetts

  Change the nation and die a wealthy man, and you’ve got a decent shot of entering the history books. Change the nation and fall into financial ruin—as Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts did—and, well, your chances for posterity diminish greatly.

  In the here-today-gone-tomorrow annals of American history, tales of great fortune and unexpected impoverishment are not uncommon. But what makes Gorham’s tale so unique is that his ruin was aided by the ratification of the very document he worked so hard to create.

  Unlike most of his fellow signers, Gorham grew up in a background we’d describe today as middle class. As a child he lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts, where his father operated a packet boat used to deliver mail, among other things. Gorham attended the local public school and then left his home to apprentice as a merchant in New London, Connecticut, where he worked for his keep. Later, he returned to Charlestown to set up his own shop, a mercantile firm, and at age twenty-five he married Rebecca Call, with whom he had nine children.

  Like many successful businessmen with good-guy reps and friendly, approachable demeanors, Gorham decided to enter politics. He started out in 1771 as a public notary and became a member of his colony’s legislature. The revolution heated up early on in Massachusetts, and Gorham was committed to the patriot cause. In 1774 he became a member of a rebel legislature, where he helped establish the framework for a government that would assume control after the royal governor was booted out. During the Revolutionary War, Gorham served on the Board of War, from 1778 to 1781, and in 1780 he attended the Massachusetts constitutional convention, where his state created its own constitution, one whose draft has been largely attributed to John Adams.


  As the war was winding down, the former colonies were still testing the waters of their newfound yet tenuous unity. From 1782 to 1783, Gorham attended the Congress of the Confederation. He returned in 1785 and was elected its president in 1786. This position was, at the time, the highest a person could hold in the nation. Thus, Nathaniel Gorham, the packet boater’s son, was “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” which, under the Articles of Confederation, was the closest thing the nation had to a president.

  The experience shaped Gorham’s views considerably. In 1786, Shay’s Rebellion—a violent uprising among poor farmers deeply in debt and angry about the state of the new American government—took place in Massachusetts. This rebellion had a profound effect on many powerful men, including Gorham, who believed that more citizens would revolt if the national government wasn’t strengthened. The Articles of Confederation just weren’t cutting it.

  But Gorham wasn’t completely confident that the country could reach a better way to govern via the people—so, as a backup plan, he wrote to Prince Henry of Prussia to ask if he would be interested in serving as king of the United States. This proposal was not nearly as strange as it might seem; in formulating a government for a new nation, it was only natural to look to Europe as a model. But the prince declined, and his close friend Friederich von Steuben quipped, “As far as I know the prince, he would never think of crossing the ocean to be your master. I wrote to him a good while ago what kind of fellows you are; he would not have the patience to stay three days among you.”

  The next year, when Gorham arrived in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention, his accomplishments and popularity had preceded him. He was elected chairman of the Committee of the Whole, essentially making him the number two man, behind George Washington, who was president of the convention. It’s believed that Gorham had a perfect attendance record throughout the convention and offered his opinion on a variety of subjects. He suggested a six-year term limit for senators and opposed Gouverneur Morris’s insistence that only property owners should have voting rights. “The people have been long accustomed to this right in various parts of America,” Gorham said, “and will never allow it to be abridged. We must consult their rooted prejudices if we expect their concurrence in our propositions.”