George Read (September 18, 1733 – September 21, 1798) was an American politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, president of Delaware, and a member of the Federalist Party. In addition, Read served as U.S. Senator from Delaware and chief justice of Delaware.
Read was a Founding Father of the United States, one of only two statesmen who signed four of the great state papers on which the country's founding is based: Petition to the King and Continental Association, both passed by the Congress of 1774, as well as the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and Constitution of the United States in 1787.
Father
175px|thumb|left|Coat of Arms of George Read
Read was the son of John and Mary (Howell) Read. John Read was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of an Englishman of large fortune belonging to the family of Read of Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire. The death of his beloved having left him bereft, John Read came to the American colonies and, with a view of diverting his mind, entered into extensive enterprises in Maryland and Delaware.
Soon after his arrival in America, John Read purchased a large estate in Cecil County, Maryland, and founded with six associates the city of Charlestown on the headwaters of Chesapeake Bay, with the intention of creating a new market for the northern trade. They developed northern Maryland and built up the neighboring iron works of the Principio Company, in which the older generations of the Washington family, and at a later period General George Washington, were also largely interested.
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{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly <br> <small>(sessions while President)</small>
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!Year
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!Senate Majority
!Speaker
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!House Majority
!Speaker
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|1777/78
|2nd
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| |non-partisan
| |George Read
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| |non-partisan
| |Samuel West
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Federalist
Read was again called to national service in 1786 when he represented Delaware at the Annapolis Convention. Because so few states were represented, this meeting produced only a report calling for a broader convention to be held in Philadelphia the next year. At what became the Constitutional Convention, Read again represented Delaware. Quoting from Wright & Morris in their Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution,
<blockquote>Read immediately argued for a new national government under a new Constitution, saying 'to amend the Articles was simply putting old cloth on a new garment.' He was a leader in the fight for a strong central government, advocating, at one time, the abolition of the states altogether and the consolidation of the country under one powerful national government. 'Let no one fear the states, the people are with us;' he declared to a Convention shocked by this radical proposal. With no one to support his motion, he settled for protecting the rights of the small states against the infringements of their larger, more populous neighbors who, he feared, would 'probably combine to swallow up the smaller ones by addition, division or impoverishment.' He warned that Delaware 'would become at once a cipher in the union' if the principle of equal representation embodied in the New Jersey (small-state) Plan was not adopted and if the method of amendment in the Articles was not retained. He favored giving Congress the power to veto state laws, making the federal legislature immune to popular whims by having senators hold office for nine years or during good behavior, and granting the U.S. President broad appointive powers. Outspoken, he threatened to lead the Delaware delegation out of the Convention if the rights of the small states were not specifically guaranteed in the new Constitution.</blockquote>
Once the rights were assured, he led the ratification movement in Delaware, which, partly as a result of his efforts, became the first state to ratify and did so unanimously.
Senator
Following the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the Delaware General Assembly elected Read as one of its two U.S. Senators. His term began on March 4, 1789, and he was reelected in 1791 but resigned on September 18, 1793. Read served with the Pro-Administration Party majority in the First and Second Congress, under President Washington. He supported the assumption of state debts, establishment of a national bank, and the imposition of excise taxes. He resigned to accept an appointment as Chief Justice of the Delaware Court of Errors and Appeals - a predecessor of the Delaware Supreme Court - and served in that capacity until his death.
Read's resignation from the Senate was before the first session of the Third Congress assembled, but it was not until February 7, 1795, four weeks before it adjourned, that Henry Latimer was elected to replace him. One of Delaware's Senate seats was, therefore, vacant from September 18, 1793, until February 7, 1795.
Death and legacy
thumb|George Read plaque at [[Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green|Immanuel Episcopal Church graveyard in New Castle, Delaware]]
thumb|The [[Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence in Washington, D.C., Read's depicted signature is at the lower left]]
Read died at New Castle on September 21, 1798, from heart problems and is buried there in the Immanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery.
William T. Read in his Life and Correspondence describes Read as "tall, slightly and gracefully formed, with pleasing features and lustrous brown eyes. His manners were dignified, bordering upon austerity, but courteous, and at times captivating. He commanded entire confidence, not only from his profound legal knowledge, sound judgment, and impartial decisions but from his severe integrity and the purity of his private character." However, a fellow delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 noted that "his legal abilities are said to be very great, but his powers of oratory are fatiguing and tiresome to the last degree; his voice is feeble and his articulation so bad that few can have patience to attend him." Historians like John Monroe have generally recognized that all in all, Read was the dominating figure in Delaware politics during his career, directly or indirectly providing consistent and reliable leadership to the new state.
His home, Stonum, is a historic landmark. There is a school in New Castle and a dorm at the University of Delaware named for Read.
In popular culture
In the Broadway musical 1776, Read is portrayed in a minor role as a proper, conservative, somewhat effete, and wealthy planter who has difficulty getting along with the other two members of the Delaware contingent who are for Independence. Duane Bodin played the character in the original Broadway cast and Leo Leyden appeared in the film version.
Family
Read's brother Thomas was an officer in the Continental Navy during the war. Another brother, James, was an officer in the Continental Army and was later active in managing the navy under the Articles of Confederation. Read's son George Read Jr. served as the first U.S. Attorney for Delaware, and his grandson George Read III served as the second. Another son, John Read, was a noted lawyer and banker of Philadelphia.
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|State President
|Executive
|Dover
|October 20, 1777
|March 31, 1778
|acting
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|Assemblyman
|Legislature
|Dover
|October 20, 1780
|October 20, 1781
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|-
|Assemblyman
|Legislature
|Dover
|October 20, 1781
|October 20, 1782
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|-
|Councilman
|Legislature
|Dover
|October 20, 1782
|October 20, 1785
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|Councilman
|Legislature
|Dover
|October 20, 1785
|October 20, 1788
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|-
|Delegate
|Convention
|Philadelphia
|May 14, 1787
|September 1, 1787
|U.S. Constitution
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|U.S. Senator
|Legislature
|New York
|March 4, 1789
|March 3, 1791
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|-
|U.S. Senator
|Legislature
|Philadelphia
|March 4, 1791
|September 18, 1793
|resigned
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|Chief Justice
|Judiciary
|Dover
|September 30, 1793
|September 21, 1798
|State Supreme Court
|}
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{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly service
|-
! Dates
! Assembly
! Chamber
! Majority
! Governor
! Committees
! District
|-
|1776/77
|1st
|State Council
|non-partisan
|John McKinly
|Speaker
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1777/78
|2nd
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Caesar Rodney
|Speaker
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1778/79
|3rd
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Caesar Rodney
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1780/81
|5th
|State House
|non-partisan
|Caesar Rodney
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1781/82
|6th
|State House
|non-partisan
|John Dickinson
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1782/83
|7th
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Nicholas Van Dyke
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1783/84
|8th
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Nicholas Van Dyke
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1784/85
|9th
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Nicholas Van Dyke
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1785/86
|10th
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Nicholas Van Dyke
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1786/87
|11th
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Thomas Collins
|
|New Castle at-large
|-
|1787/88
|12th
|State Council
|non-partisan
|Thomas Collins
|
|New Castle at-large
|}
<br />
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressional service
|-
! Dates
! Congress
! Chamber
! Majority
! President
! Committees
! Class/District
|-
|1789–1791
|1st
|U.S. Senate
|Pro-Administration
|George Washington
|
|class 1
|-
|1791–1793
|2nd
|U.S. Senate
|Pro-Administration
|George Washington
|
|class 1
|-
|1793–1795
|3rd
|U.S. Senate
|Pro-Administration
|George Washington
|
|class 1
|}
See also
- Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Notes
References
External links
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Biography by Russell Pickett
- Delaware's Governors
- The Political Graveyard
- Hall of Governors Portrait Gallery ; Portrait courtesy of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Dover.
- Delaware Historical Society; website
- University of Delaware; Library website
- Read House and Gardens
- Immanuel Episcopal Church