John Dickinson

John Dickinson (1732–1808) was an American lawyer and statesman, known as the "Penman of the Revolution." Trained in law at the Middle Temple in London, he practiced in Philadelphia and won fame with his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767–1768), which denied Parliament's right to tax the colonies. In the Continental Congress he drafted the Olive Branch Petition and refused to sign the Declaration of Independence, believing it premature, yet served in the militia. He drafted the Articles of Confederation, led the governments of both Delaware and Pennsylvania, and attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Dickinson College bears his name.