George Read: A part of UD's legacy

Jonathan Russ

11:34 a.m., Sept. 17, 2005--The following remarks were delivered by Jonathan Russ, assistant professor of history at the University of Delaware, on the occasion of Constitution Day Sept. 17 at the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating UD’s newest residence hall, Read Hall.

“Harvard. Yale. Princeton. Dartmouth. Penn. Great schools, all, with reputations for academic excellence throughout their histories.

“And yet, none of them can boast what we here at the University of Delaware can. Indeed, we have as part of our legacy a man whose witness to our nation’s birth is so unique that no other institution of higher learning in the United States can lay claim to such an individual.

“That man was George Read, a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

“He was one of only six men to have signed both documents, and the only one of those to have secured an advanced, formal education in Colonial America. It is in honor of George Read that this magnificent new residence hall is dedicated, and it is my distinct pleasure today to reflect upon a few of the many accomplishments of this great man.

“George Read was born on Sept. 18, 1733, which, of course, means that tomorrow would mark his 272nd birthday. His connection to our University began at the age of 10, when, in 1743, he came to the Rev. Francis Alison’s newly opened academy that eventually became the University of Delaware. (This first class of Alison’s, by the way, included two others who would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence as well, making it perhaps the single most distinguished class of any school in early America.)

“After completing his studies under Alison, George Read studied law in Philadelphia before opening his own law practice in the town of New Castle, Del., at the age of 20.

“By all accounts, Read’s law practice flourished, and he quickly gained notoriety. By the age of 30, he was named attorney general of the three Delaware counties, a post he retained until the eve of the Revolution.

“Now, it is at this very juncture in Read’s life that his ethical character and concern for the common good became a matter of the public record. As the attorney general, he enjoyed favor and close connection with both royal authorities and his fellow colonists. It was a prestigious appointment that brought with it security, deference and a prominent place in his community.

“Nevertheless, Read was not afraid to risk all of this and to speak out against English authority when he thought a matter merited such voice.

“And so it was that, in 1765, he was dispatched to New York to attend what became known as the Stamp Act Congress, a body that gathered to protest new English taxes that had been imposed upon the colonists. He and the others that gathered for this Congress wrote to the authorities appealing that the taxes be repealed, and indeed, they were successful in their mission.

“In what was otherwise a happy turn of events for Read and his fellow colonists, this episode in 1765 also marked a deteriorating turning point in Anglo-American relations.

“It was because of Read’s very success in the Stamp Act Congress that his fellow Delawareans elected him as a representative to the Continental Congress that gathered in Philadelphia for the first time in 1774. Read was re-elected annually to this post, and it was this body that drew up the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

“Here again, we have an opportunity to see Read’s principled character. For, although George Read ultimately signed the Declaration of Independence, he at first opposed the measure. He believed that all attempts at peaceful reconciliation between the colonies and the royal authorities should be exhausted before plunging into war, and feared that perhaps there remained unexplored avenues for peace. Moreover, as a legal matter, he believed that perhaps a functioning government should be created before announcing the new birth of the new nation. Therefore, it was only after long, careful consideration that Read concluded independence was the proper course of action.

“During the Revolution itself, Read held a variety of posts, including speaker of the Delaware Assembly and, for a period of time, was the state’s president (or governor, as we might say today.) He also presided over the committee that drafted Delaware’s new constitution.

“Once the British had been defeated, Read continued to serve his state and the new country, eventually representing Delaware along with four others at the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787.

“It was, of course, this body that drafted the Constitution of the United States, and Read’s sense of fairness played a pivotal role in the debates. He was particularly concerned that smaller states, like Delaware, have adequate power in the new government, and thus argued passionately in favor of equal representation for all the states in the U.S. Senate.

“And so it is that each state, regardless of size or population, is represented by two senators in Washington, D.C. As the first state to ratify the Constitution, Read’s fellow Delawareans obviously approved of his efforts.

“George Read went on to serve as a United States senator, and then as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware, a post he held until his death in 1798.

“His was a remarkable life, and it is indeed fitting that this grand structure be named in his honor.

“In the years to come, thousands of students will call this building home. To be sure, it will be a temporary home for them, but a home that exists in a state and in a country that was shaped by the efforts of this man, George Read.”

Photo by Jon Cox

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