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(DICKINSON, JOHN)

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(DICKINSON, JOHN)
(1732 - 1808). American revolutionary, Signer of the Constitution and member of the Continental Congress who became famous for his 1767 revolutionary pamphlet “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania” and his 'Declaration . . . Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking up Arms'. His essay "An Essay on the Constitutional Power of Great-Britain over the Colonies in America" bound in the resolves of the Pennsylvania Committee of Correspondence for 1774 (which are also attributed to Dickinson). 118 pp., 8vo. [Philadelphia, 1774]. The book open with the resolves of the Pennsylvania Committee noting that (in part): "...we view the unhappy differences between Great Britain and the Colonies with the deepest distress and anxiety of mind, as fruitless to her, grievous to us, and destructive of the best interests of both...That the inhabitants of these colonies are entitled to the same rights and liberties WITHIN these colonies, that the subjects born in England are entitled to WITHIN that realm..." Following the committee's resolves are the instructions to the Pennsylvania assembly which reiterates their underlying loyalty to the king despite their differences: "...We...acknowledge ourselves liege subjects of his majesty king George the third, to whom 'we will be faithful and bear true allegiance'...But it is our misfortune, that we are compelled loudly to call your attention to the consideration of another power...We Mean the power claimed by parliament, of right, to bind the people of these colonies by statues 'IN ALL CASES WHATSOEVER'...". Dickinson's incomplete essay on the British constitution follows the instructions. Covers missing, partly disbound, several pages at end missing, light soiling, pages ragged and torn at edges with minor losses, a few holes obscure a few lines in text, overall fair to good condition. Howes D326.