Not Your Father's Founders (16 page)

Westmoreland County, Virginia
January 20, 1732–June 19, 1794
An Underappreciated Radical

As a young man, Richard Henry Lee attended a private school in England, and then stayed in Europe for a couple years after he finished his studies. He did not show much interest in a profession when he returned to Virginia in 1751, being content to stay around the family plantation and dabble in whatever interested him. But he could not lead a life of leisure forever.

A few years after Lee returned to Virginia, the French and Indian War broke out. He organized a group of young men living in his neighborhood into a militia troop and they elected him the leader of the pack. The militia marched off to Alexandria, Virginia, to offer their service to General Edward Braddock, who was preparing for a campaign on the Ohio River. Braddock said “No, thanks” and sent them home. That ended Lee's military career.

However, his political career was just beginning. The people of Westmoreland County were not willing to let a good Lee go to waste. He was appointed to a position as justice of the peace in 1757. Lee was also elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses that year. He did not leave the House until 1775.

Lee did not impress anybody at the House of Burgesses right away. He was standoffish and quiet. Lee occasionally displayed strong oratorical skills, but it was a few years before he got involved fully in the Burgesses' businesses. Once he did, there was no holding him back.

When Patrick Henry introduced his resolves against the Stamp Act in 1765, Lee supported them vigorously. As opposition to Britain's increasing tax levies on the colonies grew in the mid-1700s, Lee became more outspoken. By 1774, he felt the time for talking had ended. He wanted independence.

In 1774 Virginia's Royal Governor Lord Dunmore dissolved the House of Burgesses that met in Williamsburg. That displeased a group of radical members of the House. They moved to the nearby Raleigh Tavern and began planning their next step. The sometimes diffident Richard Lee was among them.

Lee was elected to the First Continental Congress in 1774. He had an advantage over other congressional members, since his brother
William—an American spy who was living in England, serving as the sheriff of London, and campaigning for a seat in Parliament—told him what Britain planned to do.

At the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Lee introduced motions for independence, foreign alliances, and a union of American states on June 7, 1776. Very few people know that it was he, not Thomas Jefferson, who authored the resolution.

Shortly thereafter, the Congress began discussions about his resolution, which included two other parts: a call to form foreign alliances and a call to submit a plan of confederation for ratification by the colonies. The members followed his advice, which led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence two months later. Lee's work was almost done.

Lee served in Congress during the Revolutionary War. At one point he locked horns with George Washington over his military leadership, especially after the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown in Pennsylvania, in which the American troops performed poorly. Lee was also critical of Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin for their alleged mishandling of foreign affairs.

Washington was not pleased with the criticism, especially from a fellow Virginian. The affair blew over, and Washington and Lee moved on.

Lee continued to serve in the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress after the war ended. If there was one thing Richard Henry Lee was adamant about, it was states' rights over a strong federal government. Consequently, he was concerned that the new U.S. Constitution being written in the late 1780s would favor a strong federal government.

As a U.S. senator (elected in 1789), he wanted to ensure that the individual states reserved at least some rights. Therefore, he wrote an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, one of ten that became collectively known as the Bill of Rights. The Tenth Amendment was his final big moment on the political stage. The Bill of Rights was adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789. Lee retired from the Senate three years later because of ill health.

Richard Henry Lee completed his journey from diffidence to resolution in 1794; two of his resolutions, years apart, had a significant impact on the history of the United States.

Albany, New York
January 15, 1716–June 12, 1778
Supreme Sacrifice Too Soon

Philip Livingston graduated from Yale in 1737, before some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were born. He owned a house in Manhattan, a forty-acre farm in Brooklyn Heights, and a home in Albany. He also maintained a residence in Kingston, New York, where his family moved to escape the British army when it occupied New York City. Livingston's first political position was assistant alderman in Albany. He held the position in 1743, 1744, and 1745. After completing his political apprenticeship in Albany, he moved to New York City to enter the import business. He became an alderman there in 1754, and held the post for nine years. His next step was the New York Provincial Assembly, where he served from 1759–68. He was highly critical of British tax policies, which directly affected his life as a merchant. Livingston, like so many of his contemporaries, was not against taxes or British governance per se. He just did not like taxation without representation, and acted to stop the practice.

Livingston moonlighted as a political activist in New York City while he served in the colony's Provincial Assembly by participating as a member of several local resistance committees.

When the Continental Army was mulling a withdrawal from New York City to New Jersey in 1776, officers met at Livingston's house on August 29 to discuss their strategy.

The patriots of New York recognized his dedication to their cause. In 1774, Livingston was elected to the First Continental Congress. As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, he signed the Declaration of Independence. Livingston was one of the oldest signers.

The New York Assembly sent Livingston back to the Continental Congress in 1777 and 1778. In New York, the state was writing its own constitution and Livingston attended the meeting convened to draft the document, which was adopted in Kingston, New York, on April 20, 1777. A month later, Livingston was elected to the state Senate convened under the auspices of the new constitution. He represented the southern district.

In October 1777, the New York Senate elected representatives to the Continental Congress. By that time, it had become a habit to elect Livingston. Sure enough, he received an appointment to the 1778 Continental Congress. By the time the Congress convened in May, the British army had taken possession of Philadelphia, where the Congress usually met. The venue was changed to York, ninety-five miles west of Philadelphia.

Philip Livingston knew he was dying, and that there was very little chance that he would recover from his illness. He could have stayed at home and died in peace with his loved ones at his side. That was not in his plans. He made a tour of New York state to say his final goodbyes.

First, he visited Albany to wish his friends farewell. Next, he traveled to Kingston to say goodbye to his family. Only then did he undergo the arduous trek to York.

Livingston's health went downhill as soon as he reached York. Thirty-eight days after he started his duties with the Congress, he died. Congress observed Philip Livingston's passing with a month of mourning.

The true tragedy of Livingston's death was the fact that he did not live to see the aftermath of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. However, those who did thanked Philip Livingston, who dedicated his life to make sure his successors lived in freedom.