A Pennsylvania Farmer in Delaware
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| John Dickinson |
It is difficult but not impossible to have a coherent view of the mind of John Dickinson. He was seriously offended by the Townshend Acts, which he rightly perceived to be the work of a few malignant personalities in high places who were soon replaced. Later on, he refused to be troubled by the inconsequential Tea Act, which he correctly assessed as a face-saving gesture of reconciliation. Unfortunately, Dickinson could not comprehend reckless hotheads among his own neighbors, and reckless hotheads seldom comprehend the measured behavior of Quakers. In this case, for "hotheads" read "Scotch-Irish".
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| John Dickinson's Farmhouse |
He became famous for twelve letters he meant to publish anonymously. The Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer were written about 1768 out of resistance to the Townshend Acts. Because the three counties which were to become the State of Delaware were then still part of Pennsylvania, many school children have become understandably confused about the actual location of the man who became governor of both states, simultaneously.
The causes of the separation of the two colonies are still a little vague. The Dutch and Swedes who settled southern Delaware were not completely sympathetic with Quaker rule, which could be seen as a reaction to living here for generations before William Penn but then having the land sold out from under them. There might have been Quaker friction over slavery, just as there was with the Dutch in northern New Jersey. One theory which has considerable currency in Delaware is dissension about pacifism. On a recent visit to Dickinson's home outside Dover, a school teacher was overheard to instruct his flock that the Delawarians wanted to fight the King, but the Quakers wouldn't give them guns. "We value peace above our own safety," was the defining phrase. But that line of reasoning bumps up against Dickinson's Quaker upbringing, his ambiguity over the Declaration, and his vacillation in warfare. One would suppose the simultaneous Governor of both states would have had major influence on the separation of the two.
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| Dover Air Force Base |
Dickinson's plantation, quite elaborately restored and displayed, is tucked behind the Dover Air Force Base. Perhaps the aircraft noise will discourage sub development in the area of Dickinson's plantation and the rural atmosphere may persist for years as a consequence. At the time of the Cuban missile crisis, your correspondent was driving past, observing the sky filled with eight-engine bombers, just circling and circling until the diplomats settled the matter. Since bombers of that sort are seldom seen around Dover, it has always been a presumption that they came from elsewhere to be refueled at Dover; but that's just a presumption.
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143 S. Third Street Philadelphia PA 19106  |
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