Here's a lesson in history for all of you curious readers. A few months ago I wrote about a conversation I had with a former roommate about the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In this post, I wrote about my desire to learn more about the signers of the document. The first post in this series is dedicated to George Read of Delaware.
Born in 1733 in Cecil County, Maryland. At the age of 15, he went to study Law under John Moland. In the year of 1753 he moved to Delaware to open a private practice. Quickly establishing himself as a competent lawyer, he was appointed to the post of Attorney - General of three Delaware counties. Not one to stay behind the scenes, Read resigned his post of A.G. to represent Delaware in the Continental Congress of 1774. While an active patriot in the American cause, he found the first draft of the congress to be a bit strong, but after it was passed he quickly joined with the rest of the congress. During the war, Read was called upon by his state to serve as governor. In 1787 Read was again elected by his state to serve in the Constitutional Convention held at Annapolis, Maryland.
George Read's politics are worth mentioning. Before the war, Read thought the best course to take with Great Britain was reconciliation. This belief caused him to vote against independence, but once it was passed he joined together with his new countrymen to create a new country. During the convention of 1787, Read was a in support of a strong central government. He even advocated dissolving the states altogether.
As for his religious leanings, he was an Episcopalian. Not much else is said about his religious preferences. This is important to understand because his membership in the Episcopal church does not prove or disprove that George Read was a Christian. Most people in the period of the revolution were nominally Christian. In other words, to belong to a church was very common.
You may be wondering why I included this last idea. This blog series has two goals. The primary goal is to educate myself and my few readers (Hi Hannah). The secondary goal is to show that the religious leaning of the founding fathers is not as black and white as some would lead you to believe. It is not true that all the founders where Christians, nor is it true that all the founders were atheistic rationalists who wanted nothing to do with religion.
Stay tuned for part 2, Caesar Rodney of Delaware.
