Official Letters of the Governor of the State of Virginia V3: The Letters of Thomas Nelson and Benjamin Harrison, June 7, 1781-February 27, 1783
(In Three Volumes. Volume 1, Letters Of Patrick Henry, Jul...)
In Three Volumes. Volume 1, Letters Of Patrick Henry, July 1, 1776 To June 1, 1778; Volume 2, Letters Of Thomas Jefferson, June 1, 1779 To June 3, 1781; Volume 3, Letters Of Thomas Nelson And Benjamin Harrison, June 7, 1781 To February 27, 1783.
Benjamin Harrison was an American politician, planter, merchant, a revolutionary leader and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Charles City County, 3rd Speaker of the Virginia
House of Delegates, chairman of the Committee for the Whole, and 5th Governor of Virginia. He also took part in the Revolutionary War and was given the rank of Colonel.
Background
Benjamin Harrison was born on April 5, 1726 at the family seat, "Berkeley, " Charles City County, Virginia. He was the son of Benjamin Harrison and Anne Carter, the daughter of Robert Carter of Corotoman.
Descended from Benjamin Harrison, who came to the colony before March 15, 1633, he was the fifth of the name in the direct line of descent and, to distinguish him from others, all of whom sat in the House of Burgesses or held other high office in the province, he is usually referred to as "the Signer. " This distinguished family later contributed two presidents of the United States, William Henry Harrison, the Signer's son, and Benjamin Harrison, his great-grandson.
Education
Harrison was a student at the College of William and Mary, but he left without graduation.
Career
Already in charge of his father's estate, in 1749 Harrison was elected to the House of Burgesses. He was reelected successively until 1775, and was frequently chosen speaker. He was a member of the committee of that body which, in 1764, drew up a vigorous protest against the proposed Stamp Act, yet in the following year he was one of the conservative group who opposed Patrick Henry's resolutions as impolitic. When, however, the storm again broke in 1773 Harrison took a decided stand and as a member of Virginia's committee of correspondence helped to map out the program of resistance.
Upon the dissolution of the House of Burgesses by Dunmore in May 1774, he joined with his fellow members in sending out a call for a general congress of the colonies, to which he was duly elected a delegate by the convention which assembled in August. "These gentlemen of Virginia, " wrote John Adams, "appear to be the most spirited and consistent of any. Harrison said he would have come on foot rather than not come. " That he should be returned to the Congress of 1775 was a matter of course, and, with a brief exception due to one of the frequent shifts in Virginia politics, he was retained in the delegation until 1778, although he withdrew in October 1777. In the meantime, he represented his county in the Virginia conventions of 1775 and 1776 and, upon the organization of the state government in the latter year, was elected to the new House of Delegates, to which he was successively returned until 1781.
In Congress, Harrison's career was one of importance and distinction. Harrison seldom took part in the debates. Certainly Washington leaned confidently upon him for the guidance of legislative measures pertaining to the army. Of the committee of secret correspondence created in November 1775 (later styled the committee for foreign affairs), Harrison was the first member named.
In March 1776, he was placed on the marine committee, and in June he was chosen to the newly established board of war and ordnance. Thus in this formative period of national life Harrison had an important share in the establishment of three of the great departments of the American government, those of state, war, and the navy. He was not at any time a member of the treasury committee (or board of treasury), but he served on numerous committees concerned with financial problems. From March 1776 to August 1777, he was almost uniformly chairman of the committee of the whole and in that capacity he presided over the momentous debates which culminated in the Declaration of Independence (to which in due course he appended his signature), as he did also over the early debates upon the Articles of Confederation. The same fairness and decision for which he was distinguished as speaker in the Virginia assemblies likewise characterized his conduct as chairman of the committee of the whole in Congress.
Upon Harrison's retirement from Congress in October 1777, he took his seat in the House of Delegates, of which in May 1778 he was chosen speaker, holding that office until 1781. In November of that year, when Governor Nelson resigned, Harrison was elected to the chief magistracy and was twice reelected, three years being the constitutional limit of service. The most notable event of this trying period was the cession by Virginia of her claims to lands north and west of the Ohio.
Upon the termination of his service as governor (1784), Harrison was again elected to the House of Delegates and remained a member of that body until his death. In the Virginia convention of 1788, called to pass upon the federal Constitution, he was chairman of the committee on privileges and elections, but he did not engage extensively in the debates.
He continued his work in the House until his death, in April 1791 at his home Berkeley after a dinner party celebrating his final electoral success.
(In Three Volumes. Volume 1, Letters Of Patrick Henry, Jul...)
Politics
In his principal speech, while reiterating his devotion to the Union, Harrison declared his opposition to the Constitution as it stood, insisting that the inclusion of a bill of rights should precede, not follow, adoption. When, however, he was overruled, he refused to join the malcontents in further opposition but gave the Constitution and the new government his hearty support.
In 1788, Harrison participated as a member of the Virginia Ratifying Convention for the Federal Constitution. However, being skeptical of a foreseeably large central government, Harrison, along with Patrick Henry and other men of prominence, opposed the constitution because of the absence of a bill of rights.
Personality
A large man at 6 feet 4 inches and 240 pounds, Harrison once picked up the much smaller John Hancock and set him on the President’s chair, quipping "We will show Mother Britain how little we care for her by making a Massachusetts man our president. "
Connections
Harrison was married to Elizabeth Bassett. They had twelve children. One of then, William Henry Harrison, was later elected ninth President of the United States. Harrison was also the great-grandfather of 23rd United States President Benjamin Harrison.