Benjamin Harrison was an American businessman and statesman. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Background
Benjamin Harrison was born in 1726, at the family seat, “Berkeley, ” Charles City County, Virginia, United States, the son of Benjamin Harrison and Anne Carter, daughter of Robert Carter of Corotoman (“King Carter”). 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
Benjamin 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 Benjamin 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. 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, Harrison 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, yet such of his remarks as have been recorded are usually pointed and apt. 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. 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, Harrison 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, 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, hut he did not engage extensively in the debates. In his principal speech, while reiterating his devotion to the Union, he 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
Achievements
Benjamin Harrison is chiefly remembered as a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1777. During the Second Continental Congress he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. While in Congress, he helped establish the three major governmental departments of War, the Navy, and the State Department. Harrison served also as Virginia's fifth governor from 1781 to 1784. Harrison’s administration was marked by characteristic vigor, firmness, and devotion to the interests of his state, but by an equal devotion to the Union which he had done so much to establish.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
“These gentlemen of Virginia appear to be the most spirited and consistent of any. Harrison said he would have come on foot rather than not come. ” - John Adams
“This was an indolent, luxurious, heavy gentleman, of no use in Congress or committee, but a great embarrassment to both. ” - John Adams
