Speech of Mr. Van Dyke, on the amendment offered to a bill for the admission of Missouri into the Union, prescribing the restriction of slavery as an irrevocable principle of the state constitution
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Nicholas Van Dyke was an American lawyer and politician.
Background
Van Dyke was born on September 25, 1738, at New Castle, Delaware. He was the son of Nicholas Van Dyke and his wife, Lytie Dirks. He was of the fourth generation in descent from Jan Thomasse Van Dyke, who came to New Amsterdam in 1652 from Amsterdam, Holland, and was the third of the family in America to bear the name of Nicholas.
The Van Dkyes were a prominent burgher family in Holland and Jan Thomasse was one of the founders of New Utrecht in New Amsterdam. Early in the eighteenth century the family moved to St. George's Hundred in Delaware, where it soon became one of the largest landholders in the province.
Education
Of Nicholas' education there seems to be little information available. He was trained for the law, was admitted to practice before the supreme court in Philadelphia in 1765, at the age of twenty-seven, and probably received his training in that city.
Career
In New Castle, in the Lower Counties, Van Dyke was a practicing lawyer until his death. Like many of the young lawyers of his day, he threw in his lot with the Whigs in 1774, although he remained steadfastly one of the moderate faction. He served on the provincial committee of correspondence, on the committee appointed to solicit funds for the relief of the people of Boston in 1774, and was a member of the New Castle Council of Safety in 1776.
In the Delaware constitutional convention of 1776, he was one of the more active delegates, participated in formulating rules for the convention, sat on committees charged with the function of provisioning the state's troops, and assisted in preparing a declaration of rights and in writing the preliminary draft of a constitution. In the first election under the new government he was elected to the Council, the upper legislative house, and during 1779, served as the speaker of the house.
Throughout the war period, he held the rank of major in the New Castle County militia but saw no active service.
On February 22, 1777, during the period in which the moderates controlled the state legislature, Van Dyke was elected to the Continental Congress, and he was returned annually until 1782. The post, however, held few attractions for him, for he was interested primarily in state politics and was ill much of the time.
Moreover, he was dissatisfied with the scant provision made by his state for its delegates.
Aside from his service on a few minor committees and his signature to the Articles of Confederation, the Journals reveal scant participation in the deliberations of Congress and infrequent attendance. To repeated pleas from his colleagues for more adequate representation from Delaware he paid little heed. For more than three and a half years during the critical post-war years, from February 1, 1783, until October 27, 1786, he was president of Delaware, having been elected by joint vote of the two legislative houses.
His administration witnessed the passage of numerous measures designed to improve commerce and to place the finances of the state on a sound basis. He also dealt with continued agitation on the part of Delaware statesmen to have title to the lands northwest of Ohio given to the states in common. Following his presidency, he again sat in the Council for part of one term.
He died in New Castle County, Delaware, and is buried in the Immanuel Churchyard at New Castle.
Achievements
Van Dyke was served in the Delaware General Assembly, as a Continental Congressman from Delaware, and as President of Delaware.
