John Dickinson (November 13 or 15, 1732 – February 14, 1808), a
Founding Father of the United States, was a solicitor and politician from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
Wilmington, Delaware known as the "Penman of the Revolution" for his twelve
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, published individually in 1767 and 1768. As a member of the
First Continental Congress, where he was a signee to the
Continental Association, Dickinson drafted most of the 1774
Petition to the King, and then as a member of the
Second Continental Congress wrote the 1775
Olive Branch Petition, two attempts to negotiate with
King George III of Great Britain. When these failed, he reworked
Thomas Jefferson's language and wrote the final draft of the 1775
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. When Congress then decided to seek independence, Dickinson served on the committee that wrote the
Model Treaty, and then wrote the first draft of the 1776–1777
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.