{"id":78,"date":"2010-09-15T18:35:10","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T18:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/?p=78"},"modified":"2010-10-19T01:27:10","modified_gmt":"2010-10-19T01:27:10","slug":"george-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/2010\/09\/15\/george-read\/","title":{"rendered":"George Read"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Courtesy of National Archives<\/p><\/div>\n

When first describing George Read, a delegate from Delaware, in Plain, Honest Men <\/em>(2009) Richard Beeman notes that the delegate gave a \u201cclear signal of serious trouble down the the road\u201d just as the Convention began (71). This \u201ctrouble\u201d pertained to the issue of state representation and Read\u2019s need to preserve Delaware\u2019s equal power in the proposed revisions to the government. Beeman portrays Read as having a complicated position in the Convention, for he favored proposals for the supremacy of a national government and chief executive while upholding his state\u2019s commission to maintain equal representation. This latter viewpoint evoked a passionate response from Read at one point in the Convention\u2019s deliberation, at which point he threatened the delegation from Delaware would leave the Convention if proposals for proportional representation continued.<\/p>\n

Beeman provides details about George Read given his significance as a representative of small-state interests during a heated debate over representation. The American National Biography Online provides a more detailed biography<\/a> of Read beyond his political acheivements noted by Beeman (e.g. Read signed of the Declaration of Independence and went on to become a leader in Delaware\u2019s government). In addition, modern scholarship by John Munroe offers insight into Read’s prominent\u00a0status\u00a0as a government leader<\/a> and a merchant, and his political\u00a0connections to\u00a0Philadelphia and Delaware<\/a>. Furthermore, Read’s social and economic status fueled his interest to stake claims in western territories. Since only a strong, centralized government could prevent other larger states to claim these territories, Read soon voiced his support for a new government. In short, his position in the Convention quickly brought the issue of representation to the forefront, but his motivations were varied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When first describing George Read, a delegate from Delaware, in Plain, Honest Men (2009) Richard Beeman notes that the delegate gave a \u201cclear signal of serious trouble down the the road\u201d just as the Convention began (71). This \u201ctrouble\u201d pertained … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12446],"tags":[12438],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-framer-profile","tag-framers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}