What was Richard Stockton's contribution to the American revolution?

Answer 1

The Declaration of Independence and Richard Stockton

The Declaration of Independence plays an important role on how our country is today. This is the document that stated America's want for freedom and liberty during Great Britain's rule over the thirteen colonies. But…How did the declaration come about? Well, that is what I'm going to share now for a back-ground on how it all began. The 13 colonies and there officials were struggling to get there point across to Great Britain that they no longer wanted them to be there rulers. They had enough of Great Britain taxing them to support a country they weren't close to at all or no longer belonged to. The Continental Congress spent many meetings discussing the matter. Finally they couldn't take it anymore. They requested that a committee would come together to write a rough draft of what we now call the Declaration of Independence. This committee of five included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The Committee of Five first presented the document to Congress on June 28, 1776.56 delegates agreed to the declaration;however,4 members of the Continental Congress didn't agree and wanted to stay loyal to Great Britain.All the men that signed the Declaration of Independence new the risk involved by signing a document that was totally against the king. And some suffered for it.

There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. In the United States we have a special day to celebrate this document. This day is July 4th.Lots of people believed that the document had already been signed and passed by this date; however, by July 4th the only one that signed the declaration was John Hancock (the president of the Continental Congress).The rest of the delegates signed the declaration on August 2nd. There were 6 honored signers including Richard Stockton who I will go deeper into.

Richard Stockton was one of the fifty-six (56) signers of the Declaration of Independence. Richard Stockton was born near Princeton, on October 1, 1730. He attended the West Nottingham Academy under Dr. Samuel Finley, and then earned his degree at the College of New Jersey (Now Princeton) in 1748 as a lawyer. He studied law. Stockton became an eminent Lawyer with one of the largest practices in the colonies. He was not much concerned with politics, but applied his talents and person to the Revolutionary War. He was appointed to the royal council of New Jersey in 1765 and remained a member until the government was reformed. He was the governor of New Jersey. He argued that the colonies should be represented in the Parliament. However, with the Stamp Act, such arguments were overcome by colonial backlash. In 1774 he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. In 1776, the New Jersey delegates to the Congress were holding out against Independence. When news of this reached the New Jersey Congress, New Jersey elected Richard Stockton and Dr. Witherspoon to replace two of the five New Jersey delegates. They were sent with instructions to vote for Independence. So to rephrase…New Jersey had about five leaders sign the Declaration and Stockton was one of them. Soon after that New Jersey became independent.

Stockton was appointed to committees supporting the war effort. He was sent on a fact finding tour to the northern army. New Jersey was overrun by the British in November of '76, when he was returning from the mission. He managed to move his family to safety, but was captured and imprisoned by the British. He was not released until several years later, badly treated and in very poor condition. He lost his entire extensive library (every book and recording of his achievements that he had), writings, and all of his property during the British invasion. He died a pauper in Princeton at the age of 51 in 1781. In his last will and testament, he declared in writing that he was a Christian:

"I, Richard Stockton, being sick and weak in body but sound of memory, do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following:

"First, I bequeath my soul into the hands of Almighty God and my body to be buried at the discretion of my executors hereby named, in hopes through the merits of Jesus Christ to obtain a joyful resurrection."

Stockton and his wife had six children, four daughters and two sons: Julia Stockton, (married to Benjamin Rush...also a signer of the Declaration) Mary, Susan, Richard, Lucius and Abigail. Many of Richard Stockton's children have their own story in history that is worth looking up. (you're lucky I just did A report on him).