Thomas McKean

I am Thomas McKean of Pennsylvania. Though Delaware first called me to public service. I cast my vote for independence in July of 76. Then rode for the battlefield before the ink had dried. I wore many hats in the cause of liberty. Delegate from Delaware, President of Congress, Colonel of militia, Chief justice of Pennsylvania. Even whilst still seated in Congress. A conflict of duties, some cried. But to me, the Republic was worth overworking for. As judge, I upheld a sacred principle that even a legislature may err and the law must bow to the Constitution. A notion they say John Marshall later made famous. But I dared speak at first in Pennsylvania. I framed a new constitution. And as governor, weather storms of slander and schemes of impeachment. Let them hurl insults. I held the helm through war and Union. I served three states and one republic. I knew tyranny by crown and feared it no less from mobs or assemblies. So I stood for laws, just judges bold, and liberty guided by reason. And when we ratified the Constitution, I. I said it plainly. It appears to me the best the world has yet seen. So judge me not by where I side, but by how I served. For I did not seek fame, only the firm establishment of our freedoms. You want a tidy legacy, look for another founder. Mine is scarred, scrappy and stitched with urgency. But it held. So remember, liberty isn't always elegant. Sometimes it's loud, exhausting, demanding. And sometimes it's held together by people who don't wait to be asked.