Editors’ Note: John Tyler and Brian Baird discuss their research on the varied associational commitments of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and what that suggests about the important place of associational life in celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

Now that the main celebrations of our Nation’s 250^th birthday have occurred, we have an opportunity to more deeply consider other aspects of what the Founding signifies for that time, for us now, and for our nation’s future. One aspect of that is how the Signers served through participation with voluntary associations, which is the focus of this essay.

The colonial and Revolutionary periods are frequently invoked as fertile ground for having shaped our notions and experiences of “civil society” and its underlying principles as the “independent sector,” and rightly so! Ben Franklin is regularly referenced as an – if not “the” – exemplar. Again, rightly so.

Among Franklin’s most heralded activities in this space were founding or co-founding the following: the Junto Club (1727), the Library Company of Philadelphia (1731; the colonies’ first lending library), the Union Fire Company (1736; Philadelphia’s first volunteer fire brigade), and Pennsylvania Hospital (1751; the colonies’ first formal hospital). Note the “firsts,” dates, and diverse breadth of even this cursory list!  

To over-focus on Franklin, however, risks missing the range of extraordinary, varied, and innovative – even lasting – contributions of his contemporaries. Some, no doubt, were even inspired by Franklin. But it is the aggregation of activity that is relevant and that we inherited, not the efforts of a single person or even of a few people. In some cases, we are beneficiaries of ongoing enterprises, but more generally, it is the application of the underlying principles in practice that still shapes our distinctive approach to private initiative in service to the public good.

Consider just the microcosm of Franklin’s fellow signers of the Declaration of Independence. Even an incomplete survey of their relevant activities helps make that point, which is especially meaningful given this year’s 250^th anniversary. This essay undertakes such an effort. In doing so, it presents some ways in which the Signers had already pledged their Fortunes and sacred Honor before signing the Declaration and by which they continued fulfilling that pledge even after independence was achieved.

Colleges, Universities, and Education

The area that seems to have attracted the most consistent attention from the Signers is education. At least seventeen of the 56 Signers were meaningfully connected to at least sixteen colleges and universities and two preparatory schools. Many of these or their successors are still in operation and very familiar. Analyzing the meaningfulness of the extent and depth of these involvements with formal educational pursuits is beyond the scope of this essay, but there is significance for then and now.

School Founders

At least thirteen Signers were involved with establishing and providing early support and vision for at least eleven colleges, presented below in chronological order.

Philip Livingston was a very early advocate for and funder of King’s College (later Columbia University), established in 1746 but not chartered until 1754. Franklin, of course, helped found the Academy of Philadelphia in 1749, which opened in 1751 and was chartered as the College of Philadelphia in 1755. The first college in the colonies to focus on education broadly rather than just for the elite and/or ministry, it became the University of Pennsylvania. At least six other Signers also served as trustees of the Academy or College over time: George Clymer, Thomas McKean, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, James Smith, and James Wilson.

Richard Stockton’s family donated land to the College of New Jersey to support its move from Newark to Princeton in 1752, and Stockton later became a trustee. He was also instrumental (along with Dr. Rush) in recruiting Signer John Witherspoon from Scotland to lead the institution and, thus, be present in the colonies leading up to the Declaration and its aftereffects.

Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward Jr. founded the College of Charleston in 1770 and were early trustees. William Paca was a founder, funder, and member of the board of Washington College, begun in 1782 as the first institution of higher learning in Maryland. Dr. Rush was a founder and trustee of Dickinson College in 1783, named after Founder John Dickinson. James Wilson was also an early trustee.   

Lyman Hall helped arrange for the donation of the land for Franklin College. He was also a trustee. George Walton also helped found the College, which was chartered in 1785 and would later become the University of Georgia, the Nation’s first public school of higher education.

Dr. Rush also helped start the Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia in 1787, the first institution of higher education for women recognized by the government. He was a trustee, taught chemistry, and gave the opening address of his Thoughts on Female Education, of which he was an obvious proponent.

Charles Carroll provided funding to his Jesuit/Bishop cousin, John Carroll, for his efforts to found Georgetown in 1789.

Thomas Jefferson is well known as the founder (to understate his role) of the University of Virginia in 1819.

Lewis Morris was among the first regents of the University of the State of New York, which, though not a school directly, still oversees all educational institutions in the State. He served from its inception in 1784 until his death in 1798.  

At least two preparatory academies were established by Signers. Samuel Huntington helped found and support Plainfield Academy in Connecticut in 1770. In addition to being involved with Franklin College as noted above, George Walton also helped start and was a trustee for Richmond Academy in 1783.

Leaders, Trusteeship, and Educators

Two Signers formally led colleges. Signer Stephen Hopkins was the first chancellor of Rhode Island College in 1764, a position he held until his death in 1785. As already noted, John Witherspoon served as president of the College of New Jersey (which became Princeton) from 1768 until his death in 1794.

In addition to the sixteen trusteeships mentioned above, at least two other Signers held governance roles in higher education. Roger Sherman is recognized as a friend, benefactor, and treasurer of Yale College. Thomas McKean was a trustee of the Newark Academy (or Academy of Newark) as early as 1768, which would become the University of Delaware.

At least seven Signers were teachers. Four taught at the college level or above: Witherspoon, Rush, Wythe, and James Wilson. Three taught in lower schools: John Adams, Lyman Hall, and Robert Treat Paine.

Associations and Non-Academic Efforts

Signers were instrumental in founding at least six general associations, one abolition society, three medical-oriented associations, two medical care providers, two libraries, and one additional “charitable” organization. At least four Signers are also identified with less-structured activities grounded in private initiative that served the public good.

Associations

Among the associations that attracted and engaged the most Signers was the American Philosophical Society, founded by Franklin in 1743 who served as secretary and later as president.  Jefferson was also a president. At least thirteen Signers belonged to the Society: John Adams, Clymer, Thomas Heyward Jr., Hopkins, Francis Hopkinson, Huntington, Francis Henry Lee, McKean, Robert Morris, Dr. Rush, Stockton, Wilson, and Witherspoon.

Hopkins was also a member of the Philosophical Society of Newport.

Philip Livingston was instrumental in organizing New York’s St. Andrew’s Society in 1756. He also helped establish the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1768, the first organization of its kind in the colonies to protect merchants’ interests and promote trade.

Thomas Treat Paine established the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780. Thomas Heyward Jr. organized the Agricultural Society of South Carolina in 1785 and served as its first president.

Thomas McKean also helped found the Hibernian Society for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland in 1790.

“Policy Change” & Reform

Franklin was also a founder and first president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of the Abolition of Slavery. Dr. Rush was a fellow founder and subsequent president of the Society.

Less formally structured private engagements with what we might label policy reform missions would include Dr. Rush’s work with others to pursue prison and education reforms, advocate for temperance, oppose capital punishment, and support women’s rights, some of which subsequently became formally organized. Not surprisingly, Franklin also advocated for many of these same reforms.

Medical Associations and Providers

As noted above, Franklin established the first formal hospital in the colonies in Pennsylvania in 1751. Philip Livingston was among the organizers and first governors appointed for New York Hospital (now New York-Presbyterian Hospital) in 1771. Dr. Rush started free medical clinics, beginning with the Philadelphia Dispensary in 1786.

Dr. Rush was among the physicians who, in 1787, founded the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest private medical society in the United States. He also served as its first president. Dr. Josia Bartlett, who was the second to sign the Declaration, helped organize the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1791 and was its first president.

On the less institutional and structured side of health care, Dr. Rush provided medical care during the devastating yellow fever outbreaks in Philadelphia in 1793 and 1798, when many (including health care providers) who could flee the city did so to preserve their own health and welfare.

Other “Charitable” Activities of Signers

Three Signers were instrumental in founding public libraries. A little more than two decades after Franklin’s efforts, in 1754, Livingston helped found and fund the New York Society Library. That same year, Hopkins started the first public subscription library in Providence, Rhode Island.

A Signer seemingly almost as prolific as Franklin, Dr. Rush also co-founded the Philadelphia Bible Society in 1808, the first of many Bible societies, which were among the most widespread and organizational sophisticated associational efforts of the subsequent era.

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The preceding highlights only “civil society” initiatives and does not encompass other demonstrations of private initiative for the public good, such as military, religious, and/or political service; financial contributions and monetary sacrifices; the use of grounds, facilities, and resources; or other contributions of the Signers to their communities and the War effort.

The above also does not do justice to Franklin’s relevant innovations for “civil society”: matching gifts as part of fundraising efforts, private leveraging of public money, intentionality in being anonymous and behind-the-scenes during many efforts, 100- and 200-year bequests to the Cities of Boston and Philadelphia, or creative requirements (perhaps reminiscent of his own early struggles) that those funds be used and grown in trust as low-interest loans to young, unmarried tradesmen (e.g., blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, cabinet makers, bricklayers, etc.) getting their starts in business – an early example of what we might call “microlending” or “social enterprise.”

There certainly were many ways in which Franklin – in fact – was unusual, unique, and even prescient, but he was certainly not along alone among the Signers or others at the time in creating, supporting, and engaging with “civil society.” In doing so, Americans advanced principles that still ground our notions of what today we call “the independent sector.”

It seems appropriate to honor the Signers’ example and contributions as we celebrate our 250 years of having the Declaration of Independence, which itself was not immaterial in articulating certain of those principles. Indeed, taking a cue from the Signers and others from that era and beyond, the work of the National Museum and Center for Service (founded by one of us) and its 250andBeyond initiative are prominent examples of current efforts to embed the celebration of associational life, and to continue inspiring service, throughout all our nation’s communities, for ourselves and for our posterity.

-John Tyler and Congressman Brian Baird

John Tyler is the General Counsel, Secretary, and Chief Ethics Officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He teaches at the University of Kansas School of Law and in Columbia University’s Master’s of Nonprofit Management program, and is co-chair of Independent Sector’s Panel on Sector Independence. Former Congressman Brian Baird is the founder and CEO of the National Museum and Center for Service and represented Washington’s 3rd Congressional District for six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is also a clinical psychologist and the author of several books on character, politics, and public service.