Joseph Galloway
Joseph Galloway proposed a plan that might have kept America in the empire, and ended his life an exile in England. Born around 1731 in Maryland to a wealthy family, he became one of Philadelphia's leading lawyers, entered the Pennsylvania assembly in 1756, and served as its speaker for a decade. He was Benjamin Franklin's closest political ally, and the two campaigned together to have Pennsylvania's proprietary government under the Penn family replaced by direct royal rule. He opposed the Stamp Act and the parliamentary taxation of the colonies, and equally opposed mobs, committees and non-importation agreements, which he regarded as the beginning of anarchy. At the First Continental Congress in 1774 he put forward his Plan of Union: an American legislature with a president-general appointed by the crown, holding authority over inter-colonial affairs, with laws affecting America requiring the assent of both that body and Parliament. It was a federal solution, and it was debated seriously. It was rejected by a single vote — six colonies to five — and then expunged from the minutes entirely. He withdrew, declined election to the Second Congress, and joined the British army when Howe took Philadelphia in 1777, serving as its civil administrator. He evacuated with the army in 1778, and Pennsylvania attainted him for treason and confiscated his estate. He spent the rest of his life in London, testifying to Parliament that the war had been mismanaged, writing pamphlets, and petitioning unsuccessfully to return. He died in 1803. Franklin, who had been his closest friend, never spoke to him again.
- Lived: 1731 CE – 1803 CE
- Nationality: American
- Roles: loyalist, politician
