As I came to the end of the Declaration of Independence I looked down at the list of names and noted that each person put down the role in life that they filled. I laughed at Samuel Adams labeling himself as a “political leader”. It would seem that he did not have a day job.
The rest of the list was interesting, not in the number of lawyers, but in the other professions listed. If you take out the lawyers and judges, which I did, you get an interesting list.
Bartlett, Josiah NH Physician, Judge
Braxton, Carter VA Farmer
Clark, Abraham NJ Surveyor
Clymer, George PA Merchant
Floyd, William NY Soldier
Franklin, Benjamin PA Printer, Publisher
Gerry, Elbridge MA Merchant
Gwinnett, Button GA Merchant
Hall, Lyman GA Physician
Hancock, John MA Merchant
Harrison, Benjamin VA Farmer
Hart, John NJ Farmer
Hewes, Joseph NC Merchant
Heyward, Thomas Jr. SC Lawyer, Farmer
Hopkins, Stephen RI Judge, Educator
Hopkinson, Francis NJ Judge, Author
Lee, Francis Lightfoot VA Farmer
Lee, Richard Henry VA Farmer
Lewis, Francis NY Merchant
Livingston, Philip NY Merchant
Lynch, Thomas Jr. SC Farmer
Middleton, Arthur SC Farmer
Morris, Lewis NY Farmer
Morris, Robert PA Merchant
Nelson, Thomas Jr. VA Farmer
Rush, Benjamin PA Physician
Taylor, George PA Ironmaster
Thornton, Matthew NH Physician
Whipple, William NH Merchant, Judge
Williams, William CT Merchant
Witherspoon, John NJ Educator
The Founding Fathers had their share of lawyers but it is impressive how many saw themselves as farmers. Maybe we need to pass a law setting a limit on how many lawyers we can have in congress today.
homo unius libri
I'm sure you heard the old joke, "What would you call throwing 5oo lawyers into the ocean?" - Answer. "A good start!"
ReplyDeleteI thought the WV version used a mine reclamation landfill instead of the ocean.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace