Category: Samuel Seabury

  • February 23, 1775

    Cover art for February 23, 1775: the cover page of Alexander Hamilton's Pamphlet, "The Farmer Refuted."

    Alexander Hamilton isn’t really considered one of the Founding Fathers, largely because he’d only arrived in America from Scotland around the same time that things started getting ugly between the Colonies and the Crown. But he quickly took up the cause, and it’s clear from his writing that he was of a similar mind as Jefferson, Franklin and the rest.

    When he joined the Continental Army, he rose quickly through the ranks, becoming Washington’s staff aide and entered politics shortly after the war ended. So while he wasn’t on hand for the initial segment of American statesmanship, he was there when the basic framework of our government was laid down.

    But back to his writing: he and the Reverend Samuel Seabury (we first heard from him on January 4) got into the habit of debating each other through pamphlets, written under pen names. They’re quite well-written and easy to understand, and because they’re only pamphlets, they don’t run especially long. They’re worth checking out.

  • 250 and Counting: January 4, 1775

    Cover artwork for January 4,1775: Portrait of Samuel Seabury

    Samuel Seabury was a prominent figure in the Protestant Episcopal Church on this side of the pond.

    From a political standpoint, he was a Loyalist and spent some time writing pieces urging his followers not to seek independence from England.

    One piece in particular, which he wrote using a pen name, lit a fire under a fellow by the name of Alexander Hamilton, who took the time to write a lengthy—35 page—reply, also under a pen name. This was just the beginning for the both of them.