biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1741–85)
|
| biography:
| US governor, born in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. A prosperous Philadelphia lawyer and businessman married to an Englishwoman, he tried to change British attitudes through correspondence, but by 1775 came to believe that independence was worth a revolution. As Washington's military secretary (1775) and later the adjutant-general, he helped guide the troops through the arduous campaign that moved across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He served in the Continental Congress (1777–8). As president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (1778–81), he abolished slavery, provided veterans' benefits, and prosecuted Benedict Arnold for embezzlement. |
|
|
