Popular insurgency removed Pennsylvania’s reconciliation leaders

Evidence

Because of the upheaval, Dickinson lost his seat in Congress and retired to his Delaware plantation. The Pennsylvania Assembly, last elected only weeks earlier with a reduced pro-reconciliation majority, tried to proceed as if nothing had happened, but, between the May 15 congressional resolution and the May 20 public meeting, the political ground had shifted. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 182

Categorization

• XREF: Shows how extralegal popular action — an unelected committee calling a 7,000-person street meeting — overthrew an elected assembly, an early instance of the revolutionary-era tension between popular will and established legal institutions. — connects to: Pennsylvania’s assembly formally barred its delegates from supporting independence — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 180; Multi-front political pressure overwhelmed reconciliation forces — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 185

Broader Connections

• Multi-front political pressure overwhelmed reconciliation forces #expands (0.75) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 185