June 26, 1776: Philadelphians Warn of “Overgrown Rich Men” in Government

The June 26, 1776, broadside. Source: American Philosophical Society Library

On June 26, 1776, a group of Philadelphians posted a broadside across the city. Among them was James Cannon, who worked with Thomas Paine and other political leaders to push for independence from the British Crown.

Pennsylvania declared its independence earlier that month, and Cannon’s group began to draft a new constitution. This broadside warned that “overgrown rich men will be improper to be trusted” for this task. It urged the colony’s militia to instead select delegates of “honesty, common sense, and a plain understanding, when unbiased by sinister motives.” 

Over the summer, delegates — including Cannon and Benjamin Franklin — wrote a Pennsylvania constitution that allowed propertyless men to vote, created a one-house legislature chosen directly by voters, set term limits, and was generally far more inclusive than others of the time. 

Patriots who wanted to preserve rule by the wealthy elite were horrified. Distressed about placing power into the hands of everyday people, John Adams declared the constitution “so democratic that it must produce confusion and every evil work.” In 1790, legislators from his political camp stripped the Pennsylvania constitution of its most democratic elements.

Read more in the lesson “Founding” Documents We Don’t Learn About.