Preface to the Digital Edition of the Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (Two Volumes)

Preface to the digital edition of The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (two volumes). The two volumes included in this CD-Rom were originally published by Kate Mason Rowland in 1898. A brief biography of Charles Carroll written by David Barton is included in addition to the content of the two volumes by Rowland. The format of this CD is such that the page numbers and volume numbers of this electronic version correspond exactly to the page numbers and volume numbers of the original format. This is so that if a particular quote or section is located in this CD that a writer or researcher desires to use, it can be footnoted to the exact page number and volume of the original work. A few specific changes, however, have been made from the original version. For example, the original Tables of Contents and Index have been omitted since the user of this edition may simply execute a search command on a word or phrase and search both volumes at once (Appendix D, “Genealogical Notes – Carroll Family” has also been omitted). Additionally, modern spellings have been used throughout this electronic work, replacing the more antiquated spellings (e.g., “labor” for “labour”). Other than these types of changes, the content remains as it was in the originals. A Brief Biography of Charles Carroll of Carrollton by David Barton Charles Carroll (1737-1832) was a distinguished and influential Founding Father who lived an extraordinarily long life in service to his God and his country. He was not only a signer of the Declaration of Independence but also a framer of the Bill of Rights, having been elected in 1789 as an original U. S. Senator from Maryland, to the first federal Congress. At his death in 1832 at the age of 95, he was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. CHARLES CARROLL ii Carroll’s span of life was of such remarkable length that he not only lived through but was also part of many amazing transformations in the nation. For example, although he had been raised at a time when horses and carriages were the only form of ground transportation (and had been for thousands of years), Carroll helped guide the develop- ment of the first steam locomotive railroad company in America. He literally saw with his own eyes what many of his national comrades such as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington – and even many in generations for millennia before – had never even imagined. Carroll came from an influential Catholic family with Maryland roots dating back to shortly after that Colony was founded. The Carroll family had arrived in America in 1688, and Charles’ grandfa- ther (also named Charles Carroll) had been the Attorney-General of the Colony under Lord Baltimore, the founder of the Maryland Colony. Even though Maryland had been founded by Catholics under an open declaration of tolerance for all Christian faiths, the rights of Catholics were soon revoked by the British. The Carrolls therefore found themselves a Catholic family in a Protestant State that imposed severe disabilities upon all Catholics, even denying them the right to vote, hold office, or receive higher education. This attitude of the English toward Catholics – however deplor- able it might be in today’s world – was completely understandable at that time. England had been involved in several wars in which Catho- lic monarchs from France, Spain, and elsewhere had attempted the forcible conversion of Protestants in England through the power of the sword. In fact, so lengthy and extended were the numerous Catho- lic wars against the largely Protestant English that those wars became known as the Hundred Years War. As those already lengthy wars protracted even further, the successive later conflicts became known as the Second Hundred Years War. And not only did the English experience Catholic aggressions from foreign monarchs but even when a Catholic monarch would assume the British throne, it was often followed by domestic bloodbaths against Protestants (such as occurred under Mary, Queen of Scots). Therefore, given the cen- by David Barton iii turies of adverse British experience with European Catho- lics and the distrust of Ameri- can Catholics by the English at that time, the English desire to restrict Catholic access to power or advancement was understandable. Since higher education of Catholic youth was forbidden by British law, when Carroll began his higher education, it was in Europe rather than in America. He began his colle- giate studies at the age of ten, CHARLES CARROLL, DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY first in France and Bohemia J. B. LONGACRE, AFTER A PAINTING BY FIELD (Germany), followed by the study of law in France and London. When he returned to Maryland in 1765, his father gave him the family estate named Carrollton. Since both father and son bore the same first and last names, the son became known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton (the name he used in signing the Declaration of Independence), while his father was known as Charles Carroll of Annapolis. Shortly after Charles’ (the son’s) return to America, he married; his wife bore him seven children, four of which died at an early age (only two daughters and one son reached adulthood). Carroll’s return to America had occurred during the first stages of American resistance to the hated British Stamp Act and other British taxes. When certain British fees were imposed on Maryland in 1770, Maryland patriots – like their brethren throughout the other colonies – objected to the fees on the basis that they violated the British principle of taxation only with representation (that is, the tax had not been imposed upon Americans through their own elected representa- tives in Great Britain, for they had no such representations; this taxation was, therefore a violation of long-standing British policy). Dur- CHARLES CARROLL iv ing the ensuing debates over whether Britain had a right to tax Maryland without observing the principle of representation, Daniel Dulaney – a leading Maryland citizen – de- fended the right of the British to impose fees and taxes on the colo- nists; Carroll, however, wrote a se- ries of articulate and well-rea- soned articles that masterfully re- butted Dulaney’s assertions and dis- mantled his arguments. Carroll was immediately recognized as a cham- AN ENGRAVING BASED ON A PAINTING AT pion of popular rights and thus be- CARROLL’S ESTATE, DOUGHOREGAN MANOR came a leader among the patriots. While it might be logical to us today to make such a spokesman a leader, it was unprecedented in America in that day to do so with a Catholic. However, Carroll’s patriotic service for the American cause ultimately opened new doors for Catholics in America and broke the stereotype of what many Americans had come to expect of Catholics. In this regard, Carroll was a pioneer among American Catholics, and even somewhat of a rebel against some in his own faith, for during the American Revolution, many Catholic priests worked to keep Catholics from joining the fight for American independence, even threatening their parishioners with the withholding of absolution (i.e., forgiveness of sins) if they aided the American cause. Carroll was not deterred from his patriotic activities, nor did he compromise his strong Christian faith. In fact, he openly acknowl- edged that his faith – and his desire to ensure religious freedom for all – was a principal reason for his involvement in the American Revolution. He did not want to see the continuation of a system in which the government decreed the official denomination of the land, whether Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic, or any other. As he explained: by David Barton v To obtain religious as well as civil liberty I entered jealously into the Revolution, and observing the Christian religion di- vided into many sects, I founded the hope that no one would be so predominant as to become the religion of the State. In 1774, Carroll was elected to the Maryland Assembly – yet an- other amazing display of the trust placed in him by citizens since at that time it was still illegal for Catholics to vote or to hold office. Old prejudices were beginning to break; individuals were no longer being judged just by their labels but now also by their individual behavior. Carroll was soon thereafter appointed as a member of Maryland’s Committee of Correspondence to inform and rally Americans against British policies and oppression, and he was then named as a member of the Maryland Convention to advocate independence – a total, complete, and permanent break with Great Britain. In January of 1776, the national Continental Congress asked Car- roll to travel to Canada with Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase to ask the Canadians to join in the fight for independence. Six months later, in July of 1776, Carroll was made a member of the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence, pledging – along with the other fifty-five signers – his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. (By that CARROLL’S SIGNATURE ON THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE pledge, Carroll had more to lose than just his life; he had more material possessions at stake than any of the other signers, for he was considered the wealthiest man in America at that time.) The following year, Car- roll was elevated by his peers in Congress to the elite post as a member of the congressional Board of War, directing the military opera- tions of the American Revolution. Carroll was active not only at the national scene but also in the affairs of his State as well.

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