Caesar Rodney Essay

Caesar Rodney Caesar Rodney was born in Dover, Delaware on October 7, 1728. He was the son of Caesar Rodney and Judy Crawford. In his younger years he was tutored by his parents, but he never received any formal education. When he was only 17, his father died and he was put under the care of Nicholas Ridgely. Ridgely was the clerk of the peace in Kent County and this is where Caesar's life in politics began. In 1755 The royal government named Rodney the High Sheriff of Kent County. He did very well in this position to climb up the political ladder and eventually became justice of the peace. When he was 30 years old he was elected as a representative in the legislature of Newcastle. He then took the seat as a representative to the upper house …show more content…

Rodney was a very strong patriot. He was a military leader in the colonial militia and member of continental congress until 1777. In 1778 he was elected President of the State of Delaware for 3 years and served as the Major-General of the Delaware Militia. As a general, he proved to be a major part in the defense of his own colony and Washington's Continental Army. His Delaware Militia had a reputation of exceeding quotas for troops and provisions. Over time Caesar Rodney's health deteriorated. He had asthma and developed a cancerous growth on his face. Even through all the problems with his health he supported his colony throughout the Revolutionary War. In 1782 he was elected to the National Congress, but he had to decline the position due to his rapidly declining health. Even though he declined the National Congress, Rodney continued to serve as Speaker to the Upper House of the Delaware Assembly. In June of 1784, Caesar Rodney died in that office. He never married and never had any children. He is most known in history for his 80 mile overnight horse ride from Delaware to Philadelphia to cast the deciding vote for independence …show more content…

He was an avid patriot and believed that declaring independence from Great Britain was the only true solution to escape King George's tyranny. Not everyone in Rodney's colony agreed with him though. There were 2 other delegates from Delaware on the continental congress and one of them believed that independence was a dangerous idea that would do nothing more than further damage relations with Great Britain. However, The majority of the Delaware delegates were in support for independence so when the first votes for independence came Delaware voted for it. Rodney seemed to be unique among other members of the continental congress in that he was very found of John Adams. Most members of congress hated Adams stubborness but Caesar saw it as a positive trait and seemed to admire Adams for it. In the film he wore patches to cover cancerous growths on his face. As the movie went on his health weakened and at one point he had to be taken back to his him in Delaware due to poor health. His health didn't stop him in the end though. With Caesar out of congress, Delaware only had 2 delegates left and they each had conflicting views on independence. With the final vote on independence approaching, John Adams sent for Caesar to return to congress so he could cast his vote and thereby sway Delaware's vote on independence. So Rodney, even when it seemed like he was near death, made the long horse