Thomas Wharton Jr.: Difference between revisions

Wharton became a merchant and was well respected for his character as well as his business acumen. Like many other colonial merchants, Wharton signed petitions and joined boycotts in protest of the [[1765 Stamp Act]] and the 1767 [[Townshend Acts]], but he was not an early leader of the resistance movement.<ref name="ANB" /> His rise to prominence in the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] cause followed Parliament's passage of the [[Boston Port Act]] in 1774.<ref name="ANB" /> At a public meeting held in Philadelphia on May 20, 1774, Wharton was chosen as a member of the [[Committee of correspondence|Committee of Correspondence]], and later was one of twenty-five citizens who formed the [[Committee of Safety (American Revolution)|Committee of Safety]], Pennsylvania’s governing body in the early days of the Revolution. On July 24, 1776, he became president of that body. As such he was a member of the committee directing that a new constitution be drafted for the state.