In horse racing, there is the Triple Crown. It’s made up of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. The Kentucky Derby is the youngest of the three races, created in 1875. The three races were not referred to as the Triple Crown until 1930, and was not officially called it until 1950. In the entire history of the three races, only 13 horses have won all three races in the same year. So obviously it’s a rare occurrence.
In the founding history of our nation, there are two primary documents…the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. There are a combined 95 signatures on the two documents. *Cue the deep voiced narrator of Law and Order…“In the history of the United States, there were two documents written by two separate but equally important groups of people; the Second Continental Congress, and the Constitutional Convention. These are their stories. (bump bump)” Now, because of the timing, and the organization of the separate gatherings of men, most only signed either the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution. However, there were six men who actually signed both…another historical rarity. George Read was one of those men. Teaser alert…like Secretariat and the other 12 Triple Crown winners, Read had a triple crown moment of his own.
Read was born in Maryland but his family moved to Delaware early in his life. He studied law in Philadelphia, and perhaps, because of a couple of guys who were up to no good, and who started making trouble in the neighborhood, he moved. Not to Bel Air, but to New Castle, Delaware. Once settled in, he started working for the British government as an attorney general. But in 1765, Britain imposed the Stamp Tax, and Read was not happy. He resigned from his position and became a member of the Delaware legislature. If you thought that because he quit his job working for the King, that he was a die hard fighter for independence from the Crown, you would be wrong. He certainly despised the tax, but he was not for independence at that particular moment. On July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress called for a vote on independence, Read voted no. However, the majority of the men gathered in Philadelphia wanted to break from Britain, so he went ahead and signed the Declaration of Independence. In the end, he did so because he felt like he had to go along. The rest is history. The Americans won the war, and obtained their independence. Read should have gone on to retirement; after all he was 64 years old. But he had more work in him. When some members felt like representation should be based on population, it was Read who argued that each state should have equal representation. His argument won the day, and that is why we have two senators from each state no matter what the population..equal representation, thanks to George Read.
I hinted earlier at Read’s triple crown moment. As I said, he signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. So that is two. Where is the third? Well, when the Constitution was being ratified, his friend and fellow Delaware delegate John Dickinson, could not be present. So Dickinson instructed Read to sign in his place. So if you look at the Constitution today, you will see George Read’s signature first in the Delaware grouping. Two lines below is John Dickinson’s signature…except that it isn’t. It’s where George Read signed John Dickinson’s name, making Read the only one to have signed three times, and hence, his triple crown moment.
Faith, Leadership, and History 