Pelatiah Webster (born 1726 in

Lebanon, Connecticut Lebanon is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,142 at the 2020 census. The town lies just to the northwest of Norwich, directly south of Willimantic, north of New London, and east of Hartford. The far ...

, died 1795 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

) was an American merchant, clergyman, and (from the beginning of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolu ...

) author of short essays concerning the finances and government of the fledgling United States. He took a strongly-

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...

position economically, and was a proponent of what would become the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

Quotes

"I propose ... to take off every restraint and limitation from our commerce. Let trade be as free as air. Let every man make the most of his goods in his own way and then he will be satisfied." "The Continental money is to be considered as a debt fastened on the person and estate of every member of the United States, a debt of great honor and justice, of national honor and justice, not barely empty honor, but that essential honor and credit in which the safety of the state is comprised, and therefore by confession of every body must be punctually and honorably paid in due time; otherwise all security arising from public credit must be lost, all confidence of individuals in our public councils must be destroyed, and great injustice must be done to every possessor of our public currency, to the detriment of all, and ruin of many who have placed most confidence in our public administration: and nothing but shame, scandal, and contempt can ensue, for which nothing but most inevitable necessity can be any reasonable excuse."

Death

Webster was originally interred at the Second Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1867 his remains were reinterred to Mount Vernon Cemetery.

References

Sources

Taylor, Hannis: ''A memorial in behalf of the architect of our Federal Constitution, Pelatiah Webster of Philadelphia, Pa.'' General Publishing Office, Washington, D.C. 1908. {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Pelatiah 1726 births 1795 deaths Burials at Mount Vernon Cemetery (Philadelphia) People from Lebanon, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut Colonial American merchants