Stephen Hopkins, Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island was born March 7, 1707. He was a man of very little formal education, but gained knowledge by being an avid reader. He started off as a farmer and surveyor, and eventually made the switch to politics becoming one of Rhode Island’s most prominent figures. Hopkins sat on the General Assembly for all but 4 years from 1732-52, and was a member of the Superior Court from 1447-49. He became a champion of colonial rights after his 1764 publication “The Grievances of the American Colonies Candidly Examined,” where he argued against the sugar and stamp duties. This book also served to “foreshadow John Dickenson’s theory of colonial home rule” (Boatner, Encyclopedia, 513). “In 1772, Hopkins was again elected to the general assembly. He freed his slaves in 1773 and the following year he sponsored a bill that prohibited the importation of slaves into the colony” (Klos, Hopkins). In the years 1775, and 1776 Hopkins was chosen the represent Rhode Island the continental congress. Also, in 1776, Hopkins had the pleasure of signing The Declaration of Independence. “He recorded his name with a trembling hand, the only instance in which an unsteady signature is visible among the fifty-six patriots who wrote their names” (Ibid.). His trembling was a sign of the weakness of his flesh, not his mind, as he had a condition which forced him to guide his right hand with his left. After this, Hopkins “was a member of the committee to organize the Navy” (Boatner, Encyclopedia, 513). Hopkins was a natural choice to be a representative of Rhode Island due to his long and active political career as well many of his social achievements which included establishing the Providence Gazette, as well being a prominent contributor, as well being the first chancellor of what is now Brown University.