49 of 56 · North Carolina
PENN
A Young Lawyer
28 lessons. 4 chapters. In his own words.
He read law in three years, signed at thirty-five, and nearly dueled Henry Laurens. Ambition needs a governor.
John Penn · 1741–1788 · Lawyer · almost a duelist
01
Read Law Fast
1 of 4
Two years of school is not a life sentence.
“A good humoured man, very talkative in company, but seldom spoke in Congress. He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Father thought education unimportant. Father died. The boy was eighteen with a farm and a widow. Motivation arrived on a death. Use it. The common school is not the last room you are allowed.
Move into the better library.
“My first wish is for America to be free.”
Edmund Pendleton's library had no equal in the colonies, said Jefferson. Penn lived in it. Three years later he had a license. You do not need a college if you have a shelf and a man who will let you use it. Read until the bar opens.
Compress the apprenticeship.
“He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Pendleton to license in three years. Twelve years of Virginia practice after that. Speed is not sloppiness. It is hunger with a clock. The slow student is often only unfrightened.
Pay the penny. Or refuse it.
“My first wish is for America to be free.”
In 1774 a Virginia jury found him guilty of intemperate words about the King. The fine was one penny. He would not pay it. A cheap punishment is still a yoke. Principle starts at amounts that look ridiculous.
A death can be a schoolmaster.
“A good humoured man, very talkative in company, but seldom spoke in Congress. He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Father thought education unimportant. Father died. Eighteen, a farm, a widow. Motivation arrived on a death. Use it. The common school is not the last room you are allowed. The library is next.
Three years with a shelf beats twelve without one.
“He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Pendleton's library. Jefferson said it had no equal in the colonies. Penn lived in it. License in three years. You do not need a college if you have a shelf and a man who will let you use it. Read until the bar opens.
Hunger with a clock is not sloppiness.
“My first wish is for America to be free.”
Two years of school, then the farm, then the better room. Speed is hunger with a clock. The slow student is often only unfrightened. Be frightened enough to compress the years.
02
A New Colony
2 of 4
Go where the lawyers are scarce.
“My first wish is for America to be free.”
John Penn, arriving in Congress · 1775
Virginia had Pendleton. Granville County, North Carolina, had a backcountry that wanted a mouth. He moved in 1774 and was in the Provincial Congress within a year. New ground is a promotion if you can work it.
Be the first of your delegation to want the break.
“Foreign alliances even if the consequence was total separation from the mother country.”
Letter to Thomas Person · 1776
Hooper had Tory hesitations. Hewes wavered. Penn wrote this in February. Jefferson later told Adams the North Carolina vote was Penn's steadiness. In a cautious delegation, one clear man is a climate.
Represent the inland, not the wharf.
“A good humoured man, very talkative in company, but seldom spoke in Congress.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
The original NC delegates were easterners. Penn was the backcountry correction. He talked in the tavern and worked in the committee. A new colony does not need another coastal accent. It needs the county that was left out.
Do not pick a fight with the man who taught you.
“My first wish is for America to be free.”
Pendleton hesitated on independence. Penn did not. He also did not make a gazette of the disagreement. You can outgrow a teacher without putting him in the street. Take the new colony. Leave the old man his name.
New ground is a promotion if you can work it.
“Foreign alliances even if the consequence was total separation from the mother country.”
Letter to Thomas Person · 1776
Virginia had Pendleton. Granville had a backcountry that wanted a mouth. He moved in 1774 and was in the Provincial Congress within a year. Scarcity of lawyers is an opening. Walk through it.
In a cautious delegation, one clear man is a climate.
“My first wish is for America to be free.”
John Penn, arriving in Congress · 1775
Hooper had Tory hesitations. Hewes wavered. Penn wrote for separation in February. Jefferson later told Adams the North Carolina vote was Penn's steadiness. Do not wait for the easterners. Be the weather.
The backcountry does not need another coastal accent.
“A good humoured man, very talkative in company, but seldom spoke in Congress.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
The original NC delegates were easterners. Penn was the correction. He talked in the tavern and worked in the committee. A new colony needs the county that was left out. Represent that.
03
Almost the Duel
3 of 4
Breakfast with the man you mean to shoot.
“Poor little Penny! Poor little Penny!”
Henry Laurens, taunting Penn from the chair of Congress · 1779
Laurens was President. Penn was younger, smaller, and in the way. They booked a duel, then ate in the same boarding house that morning. Hatred that shares a table is already negotiating. Notice.
Offer the arm in the mud.
“A good humoured man, very talkative in company, but seldom spoke in Congress. He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Philadelphia streets after rain. The older man stumbled. Penn gave his arm to the man who had come to kill him. They walked back without firing. Courtesy is not weakness. It is a way of ending a stupid plot.
Ambition needs a governor.
“Talk of imprisoning the printer or author is foolish. If you have the power, which I doubt, and were to imprison the editor for six months, he would come out a far greater man than when he went in.”
John Penn, speech in Congress · 1779
The same year as the almost-duel he defended a printer against Gerry's rage. Heat in the street, law on the floor. A man who will fight at dawn and argue for the press after dinner has a governor installed. Install one.
Let the shot go unfired.
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The Declaration of Independence · 1776
You pledged your life to the cause, not to Henry Laurens's pride. Gwinnett fired and died. Penn walked home. Honor that cannot survive an unfired pistol is counterfeit. Keep the powder for the war.
Share a table with the insult. It is already negotiating.
“Poor little Penny! Poor little Penny!”
Henry Laurens, taunting Penn from the chair of Congress · 1779
They booked a duel, then ate in the same boarding house that morning. Hatred that shares a table is already talking. Notice. Dawn is optional. Breakfast is data.
Courtesy is how you end a stupid plot.
“A good humoured man, very talkative in company, but seldom spoke in Congress. He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Philadelphia streets after rain. The older man stumbled. Penn gave his arm to the man who had come to kill him. They walked back without firing. Courtesy is not weakness. It is a way of keeping both men useful.
Fight at dawn in the street. Argue for the press after dinner.
“Talk of imprisoning the printer or author is foolish. If you have the power, which I doubt, and were to imprison the editor for six months, he would come out a far greater man than when he went in.”
John Penn, speech in Congress · 1779
The same year as the almost-duel he defended a printer against Gerry's rage. Heat in the street, law on the floor. A man who can do both has a governor installed. Install one.
04
The Board of War
4 of 4
When the other two seats are empty, sit them anyway.
“He was surrounded by discouraged friends, helpless citizens, or inveterate foes—but he had a task to discharge—and an arduous one.”
John Taylor of Caroline, on Penn and the Board of War · ca. 1820
North Carolina's Board of War was three men. The other two were mostly absent. Penn equipped militia and fed Greene's army for four months. A board is a fiction until one man treats it as a job.
Cheerfulness is a supply line.
“Indefatigable, cheerful, extremely courteous in his manners, firm in his political principles, and invigorated by an inextinguishable ardor, he went through the crisis with honor to himself, to the satisfaction of the state, and rendered service inestimable to the prosecution of the war.”
John Taylor of Caroline · ca. 1820
Greene needed wagons, not a long face. Courtesy in a supply crisis is not decoration. It is how you get the next farmer to open the barn. Ardor without manners is just noise in a hungry camp.
Defend the printer. Feed the army. In that order of character, not of calendar.
“If you have the power, which I doubt, and were to imprison the editor for six months, he would come out a far greater man than when he went in.”
John Penn, speech in Congress · 1779
Gerry wanted the Packet's man jailed. Penn said the jail would mint a hero. A Board of War that cannot bear a newspaper is already losing the peace. Power that doubts itself is the only power worth having.
They will abolish the board. The wagons already moved.
“He was honest, and warmly attached to the liberties of his country.”
Benjamin Rush, Characters of the Signers · ca. 1800
Officers resented civilian interference. Governor Nash said the board had usurped him. The Assembly killed it in January 1781. Greene still had the provisions. Offices end. Ton-miles do not. Do the thing that remains after the vote to dissolve you.
A board is a fiction until one man treats it as a job.
“He was surrounded by discouraged friends, helpless citizens, or inveterate foes—but he had a task to discharge—and an arduous one.”
John Taylor of Caroline, on Penn and the Board of War · ca. 1820
Three seats. Two empty. Penn equipped militia and fed Greene for four months. Titles in triplicate are a comfort. Presence is a supply line. Sit the empty chairs.
Get the next farmer to open the barn.
“Indefatigable, cheerful, extremely courteous in his manners, firm in his political principles, and invigorated by an inextinguishable ardor, he went through the crisis with honor to himself, to the satisfaction of the state, and rendered service inestimable to the prosecution of the war.”
John Taylor of Caroline · ca. 1820
Greene needed wagons, not a long face. Courtesy in a supply crisis is not decoration. Ardor without manners is just noise in a hungry camp. Cheerfulness is a commissary.
Power that doubts itself is the only power worth having.
“If you have the power, which I doubt, and were to imprison the editor for six months, he would come out a far greater man than when he went in.”
John Penn, speech in Congress · 1779
Gerry wanted the Packet's man jailed. Penn said the jail would mint a hero. A Board of War that cannot bear a newspaper is already losing the peace. Feed the army. Leave the printer standing.