Robert Morris

As the Second Continental Congress moved toward a vote for independence, Robert Morris, one of America's leading merchants, thought that the country was not ready for it. In the interest of colonial unity, Morris absented himself from the Pennsylvania delegation when the vote was taken on July 2, but added his signature to the embossed copy of the Declaration of Independence on August 2. "I am not one of those politicians that run testy when my own plans are not adopted," Morris said. "I think it is the duty of a good citizen to follow when he cannot lead."

During the Revolutionary War, Morris did yeoman service, championing the formation of the American navy, striving to keep Washington's army fed and supplied, and, as superintendent of finance, pledging his personal credit as a substitute "for that which the Country Had lost."