Joseph Galloway - Political Career

Political Career

Galloway soon became involved in the politics of the colony. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from 1756 to 1774 and served as Speaker of the House from 1766 to 1774. He was a prominent member of the faction which opposed Pennsylvania being a Proprietary Colony of the Penn family, and called for it to be turned into a Crown Colony. Both Galloway and Franklin devoted a great deal of effort in lobbying London to bring the colony directly under the Crown's control.

Galloway was throughout his career a British-American nationalist, believing that the British Empire offered a citizen greater liberties than any nation on earth. He believed that most Americans would prefer to remain loyal to the Crown if only they were given a legitimate and effective government that would inspire their loyalty.

Galloway was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774, where he proposed a compromise plan for Union with Great Britain which would provide the colonies with their own parliament subject to the Crown. The plan was rejected by the Continental Congress by one vote. He signed the nonimportation agreement, while at the same time he was opposed to independence for the Thirteen colonies and remained loyal to the King. Ferling (1977) argues that Galloway's conduct was motivated partly by opportunism, and partly by genuine philosophical principles. Galloway was a resident of cosmopolitan Philadelphia and an associate of Benjamin Franklin with whom he corresponded over the issues of American/colonial independence.

Galloway urged reform of the imperial administration and was critical of the trade laws, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts enacted in 1767; and as early as 1765 he had a conciliatory plan to end the disputes between Britain and the colonies. He believed that the British had the right to tax and govern the colonies, keep the peace, and help the colonies to survive and flourish (although he did also believe the colonies' words should be heard). Congress however voted to expunge Galloway’s plan from their journal, so he published it himself in 1775, reprimanding Congress for ignoring his correct analysis of Parliament’s powers and colonial rights. He proposed a written constitution and joint legislature for the whole British Empire. When rejected, he declined election to the Continental Congress.