Charles carroll of carrollton biography of michael
•
Charles Carroll of Carrollton: American Revolutionary
Charles Carroll's life began nearly fyra decades before the War of Independence and ended while Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was in office. As Fr. Charles Connor explains, Carroll was "the gods of the signers to die, the wealthiest man in the colonies and the new republic, and clung tenaciously to the faith of his forebearers his entire life."
In this masterfully written biography, which reads like a riveting novel, Fr. Connor brilliantly sets the stage for Carroll's extraordinary life bygd examining his ancestry, the origins of the United States, and the story of its founding. As you discover this hero's indomitable faith and energy amid shocking challenges and persecutions, you will find:
•
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
American Founding Father, politician, and planter (–)
Charles Carroll (September 19, – November 14, ), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III,[2] was an American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic signatory of the Declaration and the longest surviving, dying 56 years after its signing.[3]
Considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States,[4] Carroll was known contemporaneously as the "First Citizen" of the American colonies, a consequence of signing articles in the Maryland Gazette with that pen name.[5] He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress. Carroll later served as the first United States Senator for Maryland. Of all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Carroll was one of the wealthiest and most formally educated. A product of his year Jesuit education i
•
When the signatories of the Declaration of Independence pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor,” few men had more to lose than Charles Carroll of Carrollton. A wealthy landowner, businessman, and member of a prominent Maryland family, Carroll risked the confiscation of his estate and the loss of his life if the British had prevailed. Yet when asked if he would sign or not, he replied, “Most willingly,“ and ratified what he called ”this record of glory.” Reflecting on that act fifty years later, Carroll–by then the last surviving signer–concluded that the civil and religious liberties secured by the Declaration and enjoyed by that present generation were “the best earthly inheritance their ancestors could bequeath to them.”
As a Roman Catholic–the only one to sign the Declaration–Carroll also had much to gain. Though many American colonists harbored intense suspicion toward Catholics (it was widely believed that Catholic doctrine was incompatible with republicanism), Carro