Joseph Galloway was serving as Speaker of the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly as the conflicts between Great Britain and her North American colonies were escalating toward revolution. A prominent, wealthy, and influential lawyer, and a political ally of Benjamin Franklin, in 1774 he was elected a delegate to the First Continental Congress. But Galloway was no revolutionary. When the colonial disputes matured into war and a declaration of independence, Galloway remained loyal to the Crown. It was a decision that would cost him dearly.
Galloway objected to the taxes Parliament imposed on the colonies, but unlike most Americans he denied that Parliament lacked the power to levy them. Seeking a middle ground, in September 1774 he proposed a “Plan of Union,” which would create an American legislature that would operate alongside Parliamentary authority. Under Galloway’s proposal Parliament’s authority to impose taxes on the colonies would be affirmed, but any law affecting the colonies would require the approval of both Parliament and the American legislature. But Galloway’s proposal was dead on arrival. Congress tabled it, and instead adopted the Suffolk Resolves, which denied Parliamentary authority and called for a boycott of British commerce. Galloway was removed as Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly and was replaced by the Patriot John Dickinson. When the war began, Galloway left Philadelphia. And when the British captured New York City, he went there and offered his services.
During Washington’s retreat through New Jersey in November and December 1776, Galloway continually urged British commanding General William Howe to pursue the Americans more aggressively, insisting that 4/5 of the colonists were Loyalists and that with a vigorous effort the rebellion could be crushed. After Washington’s ragtag army made it across the Delaware River, Galloway led the effort to find boats that would enable the British and Hessian pursuit to continue. When Howe chose to go into winter quarters instead, Galloway was furious. It was a decision for which he never forgave Howe.
When the British captured Philadelphia in September 1777, Galloway was given responsibility for policing the city and for controlling imports and exports. He continued to urge that the war be conducted more aggressively, but Howe continued to ignore his advice. When the British evacuated Philadelphia in 1778, Galloway and his family sailed for England, never to return. All of his property in Pennsylvania was seized and declared forfeited by his treason.
From his new home in London, in 1780 Galloway published Letters to a Nobleman on the Conduct of the War in the Middle Colonies, in which he bitterly and severely criticized Howe, blaming him for the failing to destroy Washington’s army when he could, and holding him personally responsible for the British defeats at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Howe firmly defended himself against Galloway’s charges, and Parliament ordered a formal inquiry. In the end the finger-pointing and accusations resolved nothing.
After the peace treaty of 1783 assured that Galloway’s American property was gone for good, he became dependent upon a British pension. He sought an administrative post in Nova Scotia, but still distrusted for his early (albeit moderate) support of colonial rights, his application was denied. In 1793 he petitioned the Pennsylvania government for permission to return. The petition was denied. He died at age 71 in Hertfordshire, England, on August 29, 1803, two hundred twenty years ago today.
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