John Taylor of Caroline Criticizes the Elite
John Taylor of Caroline was a major opponent of the Federalist Party whose writings were well known in his day.
Though his primary focus was on helping the common man, his publications on agriculture would later be championed by Southern Secessionists.
John Taylor of Caroline
John Taylor of Caroline was orphaned at a young age.
Fortunately, his wealthy family left him in the care of his uncle, Edmond Pendleton.
Pendleton was a leading citizen of Virginia who gave Taylor an outstanding education.
After learning law in his uncle’s firm, Taylor passed the bar. This coincided with the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.
Colonel
Taylor decided to join the fight, serving as an officer in the Mid-Atlantic States.
John spent several years with the Continental Army before receiving election to the Virginia Assembly.
He rotated between the State Government and State Militia for the remainder of the war, eventually achieving the rank of Colonel.
Anti-Federalist
When the Constitution was written, John became an outspoken Anti-Federalist.
He would criticize the Federal Government (specifically, the Federalist Party) for the remainder of his life.
During this time, Taylor was appointed to fill vacancies in the US Senate on three different occasions, though he never completed a full six year stint.
For The People
John Taylor’s most notable service during the American Founding was his time as an author.
Despite his great wealth, Taylor championed the rights of the majority over the minority.
He saw Alexander Hamilton’s actions in the Treasury Department as an attempt to consolidate money in the hands of the elite at the expense of common folk. Several of his most important works covered this topic.
Furthermore, John was the leading voice when the Virginia Resolves were brought to the State Assembly. He firmly believed that the threat of session should be used as a means of controlling the Federal Government.
Secessionist Favorite
Taylor might be equally as known for his books about agriculture.
Not only did he offer ways to improve production, he thought cultivating the land was the most important way to develop a free society. It should be noted, this view was extremely hypocritical. John believed that slavery was wrong, but also that Black People were not intelligent enough to live as free people.
Because of this, coupled with his thoughts on session, John Taylor of Caroline was often heralded by the leaders of the American South who broke off from the Union during the Civil War.
This often overshadows Taylor’s writings which were meant to help his common man contemporaries avoid the tyranny of a National Government that he saw as attempting to consolidate power.
If you’d like to learn about other Anti-Federalists, I have a series on just that topic.
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