Joseph Hopkinson

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Joseph Hopkinson (November 12, 1770 - January 15, 1842) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Joseph Hopkinson (son of Francis Hopkinson) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1786. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia in 1791 where he practiced his profession, except for the period of one year at Easton, Pennsylvania. He wrote lyrics to the anthem "Hail, Columbia" (music by Philip Phile) in 1798 and was associated with Daniel Webster in the Dartmouth College case. He served as counsel for Justice Samuel Chase in his impeachment trial before the United States Senate in 1804 and 1805.

Hopkinson was elected as a Federalist to the Fourteenth Congress. He was reelected to the succeeding Fifteenth Congress. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1818.

On February 22-27, 1819, he argued before the United States Supreme Court in the McCulloch v. Maryland case as part of the defense counsel. In this case he argued against Daniel Webster, speaking directly after him, and specifically his idea of equating taxation with the power to destroy. He argued strongly for States' rights: claiming a United States Bank Branch was unconstitutional based on the prohibition of congress to delegate power, a co-equal taxation power between the federal and state governments, the enumerated nature of the federal government and the reserved powers of the states (declared in the 10th amendment).

He moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, in 1820, and served as a member of the New Jersey House of Assembly. He returned to Philadelphia in 1823, and became judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, serving from 1828 to 1842. He was the chairman of the State constitutional convention in 1837. He served as secretary of the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in 1790 and 1791, and was a trustee from 1806 to 1819 and 1822 to 1842. He died in Philadelphia in 1842. Interment in the old Borden-Hopkinson Burial Ground in Bordentown, New Jersey.

[edit] Bibliography

• Konkle, Burton Alva. Joseph Hopkinson, 1770-1842, Jurist-Scholar-Inspirer of the Arts: Author of Hail Columbia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931.

[edit] Sources

• Joseph Hopkinson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Political Graveyard
• Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania

Preceded by Adam Seybert William Anderson John Conard Charles J. Ingersoll

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district 1815 - 1819 1815 - 1817 alongside: William Milnor and Thomas Smith 1815 alongside: Jonathan Williams 1815 - 1819 alongside: John Sergeant 1817 - 1819 alongside: William Anderson and Adam Seybert

Succeeded by Samuel Edwards Thomas Forrest John Sergeant Joseph Hemphill