Galloway, Joseph (1731–1803)
GALLOWAY, JOSEPH (1731–1803)
A conservative political leader, Joseph Galloway long sought compromise with England. At the first continental congress (1774) he proposed establishment of an "inferior and distinct" branch of Parliament in America. A president-general, chosen by the king, would preside over a "grand council," execute its acts (to which he must assent), and direct all matters concerning more than one colony. Approval by both this council and Parliament would be required for all "general acts," but each colony would retain its own government. Galloway's plan lost by one vote. Although he opposed a parliamentary tax and defended the colonies' right to govern themselves, he accepted parliamentary supremacy and understood English attempts to have the colonies share in the cost of their defense. Galloway's loyalism doomed him to exile after Philadelphia's capture by American forces in 1778.
David Gordon
(1986)
Bibliography
Werner, Raymond C. 1931 Joseph Galloway. In Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Scribner's.