1781 Delaware gubernatorial election

1781 Delaware gubernatorial election

←  1778 November 6, 1781 1783  →

Nominee John Dickinson Party Nonpartisan 1st ballot 25

President before election Caesar Rodney Nonpartisan Elected President John Dickinson Nonpartisan

The 1781 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1781. The councilor from Kent County John Dickinson was elected president of Delaware for a term of three-years. ^[1]

Delaware politics during the 1780s witnessed the rise of conservative and radical political factions, with the radical leaders predominating during the American War of Independence. The withdraw of British Army forces from Philadelphia in 1779 preceded the rise of the conservative faction, with which Dickinson, formerly an opponent of American independence, was associated. Dickinson's election to succeed the radical outgoing president Caesar Rodney represented the ascendency of a nationalist group of Founding Fathers who favored a more powerful central government for the United States. ^[2]

The election was conducted by the Delaware General Assembly. Dickinson was elected with a majority on the first ballot. ^[1]

General election

1781 Delaware gubernatorial election ^[3]

Candidate	First ballot
	Count	Percent
John Dickinson	25	96.15
Others	1	3.85
Total	26	100.00

References

1. Munroe 1954, p. 98.
2. Munroe 1954, pp. 97–98.
3. Delaware 1887, p. 663.

Bibliography

• Delaware (1887). Minutes of the Council of the Delaware State, from 1776 to 1792. Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware.
• Munroe, John A. (1954). Federalist Delaware, 1775–1815. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.