Summary
Jared Ingersoll a Philadelphia attorneys who spoke little at the Constitutional Convention, and later argued several Supreme Court cases.
Jared Ingersoll | Signer of the Constitution
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Biography
Jared Ingersoll was the son and namesake of a British colonial officer who was a Loyalist during the American Revolution. The younger Jared was born in Connecticut in 1749 and received a top-notch early education before attending Yale. He graduated in 1766 at the age of 17 and began to manage the business affairs of his father who was then living in Philadelphia. Jared eventually joined his father there, studied law, and was admitted to the state bar.
Largely to avoid the growing storm brewing over colonial relations with Britain, Jared Jr. sailed to London to study law at one of the Inns of Court. He completed his studies as the colonies declared independence, and he delayed returning home by undertaking a two-year tour of Europe. But if he left Philadelphia as an opponent of independence, something happened during these two years to weaken his loyalty to the Crown and embrace independence.
Soon after returning to America, he took on several of the clients of one of Philadelphia’s premier attorneys, family friend Joseph Reed, who was preoccupied with his duties on the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. In 1780, Ingersoll made his political debut by winning a seat in the Continental Congress.
He was then chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention where, like fellow Pennsylvania delegate Robert Morris, Jr., he rarely spoke. William Pierce believed that “a modesty in his character” prevented Ingersoll from speaking up. Although Ingersoll had been a vocal proponent of revising the Articles of Confederation, writing in May of 1787 to Thomas Shippen that the Confederation “seems to be expiring,” he was uncertain if a new system would be better. Nevertheless, he signed his name to the Constitution.
Ingersoll’s career in politics continued with little interruption after the Constitution was adopted. He held a number of offices in Philadelphia but did not neglect his legal practice. By 1791, he began to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he argued several important cases before its justices. Although he sometimes took the losing side, his arguments advanced the understanding of difficult constitutional issues. For example, in Chisholm v Georgia (1793), a landmark case in states’ rights, Ingersoll argued that Georgia was immune from being sued in federal court without its consent. The court decided against him and ruled that a state may be sued in federal court by a citizen of another state. This was a blow to state sovereignty that was reversed by the 11th Amendment shortly thereafter.
Throughout his long career in politics, Ingersoll remained a loyal Federalist. He was disturbed by Jefferson’s victory in the 1800 election, and, in 1812, he was DeWitt Clinton’s Vice Presidential running mate, hoping to defeat the incumbent James Madison. The loss to Madison stung, especially since Madison won Ingersoll’s home state of Pennsylvania.
Ingersoll died in 1822, shortly after his 73rd birthday.
