Thomas McKean's father was born in Ballymoney, and according to a 1970s biography, both of his grandfathers had come to Ulster from Scotland, and were involved at Derry and the Boyne. On his maternal side, his grandfather carried battle scars for the rest of his life.
McKean wrote this letter about two weeks before the Declaration of Independence, which he would be involved in finalising the wording of on 2-4 July, rallying the Associators militias of Pennsylvania:
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To the Associators of Pennsylvania :
Gentlemen: —
The only design of our meeting together was to put an end to our own power in the province, by fixing upon a plan for calling a convention, to form a government under the authority of the people. But the sudden and unexpected separation of the late assembly, has compelled us to undertake the execution of a resolve of Congress, for calling forth 4500 of the militia of the Province, to join the militia of the neighboring colonies, to form a camp for our immediate protection.. We presume only to recommend the plan we have formed to you, trusting that in a case of so much consequence, your love of virtue and zeal for liberty will supply the want of authority delegated to us expressly for that purpose.
We need not remind you that you are now furnished with new motives to animate and support your courage. You are now about to contend against the power of Great Britain, in order to displace one set of villains to make room for another. Your arms will not be enervated in the day of battle with the reflection, that you are to risk your lives or shed your blood for a British tyrant; or that your posterity will have your work to do over again. You are about to contend for permanent freedom, to be supported by a government which will be derived from yourselves, and which will have for its object, not the emolument of one man or class of men only, but the safety, liberty and happiness of every individual in the community. We call upon you, therefore, by the respect and obedience which are due to the authority of the United Colonies to concur in this important measure. The present campaign will probably decide the fate of America. It is now in your power to immortalize your names, by mingling your achievements with the events of the year 1776 — a year which we hope will be famed in the annals of history to the end of time, for establishing upon a lasting foundation the liberties of one quarter of the globe.
Remember the honor of our colonies is at stake. Should you desert the common cause at the present juncture, the glory you have acquired by your former exertions of strength and virtue, will be tarnished; and our friends and brethren, who are now acquiring laurels in the most remote parts of America, will reproach us and blush to own themselves natives or inhabitants of Pennsylvania.
But there are other motives before you. Your houses, your fields, the legacies of your ancestors, or the dearbought fruits of your own industry, and your liberty, now urge you to the field. These cannot plead with you in vain, or we might point out to you further, your wives, your children, your aged fathers and mothers, who now look up to you for aid, and hope for salvation in this day of calamity, only from the instrumentality of your swords.
Remember the name of Pennsylvania. Think of your ancestors and of your posterity.
Signed by the unanimous order of the conference,
Thomas McKean, President.
June 25. 1776.
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