Roger Sherman

Claire Doll
MSMU Class of 2024

(7/2024) It is a challenge to research an individual you know nothing about. It is even harder when history is not your thing at all (shoutout FYATM writer Gracie, our history superstar!). So, when tasked for the third year in a row to choose a forgotten signer of the Declaration of Independence, I found myself sitting in a café in my town, struggling.

"Why do we keep doing this prompt every single year?" I think to myself. But I already know the reason why, a message ingrained in my mind constantly. It’s so we don’t forget. Or, rather, to revive those who have been forgotten and give them credit hundreds of years later. These are the men who have secured our country, our freedoms. Who are they? Why do they matter?

This year, I decided to go about a different process researching signers. It is very public knowledge that such well-known signers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison owned slaves. According to The Hill, while you may have seen quotes of the men speaking against slavery, "they never truly ended the practice of slavery in their personal lives" (Austin). While I can acknowledge that these were "the times" of owning slaves, and that the context of the 1700s is vastly different to the context of today, I still firmly desired to write about a signer of the Declaration of Independence that truly understood "independence" in all its capacity. A signer who not only refused to own slaves, but also actively advocated to end slavery. A signer who is forgotten—lost in history—but must be remembered by his beliefs and efforts.

Roger Sherman was born in Newtown, Massachusetts in April 1721 and was a lawyer. Before signing the document that would essentially create our country, Sherman studied law and became a justice of the peace in Litchfield County, eventually becoming a judge of the superior court. He supported American independence from Britain long before signing the Declaration of Independence, and he even helped draft the Articles of Confederation. In fact, according to Connecticut History, he "is the only person to have signed all four of the most significant documents in our nation’s early history: the Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution" (Mangan). Thomas Jefferson even said that Sherman was "a man who never said a foolish thing in his life."

Sherman married his wife, Elizabeth Hartwell, in November 1749 and had seven children, three of whom would serve as officers in the Continental army. However, Sherman’s wife soon died in October 1760. Sherman decided to resign and moved to New Haven, where he decided to settle into the life of a merchant. On his way back from a visit to his brother, Sherman passed by Rebecca Prescott, his brother’s wife’s niece, and began a second courtship, resulting in eight more children. Soon after, Sherman dove back into politics, elected to the General Assembly and appointed justice of peace for New Haven County. Sherman even served as the treasurer of Yale College until 1776.

Sherman is also most remembered for his large part in the Connecticut Compromise, which "gave each state an equal vote in the Senate and assigned seats based on population in the House" (Stoehr, The Editorial Board). Sherman played an integral role in ensuring that the United States would be a two-house law-making body.

Unlike many other signers of the Declaration of Independence, Sherman never owned a slave. In fact, he called the slave trade "iniquitous" and opposes a tax on slaves. He even contributed to fighting slavery in Connecticut and "eventually eliminated slavery in his home state of Connecticut" (Austin). Biographer Mark David Hall says, that "Sherman consistently opposed slavery because he believed all humans were made in the image of God and must be treated with dignity."

Discovering that someone from the eighteenth century held these beliefs and very much fought for human dignity to its fullest extent is fascinating. It’s these progressive efforts that drive our nation throughout history and eventually allow all people, regardless of their race, to achieve true freedom.

So, why did plenty other slaveowners sign the Declaration of Independence? Although Roger Sherman’s beliefs were not enough to abolish slavery altogether, he still exists as an opposing opinion to the other men who signed the document. Why was the concept of equality so skewed? How did the Declaration of Independence, which stated that "all men are created equal," defend human freedom without really defending it?

This would be asked again and again throughout history: as America faces the Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement. How did this document truly enforce liberty?

Maybe it did, and it didn’t. Although the document allowed colonists independence from Great Britain, it did not grant slaves rights. It did not acknowledge their freedom, their equality as people. It also did not acknowledge women, or Native Americans, or those belonging to different religions. The rights of everyone would be fought for—not granted by a document—all throughout history, and still, today.

But Roger Sherman is important. He carries the legacy as a progressive, and because of his name on the document, we know that someone who took part in our nation’s early history did speak out against slavery.

To conclude my last time writing about forgotten signers of the Declaration of Independence (for now), I want to emphasize how important it is to truly reflect on forgotten heroes of our nation’s history. Independence Day is honestly one of my favorite holidays; I love the parades, the flying flags, the cookouts. But I also love that we are all able to come together to not only criticize and acknowledge our nation’s rocky history, but also celebrate our progression as a country. I am happy to write about a signer who was actively against slavery, and I am even happier that now, more people know about him.

Read other articles by Claire Doll