Joseph Hopkinson
Joseph Hopkinson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | |
| In office October 23, 1828 – January 15, 1842 | |
| Appointed by | John Quincy Adams |
| Preceded by | Richard Peters |
| Succeeded by | Archibald Randall |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1819 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Jared Ingersoll |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Edwards |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph Hopkinson November 12, 1770 |
| Died | January 15, 1842 (aged 71) |
| Resting place | Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery Bordentown, New Jersey |
| Party | Federalist |
| Relations | Thomas Mifflin |
| Parent |
|
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (A.B., A.M.) read law |
Joseph Hopkinson (November 12, 1770 – January 15, 1842) was a United States representative from Pennsylvania and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Education and career
[edit]Born on November 12, 1770, in Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania, British America,[1] Hopkinson received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1786 from the University of Pennsylvania, an Artium Magister degree in 1789 from the same institution and read law in 1791,[1] with William Rawle and James Wilson.[2] He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Philadelphia and Easton, Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1814.[1]
Notable cases
[edit]In 1795, Hopkinson defended the men charged with treason in their rebellion against a federal whiskey tax.[2] In 1799, he successfully represented Dr. Benjamin Rush in a libel suit against journalist William Cobbett.[2] He was counsel for Justice Samuel Chase in his impeachment trial before the United States Senate in 1804 and 1805.[3]
Congressional service
[edit]Hopkinson was elected as a Federalist from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 14th United States Congress.[3] He was reelected to the succeeding Congress and served from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1819.[3] He was not a candidate for reelection in 1818.[3]
Later career
[edit]Following his departure from Congress, Hopkinson resumed private practice in Philadelphia from 1819 to 1820, in Bordentown, New Jersey from 1820 to 1823, and in Philadelphia from 1823 to 1828.[1] He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1821 to 1822.[1]
Notable cases
[edit]In 1819, Hopkinson argued several landmark constitutional cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Dartmouth College v. Woodward, Sturges v. Crowninshield and McCulloch v. Maryland.[2] He was associated with Daniel Webster during the Dartmouth College case.[3]
Federal judicial service
[edit]Hopkinson received a recess appointment from President John Quincy Adams on October 23, 1828, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Richard Peters.[1] He was nominated to the same position by President Adams on December 11, 1828.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 1829, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on January 15, 1842, due to his death in Philadelphia.[1] He was interred in the old Borden-Hopkinson Burial Ground (now Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery) in Bordentown.[3]
Notable case
[edit]Hopkinson's 1833 opinion in Wheaton v. Peters established the foundations of modern American copyright law.[2]
Other service and activities
[edit]Hopkinson was Chairman of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1837.[3] He was secretary of the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in 1790 and 1791, and a trustee from 1806 to 1819, and from 1822 to 1842.[3] His civic and cultural activities included service as President of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and as Vice-President of the American Philosophical Society (elected in 1815).[2][4]
First American edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare
[edit]Hopkinson edited the first American edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, published in Philadelphia in 1795.[5] It is also the first edition of Shakespeare's complete works to be published outside of the British Isles.[6]
Hopkinson also penned the edition's preface and "The Life of the Author,"[7] marking the first instance of published American literary criticism of Shakespeare.[7] In the preface, Hopkinson criticizes the British editorial treatment of Shakespeare, claiming that British editors (like Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson) have "clogged [London editions] with...successive explanations" in pursuit of editorial preeminence. The public quarrels between British editors regarding their analyses, Hopkinson believed, stemmed from a desire for self-aggrandizement that detracted from Shakespeare's work itself. In protest, Hopkinson offers the American reader an edition of Shakespeare absent many of these so-called superfluous footnotes and encourages the American reader to engage with Shakespeare on their own terms.[7]
Composition
[edit]Hopkinson wrote the anthem Hail, Columbia in 1798.[3]
Family
[edit]
Hopkinson was the son of Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Continental Congress and the first United States District Judge for Pennsylvania.[3] In 1794, he married the daughter of Governor of Pennsylvania Thomas Mifflin.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Joseph Hopkinson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Joseph Hopkinson (1770–1842), University of Pennsylvania Archives". February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on February 2, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j United States Congress. "Joseph Hopkinson (id: H000784)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ Burton Alva Konkle (1931). Joseph Hopkinson, 1770-1842: Jurist, Scholar, Inspirer of the Arts. Internet Archive. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1-5128-1266-4.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ^ Westfall, Alfred Van Rensselaer (1939). American Shakespearean criticism, 1607-1865. Internet Archive. New York, The H.W. Wilson Co. p. 84.
- ^ a b c Sturgess, Kim C. (2004). Shakespeare and the American nation. Internet Archive. Cambridge, UK; New York : Cambridge University Press. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-0-521-83585-5.
Bibliography
[edit]- Konkle, Burton Alva. Joseph Hopkinson, 1770-1842, Jurist-Scholar-Inspirer of the Arts: Author of Hail Columbia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931.
Sources
[edit]- United States Congress. "Joseph Hopkinson (id: H000784)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Joseph Hopkinson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- The Political Graveyard
- Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania
External links
[edit]
- Joseph Hopkinson at Find a Grave
- The Hopkinson Family Papers, including correspondence, documents and printed materials relating to Joseph Hopkinson and other family members, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
