Robert Whitehill (1735-1813)
Camp Hill, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Legislator and official lived here in Lowther Manor on land conveyed by the Penns in 1771. At the state's 1787 convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution, Whitehill led the Anti-federalist minority; he presented amendments later embodied in the Bill of Rights. A drafter of the 1776 state constitution, he served terms with both the legislature and executive council; was in Congress, 1805-13.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Robert Whitehill settled on this land in Lowther Manor, conveyed by the Penn family in 1771, and became one of Pennsylvania's most persistent voices for popular rights. A drafter of the radical 1776 state constitution, he led the Anti-Federalist minority at the 1787 convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution, pressing amendments to guard individual liberties that were later echoed in the Bill of Rights, and he served in the legislature, the executive council, and Congress.
Why it matters
Whitehill embodied the Anti-Federalist insistence that a new national government be checked by explicit protections for the people—demands that helped produce the Bill of Rights.
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Related people
- · Robert Whitehill
Related events
- · Pennsylvania ratifying convention (1787)
- · Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776
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