John Dickinson wrote twelve "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies," which were published in the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a Philadelphia newspaper, at the rate of about one a week between December 1767 and February 1768. They were republished in other newspapers shortly after their appearance, and pamphlet versions soon circulated throughout the colonies. The content of each letter was as follows:
1.) 2 December 1767: The first letter opened with the statement: "I am a farmer, settled, after a variety of fortunes, near the banks of the river Delaware, in the province of Pennsylvania." The missive also described some of the author's personal qualities —his education, social status, interest in promoting the cause of liberty, and his view that men had to work to defeat new threats to their liberty.
2.) 7 December 1767: The second letter addressed the Townshend duties and focused on...