George Clymer

Greetings. I am George Climber, one of just six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I was an orphan at one, no father to guide me, no mother to soothe me, just a ledger, a warehouse, and a very long apprenticeship. My uncle raised me in his mercantile firm in Philadelphia, where I learned the power of numbers and the danger of tyranny. I watched Parliament tighten the screws on trade, every tax, every restriction, every insult from across the sea. They didn't just threaten liberty, they threatened our livelihoods. So I stood up, joined the committee of safety, and when Congress called, I did not hesitate. I helped manage the Continental Treasury. When our paper money collapsed, I did the unthinkable. I traded my own silver for worthless currency to feed an army. And when the army ran out of flour in 1780, I helped build a bank, privately chartered, to raise the money ourselves, keeping Washington's men from dissolving into hunger and defeat. When the British marched towards Philadelphia, many fled. I stayed with Robert Morris and George Walton. We kept the doors open, kept the lights on, kept the flame alive. After the war, I served in our first Congress. I helped shape the Constitution strong enough to endure and flexible enough to grow. Commerce taught me how to build. Independence taught me what to build for.