Caesar Rodney, best known for his heroic ride for independence in 1776, played an active and important role in Delaware politics for over twenty-five years. A wealthy gentleman farmer from Kent County, he held many political and governmental offices beginning in 1755. He was first elected to the Delaware Assembly in 1758 and served continuously from 1761 to 1776, except for 1771. He was elected speaker of the Assembly in 1769, 1773, 1774, and 1775.

He took a leading role in events leading up to the American Revolution, always promoting the rights of American colonists against British policies. In 1765 he served as one of Delaware's delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York. In the summer of 1774, as speaker of the Assembly, Rodney took the extra-legal step of calling the Assembly into special session. At that session, he was elected one of Delaware's delegates to the First Continental Congress. He was later elected to the Second Continental Congress. Rodney's belief in the American position, combined with England's increasingly hard-line stance, led him to believe that independence was the only answer for the American colonies. In all of this, Rodney and the others involved were taking a great risk, for they did not know whether they would succeed.

The heroic ride for which Rodney is best known took place on the night of July 1-2, 1776. After the resolution for independence was introduced in Congress in June, Rodney returned home to Dover. When fellow delegate Thomas McKean learned that a vote on independence was about to take place, he sent an express messenger to Rodney. Rodney's presence was vital. In the Continental Congress each colony had one vote based on the votes of its individual delegates. Delaware had two other representatives. Thomas McKean would vote for independence, George Read would vote against it. Those votes would cancel each other out, leaving Delaware without a vote unless Caesar Rodney was present to vote for independence.

Rodney received McKean's message on the evening of July 1. He left Dover immediately. It is not known whether he rode a horse or took a carriage, the exact route he took, or how long the journey lasted. Rodney arrived in Philadelphia on the afternoon of July 2, just in time cast his vote. Because of Caesar Rodney's heroic ride, Delaware voted for independence in 1776.

After this, Caesar Rodney was briefly out of political power. In March 1778 he was elected president (governor) of Delaware. He held that post until November 1781. After that, he lived quietly until his death. Caesar Rodney never married. There is no portrait of him.

SOURCE LINK: https://web.archive.org/web/20051126225307/http://www.hsd.org/DHE/DHE_who_Rodney.htm

The Caesar Rodney Institute was founded in 2008 by a group of concerned Delawareans.

CRI is funded entirely from the voluntary contributions of individuals, foundations and corporations. CRI neither solicits nor accepts government funding. CRI does not make public the names of individual donors without their prior consent.

Individuals who support the Caesar Rodney Institute span the political spectrum from neo-liberal to conservative, populist to libertarian and independent. What CRI supporters have in common is an interest in an accountable and efficient government.

No, CRI is unique. It is the only Delaware organization that covers a broad range of public policy issues and promotes solutions based on a framework of individual liberty, property rights, free markets and limited government, with a focus on Delaware state and local government. Other single issue organizations do exist in Delaware that share an overlapping philosophy.

Yes. CRI is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN). SPN is a coalition of some 50 other state-level, free-market institutes across the country.

Yes, the Cato Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, and the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas, Texas.

No. The Caesar Rodney Institute is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan public policy research institute, commonly referred to as a "think tank." It is not affiliated with any political party, political organization, or political action committee (PAC).

CRI gladly accepts contributions of any size. However, a $100 minimum contribution per year is suggested if a person or organization wishes to receive every Institute publication, report, book, and study, as well as invitations to CRI events. Individuals who contribute less than $100 per year will be placed on our mailing list, but they will only receive selected publications.
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CRI's philosophical roots can be traced to Henry David Thoreau, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Rose Wilder Lane, John Locke, James Madison, George Mason, Ayn Rand, and Adam Smith. Contemporary equivalents include Milton Friedman, Friedrich A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Charles Murray, P.J. O'Rourke, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Williams.

CRI concentrates on four main areas: education, energy, economic policy & analysis, and health policy.

Yes. CRI policy analysts and staff members routinely appear on radio and television programs, as guests on public forum panels and they talk before civic groups and organizations. Inquiries about speakers are welcomed.

The Caesar Rodney Institute distributes its studies to its database of supporters and contributors, legislators, top-level government officials, the media-electronic and print, educators and select audiences. CRI policy analysts and staff members routinely appear on radio and television programs, as guests on public forum panels and give presentation before a variety of civic groups and organizations.

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