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expedition to Canada to enlist Canadian support
for the Revolution, 1776; delegate, Continental
Congress, 1776 (elected in July 1776), 1777-1778
(elected in February 1777 and December 1777),
1780 (elected in November 1780, but did not at-
tend; resigned on January 3, 1781); senator, U.S.
Congress, 1789-1791, 1791-1792 (resigned on No-
vember 30, 1792); nominated by George Washing-
ton to be one of three commissioners to treat with
the western Indians, 1793, but declined because of
advanced age. STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE IS-
SUES, opposed the Stamp Act, and spoke of the
possibility of armed conflict, 1765. Writing as
"First Citizen," he carried on a public debate with
"Antilon," Daniel Dulany, Jr. (1722-1797), in the
Maryland Gazette, January-July, 1773. Carroll
opposed the proclamation of Gov. Robert Eden
(1741-1784) setting fees for civil officers and sup-
ported his position with careful legal reasoning.
His stand brought him a popular following and he
was generally considered to have won the argu-
ment. Signed the Declaration of Independence in
August 1776. Consistently opposed Maryland's
confiscation of Loyalist properties as being impoli-
tic, uncivilized, adding to the difficulties in making
peace, financially unsound, and promoting specu-
lation and corruption. Protested a bill in May
1783 concerning admission and qualification stan-
dards for lawyers, intended as retribution for sus-
pected Toryism and monopolizing by members of
the legal profession. Opposed to emitting paper
money as proposed by Samuel Chase(1741-1811),
1787. Supporter of the ratification of the U.S.
Constitution, 1787-1788. While in the U.S. Senate,
he opposed the use of titles for the president and
high government officials, 1789. Advocated a site
on the Potomac River as the permanent seat of
Congress, 1790. Introduced a bill in the Maryland
Senate for gradual abolition of slavery, 1797. Op-
posed Thomas Jefferson and the Democrats, 1800.
Opposed war with England in 1812 on the
grounds that England was fighting to rid Europe
of Napoleon Bonaparte. Supported Andrew Jack-
son in the 1820s. Elected president of the Ameri-
can Colonization Society, 1830. Used his fortune
to support education; contributed to the fund
which enabled artist Charles Willson Peale to
study in London, 1767; supported St. John's Col-
lege, Annapolis, 1790-1803; member of the first
public library in Baltimore Town, 1795; and gave
money and land to St. Charles College, Anne
Arundel County. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: Carroll was generally re-
garded by his contemporaries as one of the wealth-
iest men in the colonies. John Adams estimated
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Carroll's annual income at £10,000 sterling and
"increasing" in 1774. Two years later Adams
wrote that his fortune was "perhaps the largest in
America," from £150,000 to £200,000 sterling.
Senator William Maclay called Carroll "the rich-
est man in the Union" in 1789. A part of Carroll's
personal fortune was land based. He received sub-
stantial rents from his leased land, principally the
Carrollton plantation in Frederick County and the
lots in Baltimore City which he had developed and
rented out. By 1804 the latter were yielding $2,500
per year. The Doughoregan Manor plantation in
northern Anne Arundel County consistently pro-
duced a profit, which in 1819 amounted to $6,900
per year. In 1768 Carroll estimated that he would
inherit from his father over 300 slaves with an av-
erage value of about £30 sterling each; and in
1783, shortly after his father's death, Carroll was
assessed as owning 453 slaves on his Anne Arun-
del County properties (416 on "Doughoregan
Manor"). During the next twenty years Carroll
tried to reduce his slave holdings, and by 1800
there were only 182 slaves at "Doughoregan
Manor." However, this number increased again in
the years before his death. The assessed value of
Carroll's personal property in Anne Arundel and
Talbot counties was £12,946, including the 453
slaves noted above and 1,652 oz. plate, 1783. Al-
though his land was important to Carroll and he
carefully directed its management until just a few
months before he died, the bulk of his income was
derived from investments. Prior to the Revolution
Carroll joined his father in operating virtually as
colonial bankers. They had nearly £30,000 sterling
lent out on interest in 1768. Twenty years later
that principal had grown to £85,000 sterling, or
an estimated $375,000 including accruing interest.
In 1798 the principal was £128,705 sterling and in
1804 it was £143,000 sterling. The last figure ac-
counted for 46 percent of Carroll's "monied es-
tate" and represented a heavy investment in high-
yield bank stocks and U.S. government securities
with which he had replaced the private mortgages
and bonds of the earlier period. Also in 1804 Car-
roll began investing in British securities. Ten years
later he held £6, 150 sterling in five percent British
naval stock. Before his death Carroll sold his Brit-
ish holdings and invested the profits in the Bank
of Montreal, Canada. Throughout his life Carroll
acted to increase his monied estate to the greatest
extent consistent with its security. He was deter-
mined to pass on to his children the fruits of his
father's labors suitably expanded by his own ef-
forts. From the date of his children's marriages
each received from Carroll about $10,000 per year
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