GALLOWAY, JOSEPH (1731-1803). An American lawyer and pamphleteer, prominent as a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War. He was born in Kent County, Md., but early re moved to Philadelphia. Almost continuously from 1757 to 1774 he was a member of the Penn sylvania Assembly, and for twelve years was Speaker of the House. In 1764 he was associated with Franklin in the contest with the Proprietary Government, and, in opposition to Dickinson, advocated the erection of Pennsylvania into a royal province. On the approach of the Revo lution he was a vigorous opponent of war and of independence. In 1774 he was chosen by the Assembly to be one of the Pennsylvania delegates to the first Continental Congress, and here signed the Association, and attracted general attention by introducing (on September 28th) his celebrated 'Plan of a proposed Union' between Great Britain and her colonies. This plan pro. vided for a federation under British supervision of the American colonies, each colony to "retain its present constitution and powers of regulating and governing its own internal police in all cases whatsoever;" for a President-General, "to be ap pointed by the King," and for a Grand Council, "to be chosen by the representatives of the peo ple of the several colonies in their respective assemblies, once in every three years," and to meet once a year or oftener if necessary—the President-General and Grand Council to consti tute "an inferior distinct branch of the British Legislature, united and incorporated with it." for certain specific purposes. This scheme was supported in Congress by John Jay and James Duane, and was rejected by a vote of only six colonies to five. In December, 1776, Galloway joined the English army under Sir William Howe, and, on the capture of Philadelphia, be came superintendent of the port, of prohibited articles, and of the police of the city and suburbs.
After the evacuation of Philadelphia he accom panied the British army to New York, and in 1778 went to England, where he passed the rest of his life. Soon after his departure his life was attainted, and his property, valued at about £40,000, was confiscated by the Continental Con gress. He was one of the ablest of the Loyalist pamphleteers. Among his best-known pamphlets are: A Candid Examination of the Mutual Claims of Great Britain and the Colonies (1775) ; Letters to a Nobleman on the Conduct of the War in the Middle Colonies (1779); His torical and Political Reflections on the Rise and Progress of the American Rebellion (1780) ; Cool Thoughts on the Consequences to Great Britain of American Independence (1780); Political Re flections on the Late Colonial Governments (1782); and The Claim of the American Loyal ists Reviewed and Maintained upon Incon trovertible Principles of Law and Justice (1788). Galloway also wrote Brief Commentaries upon such Parts of the Revelations and Other Proph ecies as Immediately Refer to the Present Times (1802), and The Prophetic or Anticipated His tory of the Church of Rome, Written and Pub lished more than Him Hundred Years Before the Rise of that Church (1803). Consult: Balch (ed.), The Examination of Joseph Galloway by a Committee of the House of Commons (Phila delphia, 1855) ; Tyler, Literary History of the American Revolution (New York, 1897) ; and Baldwin, "Galloway, the Loyalist Politician," in the Pennsylvania. Magazine of History and Biog raphy, vol. xxvi. (Philadelphia, 1902).