John Swanwick (1760 – August 1, 1798) was an Americanmerchant, poet and politician. He served in thePennsylvania General Assembly and from 1795 to 1798, and served as theUnited States representative fromPennsylvania in the4th and5th congresses.

Born in Liverpool, England, Swanwick and his family left England for the American colonies about 1770, settling inCaln Township inChester County.^[1][2] His father was appointed as the commander of a revenue cutter, responsible for enforcing customs on theDelaware River.

In 1774, he became an apprentice to financierRobert Morris.^[3] 1781, he was appointed as the Receiver of Continental Taxes for Pennsylvania. His work for Morris later earned him a junior partnership in the firm.

While Morris trusted Swanwick at the company, he was not entirely trusted during theAmerican Revolution or in the newly independent United States. John’s father, Richard, was a staunchloyalist, which resulted in the senior Swanwick being forced to flee toNew York after the British evacuation from Philadelphia, returning in 1783.^[1] In 1778, Swanwick was accused of forwarding secrets to the British via his exiled father. An investigation cleared him and Swanwick joined the second militia of the Sixth Battalion. However, even after the Revolution, he was accused of having British sympathies and wavering loyalty to the United States.^[1]

When theBank of North America was established byAlexander Hamilton, Swanwick joins his partners, Morris andThomas Willing in investing in the bank’s shares. While Willing served as the bank’s president, Swanwick ran much of the merchant operations of Willing, Morris and Swanwick.^[1]

Initially, he was not active politically, but supported theFederalist Party and the election ofGeorge Washington asPresident of the United States. But his allegiance began to shift toward theDemocratic-Republican Party as he opposed trade policy under Hamilton and Washington that favored British interests. Hamilton’s establishment of theFirst Bank of the United States also helped push Swanwick away from the Federalists as this new national bank threatened his own investment in the Bank of North America.^[1]

In 1792, Swanwick was elected to thePennsylvania General Assembly on a ticket that opposed Federalist policies. This was a heavily contested seat as Federalists had hoped to ensure election of one of the own to fillWilliam Maclay’s seat in theUnited States Senate. In the state assembly, Swanwick chaired the Ways and Means committee, which increased his power. He supported the establishment of a state hospital, public support for schools and the end ofdebtors' prison. After a dispute with the Bank of North America, Swanwick pushed to re-establish theBank of Pennsylvania. He later supported establishment of theInsurance Company of North America, which continues to exist as a unit ofChubb Limited.^[1][4]

In the1794 election, Swanwick ran for theUnited States House of Representatives against the FederalistThomas Fitzsimons. As a merchant, Swanwick was opposed to excise taxes, which were supported by the Federalists, however, in theWhiskey Rebellion, he broke with radical factions to support raising a militia to put down the rebellion. He considered the rebellion to be undemocratic and established himself on the side of the rule of law while still opposing the excise tax. His stance, in addition to his personal financial resources, and the unpopularity of Fitzsimmons helped him win the election by 58 votes.^[1]

Once in Congress he strongly opposed theJay Treaty and worked to persuade Washington not to sign it. He organized demonstrations in Philadelphia and supported a move in the House to refuse to fund the money necessary to execute the treaty. The attempted failed in the house 50-49 withFrederick Muhlenberg casting the deciding vote. Swanwick then broke with the Republicans and supported construction of frigates as authorized by theNaval Act of 1794 believing that the United States should have its own Navy and should build ships domestically rather than buying them from overseas.^[1] In 1796, he defeatedEdward Tilghman by 70 votes to win re-election.

In 1796, Swanwick’s personal finances began a slide toward insolvency. The city of Philadelphia suffered recessions in both 1796 and 1797, which resulted in the collapse of a number of trading houses. Swanwick sought financial assistance, but received little. His former partner Thomas Willing, refused to provide debt relief and only offered loans at high rates of interest. In September 1797, he assigned much of his property to trustees in order to settle his debt and in January 1798, his library was auctioned to settle his debts.^[1]

In addition to his work as a merchant and politician, Swanwick wrote poetry and published his works or presented them at society affairs. HisPoems on Several Occasions was compiled in his final year at his home.

With an epidemic ofYellow fever in Philadelphia in 1798, Swanwick spent much of his time at home. However, he ultimately contracted the disease and died on August 1, 1798, in Philadelphia, where he was interred atSt. Peter's Church.

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)

• United States Congress."John Swanwick (id: S001095)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard

• 1760 births
• 1798 deaths
• Anglican poets
• American male poets
• Merchants from Pennsylvania
• Democratic-Republican Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania
• 18th-century American poets
• 18th-century American male writers
• Writers from Philadelphia
• Politicians from Philadelphia
• Poets from Pennsylvania
• Burials at St. Peter's churchyard, Philadelphia
• Deaths from yellow fever
• 18th-century American merchants
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• United States representatives who owned slaves

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