Joseph Hopkinson
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | |
| In office October 23, 1828 – January 15, 1842 | |
| Appointed by | John Quincy Adams |
| Preceded by | Richard Peters |
| Succeeded by | Archibald Randall |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1819 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Jared Ingersoll |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Edwards |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph Hopkinson (1770-11-12)November 12, 1770 Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania, British America |
| Died | January 15, 1842(1842-01-15) (aged 71) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Resting place | Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery Bordentown, New Jersey |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Relations | Thomas Mifflin |
| Parent |
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| Education | University of Pennsylvania (A.B., A.M.) read law |
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Joseph Hopkinson (November 12, 1770 – January 15, 1842) was a United States representative from Pennsylvania and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Born on November 12, 1770, in Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania, British America,[1] Hopkinson received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1786 from the University of Pennsylvania, an Artium Magister degree in 1789 from the same institution and read law in 1791,[1] with William Rawle and James Wilson.[2] He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Philadelphia and Easton, Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1814.[1]
In 1795, Hopkinson defended the men charged with treason in their rebellion against a federal whiskey tax.[2] In 1799, he successfully represented Dr. Benjamin Rush in a libel suit against journalist William Cobbett.[2] He was counsel for Justice Samuel Chaseinhis impeachment trial before the United States Senate in 1804 and 1805.[3]
Hopkinson was elected as a Federalist from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 14th United States Congress.[3] He was reelected to the succeeding Congress and served from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1819.[3] He was not a candidate for reelection in 1818.[3]
Following his departure from Congress, Hopkinson resumed private practice in Philadelphia from 1819 to 1820, in Bordentown, New Jersey from 1820 to 1823, and in Philadelphia from 1823 to 1828.[1] He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1821 to 1822.[1]
In 1819, Hopkinson argued several landmark constitutional cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Dartmouth College v. Woodward, Sturges v. Crowninshield and McCulloch v. Maryland.[2] He was associated with Daniel Webster during the Dartmouth College case.[3]
Hopkinson received a recess appointment from President John Quincy Adams on October 23, 1828, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Richard Peters.[1] He was nominated to the same position by President Adams on December 11, 1828.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 1829, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on January 15, 1842, due to his death in Philadelphia.[1] He was interred in the old Borden-Hopkinson Burial Ground (now Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery) in Bordentown.[3]
Hopkinson's 1833 opinion in Wheaton v. Peters established the foundations of modern American copyright law.[2]
Hopkinson was Chairman of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1837.[3] He was secretary of the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in 1790 and 1791, and a trustee from 1806 to 1819, and from 1822 to 1842.[3] His civic and cultural activities included service as President of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and as Vice-President of the American Philosophical Society (elected in 1815).[2][4]
Hopkinson edited the first American edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, published in Philadelphia in 1795.[5] It is also the first edition of Shakespeare's complete works to be published outside of the British Isles.[6]
Hopkinson also penned the edition's preface and "The Life of the Author,"[7] marking the first instance of published American literary criticism of Shakespeare.[7] In the preface, Hopkinson criticizes the British editorial treatment of Shakespeare, claiming that British editors (like Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson) have "clogged [London editions] with...successive explanations" in pursuit of editorial preeminence. The public quarrels between British editors regarding their analyses, Hopkinson believed, stemmed from a desire for self-aggrandizement that detracted from Shakespeare's work itself. In protest, Hopkinson offers the American reader an edition of Shakespeare absent many of these so-called superfluous footnotes and encourages the American reader to engage with Shakespeare on their own terms.[7]
Hopkinson wrote the anthem Hail, Columbia in 1798.[3]
Hopkinson was the son of Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Continental Congress and the first United States District Judge for Pennsylvania.[3] In 1794, he married the daughter of Governor of Pennsylvania Thomas Mifflin.[2]
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district 1815–1819 |
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| Preceded by | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 1829–1842 |
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