William Rawle | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| U.S. District Attorney for Pennsylvania | |
| In office 1791–1800 | |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Jared Ingersoll |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 28, 1759 Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania, British America |
| Died | April 12, 1836 (aged 76) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Relations | Francis Rawle (great-grandfather) |
| Children | 12 |
| Parent(s) | Francis Rawle Rebecca Warner |
| Signature | _(cropped_signature).jpg){kind=small} |
William Rawle (April 28, 1759 – April 12, 1836) was an American lawyer from Philadelphia, who served as United States district attorney in Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1800. He founded The Rawle Law Offices in 1798 which evolved into Rawle & Henderson, the oldest law firm in the United States. He was the first chancellor of the Philadelphia bar association and published several influential legal texts including A View of the Constitution of the United States. He was the first to argue for secession in the United States.
He was a Quaker and an abolitionist. He was a founder and president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and president of the Maryland Society for the Abolition of Society. He argued before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1805 against the constitutionality of slavery.
He was a civic leader in Philadelphia as a founder and first president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a founder of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, board member of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania for forty years.