Mifflin, Thomas (1744–1800)

US soldier and politician. One of the most radical members of the First Continental Congress, he became quartermaster general of the Continental Army (1775–78). After supporting a plot to replace George Washington with Gen Horatio Gates, he disavowed it; but under criticism for his actions as quartermaster, he resigned. A Democratic-Republican in the Confederation Congress (1782–84), he attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and supported the new Constitution. He became governor of Pennsylvania (1790–99) and pursued Jeffersonian policies; reluctantly calling for action against those involved in the so-called Whisky Insurrection of 1794, he dealt leniently with its leaders. Mifflin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.