An "Italian" signed the American Declaration of Independence

A few days ago I twittered that "an Italian was the first to sign the United States Declaration of Independence". Such post raised a lot of interest and also some discussion about the real Italian heritage of Caesar Rodney. Obviously, Twitter with its 140 characters limitation calls for synthesis. It would have been more correct to define Caesar Rodney "of Italian descent" from his grandmother's side. She came from the Adelmare family in Treviso. They emigrated to England and then to America.

A quick research on the Internet let you find many posts claiming Caesar Rodney as Italian and many working hard to demonstrate that such origins are very diluted and unconsequential. With some surprise I found even a very racist blog against Italians disguised as a "scientific" genealogy website. I will not give its link because such people don't deserve publicity.

Would have Caesar Rodney declared himself "Italian" to the US Census today? I don't know. Probably not. But I think that his Italian blood is a small curious fact well worth a smile for anybody living in Italy and not much more. For sure, not zealot fights to demonstrate delusional racial supremacies.

As a side note: Rodney may not have been the only "Italian" to sign the Declaration of Independence. There is also William Paca, who was an important general during the Revolutionary War and later Governor of Maryland. His Italian origins are suggested just from his surname and are not sure, but his descendants were persuaded that they were true.