America’s First Whistleblowers

The United States’ first whistleblowers emerged not from a corporate office or intelligence agency, but from the deck of a warship in the midst of the American Revolution. In 1777, officers of the Continental Navy filed a formal complaint accusing their commander, Commodore Esek Hopkins, of abusing his authority and violating the ethical standards of wartime conduct. Their decision to speak out against the most senior naval officer in the service came at enormous personal risk, yet their actions prompted the Continental Congress to pass what many regard as the first whistleblower protection law in American history.

The Men and Their Commander

Two of the whistleblowers – Samuel Shaw and Richard Marven – were Rhode Islanders serving under Commodore Hopkins in the Continental Navy. Shaw was a midshipman in his early twenties, while Marven, a third lieutenant, was just a few years older. Hopkins was a politically connected naval officer whose brother, Stephen Hopkins, had been governor of Rhode Island, served as chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and had signed the Declaration of Independence.

Origins and the Incident

In the winter of 1777, amid the Revolutionary War, officers aboard the warship USS Warren, which was part of the fledgling Continental naval force, secretly gathered to complain about the conduct of Commodore Esek Hopkins, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Continental...

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