James Wilson, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Fife, near St. Andrews, in Scotland. He went to university in Fife, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, but he did not graduate from any of the three universities.
In 1765 he sailed to the American Colonies and settled in Philadelphia where he was employed by the College of Philadelphia, which is now called the University of Pennsylvania. He eventually received an honorary degree from Penn.
Wilson was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1767. It was his premise of no taxation without representation that became a centeral argument for the colonies to separate from Britain.
