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Prominent Patriots in the Struggle for Independence
Forgotten
Presidents
A series of leaders guided the destiny of the United States in the fifteen
years before George Washington took the oath of office ... more
Biographies
of the Founding Fathers by John Vinci.
Biographies of 103 signers of The Declaration of
Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and The United States
Constitution, taken from "Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of
Independence", by the Rev. Charles A. Goodrich (1829) and "The
United States Manual of Biography and History", by James V. Marshall.
(James B. Smith & Co., Philadelphia, 1856).
John
Adams
Learned and thoughtful, John Adams was more remarkable
as a political philosopher than as a politician. "People and
nations are forged in the fires of adversity," he said, doubtless
thinking of his own as well as ... more
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Samuel
Adams
Among those who signed the Declaration of Independence,
and were conspicuous in the revolution, there existed, of course, a great
diversity of intellectual endowments; nor did all render to their country, in
those perilous days... more
Commodore
John Barry
Few Americans are well-acquainted with the gallantry and
heroic exploits of Philadelphia's Irish-born naval commander, Commodore John
Barry. Obscured by his contemporary, naval commander John Paul
Jones, Barry remains to this day an... more
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Benjamin
Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was born at Boston, on the 17th of
January, 1706. His ancestors were from the county of Northampton,
in England, where they had for many generations possessed a small freehold
estate, near the village of Eaton. During the persecutions... more
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Ben
Franklin - another view
America has never forgotten Benjamin Franklin because he
did both. He lived these words of wisdom by writing as... more
A
Documentary History:
As part of the compilation of source documentation for a
planned biography of Benjamin Franklin, J.A. Leo LeMay, Professor of Colonial
American Literature at the University of Delaware, has made this exhaustive
chronology available. The chronology is divided into seven parts:
Printer
Rising Citizen
Soldier, Scientist & Politician
American
Unofficial Ambassador to England
The Oldest Revolutionary
Elder Statesman
Of these, only the first two are complete, and they reveal the author's vast
knowledge of the man exemplified in the almost daily accounting of Franklin's
life in certain portions of the chronology. Documentation is
exhaustive and there is a large bibliography at the end of the Rising Citizen
section that covers 1706-1748. Sections from 1748 on are works in
progress at this time, with each year containing a brief summary.
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Marshall Bernardo de Gálvez
Governor of Spanish Louisiana (which extended from Texas
to Florida and up into Georgia). During the Revolution Spain joined
the battle against England and ordered Galvez to action. He
defeated the British in Baton Rouge, Mobile, Pensacola, St. Louis and Fort St.
Joseph (Michigan), relieving British pressure on General George Washington's
armies and opening supply lines for money and military goods from Spain,
France, Cuba, and Mexico (which included much of what is now the western part
of the United States).
Nathan
Hale
Little detail is known about Nathan’s childhood but he
certainly would have helped with the many farm and household chores and spent
many happy hours hunting, fishing ... more
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Thomas
Jefferson
In the thick of party conflict in 1800, Thomas Jefferson
wrote in a private letter, "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal
hostility against every form of tyranny over ... more
Gen.
Johann (de) Kalb
soldier, born in Huttendorf, Bavaria, 29 July, 1721;
died near Camden, South Carolina, 19 August, 1780. He served in the
French army in 1743 as lieutenant, and in 1747 he was promoted to the rank of
... more
Col.
Thaddeus Kosciuszko
Polish patriot, born near Novogrndek, Lithuania, 12
February, 1746; died in Solothurn, Switzerland, 15 October, 1817.
He was descended from a noble ... more
The
Marquis de La Fayette
Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis
de Lafayette was born in 1757. Before his second birthday, his
father, a Colonel of grenadiers was killed at Minden. At the age of
twelve, his ... more
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James
Madison
At his inauguration, James Madison, a small, wizened
man, appeared old and worn; Washington Irving described him as "but a
withered little apple-John." But whatever his deficiencies in
charm, Madison's buxom wife ... more
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James
Monroe
On New Year's Day, 1825, at the last of his annual White
House receptions, President James Monroe made a pleasing impression upon a
Virginia lady who ... more
The
Monroe Doctrine (1823) made it the policy of the United States to prevent
further colonization of the American continent by European nations.
Thomas
Paine
born in Thetford, Norfolk, England, 29 January, 1737;
died in New York, 8 June, 1809. His father was a Quaker and
stay-maker, and Paine was brought up to the trade. He left home
before reaching his majority, and went to London, but soon moved ... more
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Casimir
Pulaski
Polish soldier, born in Podolia, 4 March, 1748; died
near Savannah, Georgia, 11 October, 1779. He was the eldest son of
Joseph Pulaski, founder of the confederation of ... more
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William
Henry Drayton
William Henry Drayton was born at Drayton Hall outside
of Charleston, South Carolina in September of 1742. He was the son
of John Drayton and Charlotta Bull Drayton ... more
Richard
Montgomery
The American soldier Richard Montgomery was born in
county Dublin, Ireland, in 1736. Educated at St. Andrew's and at Trinity
college, Dublin, he entered the British army in 1756 ... more
Paul
Revere
patriot, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 1 January, 173;
died there, 10 May, 1818. His grandfather, a Huguenot, emigrated
from Sainte-Foy France, to the island of Guernsey, whence his, ... more
General
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin (von) Steuben
known in this country as BARON STEUBEN, German soldier,
born in Magdeburg, Prussia, 15 November, 1730; died in Steubenville, New York,
28 November, 1794. His father, a captain in the army, took him
when a ... more
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George
Washington
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the
balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as
the first President of the United States. "As the first of
every thing, in our situation ... more
"Life
of George Washington", by David Ramsay
The ancestors of George Washington were among the first settlers of the oldest
British colony in America. He was the third in descent from John
Washington, an English gentleman, who about the middle of the 17th century
emigrated from the north of ... more
Surveyor
and Mapmaker
Most Americans are familiar with George Washington's role as the leader of the
Continental army against the British forces in the American Revolution or as
the first president of the United States, but many may be unaware of
Washington's lifelong association with ... more
George
Washington slept here!
During the Revolutionary War his duties as Commander in Chief kept George
Washington almost constantly in motion during the eight years and six months
he held this post. It seemed to most people that he had stayed ...
more
Farewell
Address to the Congress
Friends and Fellow-Citizens: The period for a new election of a
citizen, to administer the executive government of the United States, being
not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be ...
more
George
Washington's Papers
The complete George Washington Papers collection from the Manuscript Division
at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 65,000 documents. This
is the largest collection of original ... more
How did George Washington die? Here is an
eyewitness account of Washington's
death
On Thursday December 12th the General rode out to his farms about 10 o'clock,
and did not return home 'till past three. Soon after he went out
the weather became very bad. When he came in I carried ... more
Modern medical review of the case indicates that it is
most likely that Washington died of a streptococcal infection that spread down
the submucosa to the larynx, enlarging the epiglottis to the point that he
could not swallow and could barely breathe, eventually resulting in
suffocation. It is almost unanimously agreed now that a tracheotomy
would have saved his life. This was suggested by one of his
physicians, but it was a very new and uncertain operation at the time and was
vetoed by the other two attending physicians. - - - see Annals of
Medical History 4: 245-248 (1932), "Washington's Last Illness", by
F.O. Lewis [as cited by E. St. Germain, CASSAR]
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