Samuel Adams, born in Boston on September 27, 1722, was a successful politician in Massachusetts and a proponent for resistance of the British. In 1765 he worked as a clerk for the Massachusetts Assembly, where he proposed a continental congress. He was later appointed to the Continental Congress as a representative and was a noteworthy speaker and passionate advocate of independence. He signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In 1781, Adams retired from Congress and returned to Massachusetts, where he became a leading member there to form a constitution. He was appointed lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1789 and governor in 1794 (through 1797). Samuel Adams died on October 2, 1803, in his home town of Boston.
By: Amberley Bailey
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton, born on January 11, 1755, was the financial genius of his era. In 1776, he became the captain of the 1st Batallion, 5th Field Artillery Unit; in 1779, he proposed to the Continental Congress the idea of recruiting slaves for the Continental Army and exchanging freedom for service. He married Elizabeth Schuyler in 1780. In 1786, Hamilton was elected to the New York legislature; he believed in a strong new federalist government, and participated in writing the Federalist Papers (which supported the ratification of the Constitution). Under George Washington's presidency in 1789, Hamilton became the first Secretary of the Treasury, and submitted his "Report on Public Credit" in 1790; he believed that the federal government should support the national debt by "funding" it--selling stocks with interest rates; he also called for the creation of a national bank. In 1795 Hamilton resigned as Treasury Secretary, and in 1802, moved to the Grange. On July 11, 1804, Hamilton was mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr, and died the next day (July 12, 1804).
By: Amberley Bailey
Horatio Gates
Horatio Gates, born July 26, 1727, was an American general during the Revolutionary War. In 1754, he married Elizabeth Phillips. He took command in 1777, and defeated the British in the Battle of Saratoga. Congress made him the head of the Board of War afterwards, but resigned it in 1778. In 1780, he was placed in charge of the Southern Department; he led his forces south to fight British General Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden, but was overwhelmingly defeated. He was replaced as commander a few months later, never to be placed in command again. However, he later served in the Continental Army. Gates retired in 1784 and served as the president of the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati. He eventually sold his slaves and moved to Manhattan, where he was elected to a single term in 1800 to the New York state legislature. Gates died on April 10, 1806.
By: Amberley Bailey
Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker, born November 9, 1731, grew up on a small farm near Baltimore where he learned to read with the Bible; by age 15, he was managing the farm. Curious and innovative, he created a wooden clock in 1852. By 1773, he had taught himself advanced mathematics and astronomy. Age age 60, in 1791, he was appointed by President Washington to survey the District of Columbia, and worked closely with Pierre L'Efant, the architect. When L'Efant was fired--and took all the plans with him--Banneker recreated them by memory, saving the day. He wrote Almanac and Ephemeris in 1791, which was favorably compared with Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, but was discontued in 1802 due to poor sales. Banneker chided Jefferson for holding views of black inferiority that contradict words in the Declaration of Independence. He scientifically studied various odds and ends until his death on October 9, 1806.
By: Amberley Bailey
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737, in England. He worked as a tax collector there until he met Benjamin Franklin, who helped him emigrate to America. In Philadelphia he became a journalist, and in 1776 he published Common Sense, a defense of American independence from Great Britain. He also wrote The Crisis, an inspiration to the army. However, instead of continuing to hep the Revolution, he returned to Britain where he worked on odds and ends. In 1792, he wrote The Rights of Man in a response to criticism of the French Revolution. He moved to France by 1793, but was imprisoned due to his views about the king; while there, he wrote The Age of Reason, an anti-church text. In 1802 Paine returned to the United States, but was disliked by many due to his views on religion. He died on June 8, 1809, in New York City.
By: Amberley Bailey
John Adams
John Adams was born in MA Bay Colony in 1735. He was a lawyer from Harvard College and became a delegate in the First and Second Continental Congress and was elected vice president under George Washington. He served two years as vice president and then eventually served as the president of the United States where the French and British were causing difficulties. There he sent three Frenchmen to France and this was known as the X, Y, Z eventually sending peace to France. Adams retired on the farm and there he eventually died on July 4th, 1826.
By: Alexa Blyth
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was born in April of 1743 and died on July 4th of 1826. He became a draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and became the first secretary of state in 1789. He was also the second vice president and eventually became the third president of the United States. He had decided to read law but at the time, there were no schools for lawyers in Virginia. He was elected into the House of Burgesses in 1768 and in 1776 he was one of five me to join the Congress committee. In the presidential election, he tied with Burr and after the House of Representative had decided that Jefferson won, he endured many troubles through his presidency but eventually died in 1826.
By: Alexa Blyth
James Monroe
_James Monroe was born in Virginia in 1758 and attended college and practiced law. He joined the anti-Federalist and in 1790 he was elected United States Senator. With his ambitious attitude, he was nominated for the republicans in 1816 and won. He appointed John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State and Monroe was part of the "Era of Good Feelings". Monroe has to deal with the Missouri Compromise and with foreign affairs he proclaimed fundamental policies. He tried to aid Spain in getting Latin America back and Adams advised him to avoid trouble with Spain. He accepted Adams advice and left Spain alone. After 20 year later, Monroe died in 1831 and this became known as the Monroe Doctrine.
By: Alexa Blyth
James Madison
_James Madison was born in 1751 in Virginia where there he studied law and history and participated in the Virginia Constitution in 1776. With Alexander Hamilton he wrote the Federalist essays and was later known as the "Father of the Constitution" and also helped frame the Bill of Rights. He was under president Jefferson's secretary of State and in 1808 Madison was elected president. In his presidency he prohibited trade with France and Britain but then offered trade if each accepted Americas neutrality. With hard decisions in his presidency, he later died in 1836 where he had retired in Virginia.
By: Alexa Blyth
James K. Polk
He was born on November 2, 1795. He was the 11thpresident of the United States of America. While he served as president he managed to expand the boarders of the United States to the Pacific Ocean. HE also added 3 states to the Union while expanding. He started the Naval Academy. He also issued the first postage stamp. He was the youngest president to die (outside those who were assassinated). He died on June 15, 1849.
By: April DuCasse
Zachary Taylor
He was born on November 24, 1787 in Montebello, Virginia. He spent most of his like on the frontier, he joined the army at a young age and served for 40 years. He became popular after demonstrating his leadership in the Mexican-American War. The Whig Party then offered him a chance to be a presidential nominee. Taylor was the 12 president of the United States of America. He died on July 9, 1850 while in office.
By: April DuCasse
John Davis
He was born on January 13, 1787 in Northboro, Massachusetts. He was an educated man; he graduated from Yale College in 1812 after studding law. He was soon elected to be the Governor of Massachusetts in 1834-1835. Later in life he was elected to the United States Senate. He served in the Senate from March 4, 1825 to January 5, 1841. Then he was reelected in 1847 and served in the Senate again until 1853. He died in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 19, 1854.
By: April DuCasse
Abraham Lincoln
Born February 12, 1809, Hardin County, Kentucky. He taught himself law , became a lawyer and then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives until he became the 16th President of the United States (1861–1865). His nickname was “Honest Abe”; “Illinois Rail-Splitter”. He married his wife, Mary Todd, November 4, 1842 and they had 4 children. He was president during the American Civil war and said he would do anything to preserve the union, which led to a bloody battle between the North and the South and gave the Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed to free the slaves. He was killed with a bullet by an assasin less than a week after the Confederates surrendered and died April 15, 1865.
By: Gaby Evelo
William Lloyd Garrison
He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1805. His family was not very wealthy and young Garrison often would do odd jobs such as selling homemade molasses or carry wood. He then went through a series of apprenticeships including to a newspaper which helped him when he created his own newspaper which he called "The Liberator" . He was known for being a radical abolistionist, trying to bring about women's rights and having peaecful views and stressing non biolence to bring about the changes that he wanted. He died from kidney disease on on May 28, 1879.
By: Gaby Evelo
Ulysses S. Grant
He was born April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio. He marries Julia Dent, the daughter of a slave owner on August 22, 1848. They have a very happy marriage and have 4 children. He is known as one of the most brilliant military minds during the Civil War and leads the North until Robert E. Lee suurenders to him in the McLean House, Appomattox, Virginia. He is nominated as a candidate for President by the Republican National Convention in Chicago and he serves as president of the United States of America for two terms. In September, 1884 he is diagnosed with cancer and dies surrounded with his family on July 23, 1885.
By: Gaby Evelo
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was born a slave , in February, 1818, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. As a child he recieved some education through the neighborhood boys, who would teach him their school lessons in exchange for food. He then escaped after impersonating a sailor and began his new life with his wife, began to raise a family and soon took part in anti-slave meetings and became a powerful speaker against slavery and an advocate for women's rights. He later published his own paper named, the North Star. He died Tuesday, 20 February 1895, in Anacostia, Washington, DC.
By: Gaby Evelo
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
She was born on November 12, 1815 in Jamestown, New York. She was an early leader of the American Women’s Rights Movement. She wrote the Declaration of Sentiments and proposed it at the first Women’s Rights Convention, known as the Seneca Falls Convention. This Convention was hosted by Stanton and a few other women, in Stanton’s home town of Seneca Falls. This Convention was hosted in July of 1948. Stanton pushed the issue of Women Suffrage; she wanted women to gain power. Stanton traveled to give lectures and speeches during her life. This woman played a huge role in the struggle for equal rights for women. She died October 26, 1902.
By: April DuCasse
James Garfield
James Garfield was born on November 19th 1831 in Ohio. He served nine consecutive terms in the Supreme Court before being elected to the presidential office.Once in office, he called for Civil Service Reform and appointed many African-Americans into Federal positions. His vice-president was Chester A. Arthur. James Garfield had the second shortest presidency in history (it only lasted 200 days) before he was assassinated by Charles Guiteau. Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield when he died, and tried to continue some of his presidential plans through the passing of the Pendleton Civil Service Act. He died July 2nd 1881.