Key American Historical Figures: Revolution, Politics, and Reform

Abigail Adams

- wife of John Adams and early First Lady

- advocated women's rights and education, told John to "remember the ladies"

- helped question suspected female Loyalists in Massachusetts during the Revolution

John Adams

- lawyer and leader for independence who helped draft the Declaration

- first vice president and 2nd president of the United States

- pushed for strong central government and built up the U.S. Navy

John Quincy Adams

- 6th president of the United States, won the "Corrupt Bargain" election

- longtime diplomat who helped shape foreign policy and argued the Amistad case

- later antislavery congressman who fought the gag rule in the House

Samuel Adams

- Boston radical and organizer of the Sons of Liberty

- key figure behind the Boston Tea Party and Committees of Correspondence

- signer of the Declaration, nicknamed "Father of the American Revolution"

Louisa May Alcott

- author of Little Women about family, girlhood, and growing up in New England

- early supporter of women's rights and suffrage

- served as a Civil War nurse and came from an abolitionist family tied to the Underground Railroad

Ethan Allen

- leader of the Green Mountain Boys militia from Vermont

- helped capture Fort Ticonderoga early in the Revolution, securing cannons

- symbol of frontier independence and resistance to outside control

Benedict Arnold

- Continental Army general who fought bravely in early Revolutionary battles

- became America's most famous traitor by secretly plotting to surrender West Point to the British

- fled to British lines and served in their army after his treason was discovered

John Jacob Astor

- one of the first U.S. multimillionaires

- built the American Fur Company and dominated fur trading networks

- expanded into New York City real estate and helped shape early American capitalism

John J. Audubon

- naturalist and artist known for detailed paintings in The Birds of America

- traveled widely, observing and cataloging North American birds

- helped inspire later conservation and scientific study of wildlife

Nathaniel Bacon

- frontier planter who led Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia in 1676

- attacked Native Americans and turned against colonial governor Berkeley

- rebellion exposed tensions between backcountry settlers and coastal elites and encouraged shift toward African slave labor

Sarah Bagley

- Lowell mill worker who led the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association

- organized for shorter workdays and improved factory conditions for women

- early example of industrial labor and women's activism in the North

Clara Barton

- Civil War nurse known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" - organized supplies and care for wounded soldiers on the front lines

- later founded the American Red Cross to aid victims of war and disasters

Catharine Beecher

- educational reformer who promoted training women as teachers

- defended traditional domestic roles but argued educated women shaped national morals

- wrote manuals on home life and schooling that spread "cult of domesticity" ideals

Alexander Graham Bell

- inventor credited with the first practical telephone

- worked extensively with the deaf, developing new methods of communication

- helped launch modern telecommunications through Bell Telephone Company

Elizabeth Blackwell

- first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States

- co-founded a hospital run largely by women, opening doors in medicine

- promoted public health and hygiene, especially for women and children

Napoleon Bonaparte

- French emperor whose wars reshaped Europe and global politics

- sold the Louisiana Territory to the U.S., doubling its size - his conflicts with Britain created trade and neutrality problems that affected the young U.S.

John Wilkes Booth

- popular actor and devoted Southern sympathizer

- assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in 1865

- part of a larger conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the Union government after the Civil War

William Bradford

- longtime governor of Plymouth Colony - guided the Pilgrims through early hardships and dealings with Native peoples - wrote Of Plymouth Plantation, a key source on early New England history

Anne Bradstreet

- first published female poet in British North America

- Puritan writer whose poems explore family, faith, and colonial life

- her work shows a woman negotiating strict religious and gender expectations

John Brown

- militant abolitionist who believed slavery must be ended by force

- led killings at Pottawatomie Creek in "Bleeding Kansas"

- organized the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859 to start a slave revolt, was captured and executed, and became a Northern martyr to many

James Buchanan

- 15th U.S. president, serving right before Lincoln

- failed to take decisive action as Southern states moved toward secession

- support for pro-slavery positions like the Lecompton Constitution helped deepen sectional crisis

Aaron Burr

- Jefferson's first vice president who tied him in the 1800 election

- killed Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel

- later involved in a mysterious western scheme that led to a treason trial and ruined his political career

John C. Calhoun

- South Carolina politician and leading spokesman for states' rights

- strong defender of slavery, calling it a "positive good"

- championed nullification theory, arguing states could void federal laws they found unconstitutional

Samuel Chase

- Supreme Court justice appointed by President George Washington

- impeached by Jeffersonian Republicans for partisan behavior but acquitted

- his case helped protect judicial independence from removal for political reasons alone

Chief Pontiac

- Ottawa leader who coordinated Pontiac's Rebellion after the French and Indian War

- led attacks on British forts and settlements around the Great Lakes

- uprising contributed to Britain's Proclamation of 1763 limiting colonial expansion west

William Clark / Meriwether Lewis

- leaders of the Lewis and Clark (Corps of Discovery) expedition

- explored the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific, mapping routes and documenting geography

- strengthened U.S. claims in the West and opened knowledge of Native nations and resources

Henry Clay

- powerful Kentucky statesman known as the "Great Compromiser"

- engineered major deals like the Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850

- promoted the American System: tariffs, internal improvements, and a national bank to boost the economy

James Fenimore Cooper

- early American novelist best known for the Leatherstocking Tales

- created frontier hero Natty Bumppo and popularized stories like The Last of the Mohicans

- depicted Native-white relations and wilderness, helping define an American literary identity

George Custer

- Civil War cavalry officer who became famous and controversial

- later commanded U.S. troops in the Indian Wars on the Great Plains

- died with much of his regiment at the Battle of Little Bighorn ("Custer's Last Stand")

Jefferson Davis

- president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War

- former U.S. senator and Secretary of War from Mississippi

- struggled to manage states' rights-minded governors while trying to centralize the Confederate war effort

Alexis De Tocqueville

- French writer who toured the U.S. in the 1830s

- wrote Democracy in America, a classic study of American society and politics

- praised U.S. equality and associations but warned about majority tyranny and materialism

John Dickinson

- Pennsylvania lawyer known as the Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania

- argued Parliament had no right to tax colonists without representation

- served in the Continental Congress and helped draft the Articles of Confederation

Dorothea Dix

- leading reformer for humane treatment of the mentally ill and prisoners

- documented abuses in jails and almshouses and lobbied for state asylums

- became Superintendent of Nurses for the Union during the Civil War

Stephen A. Douglas

- Illinois senator nicknamed the "Little Giant"

- championed Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty over slavery in territories

- debated Lincoln in 1858 and split the Democratic Party in the 1860 election

Frederick Douglass

- escaped enslaved man who became the most famous black abolitionist

- wrote powerful autobiographies describing slavery's brutality and his escape

- advised Lincoln and advocated for black enlistment, equal rights, and later women's suffrage

Jonathan Edwards

- New England minister and key leader of the First Great Awakening

- preached emotional sermons like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" about sin and salvation

- emphasized personal conversion, God's sovereignty, and heartfelt religion

Ralph Waldo Emerson

- central Transcendentalist essayist and lecturer from New England

- wrote "Self-Reliance" and other works praising individual intuition and nature

- inspired reformers and writers to question conformity and materialism

Charles Grandison Finney

- famous revival preacher of the Second Great Awakening

- used emotional appeals and "anxious bench" methods to spur conversions

- linked evangelical religion to reforms like temperance, abolition, and women's roles in moral reform

Benjamin Franklin

- printer, scientist, and statesman from Pennsylvania

- helped draft the Declaration and Constitution and secured French alliance during the Revolution

- known for experiments with electricity and building civic institutions like libraries and fire companies

John Fremont

- explorer nicknamed the "Pathfinder" for mapping routes in the West

- played a key role in the U.S. takeover of California during the Mexican-American War

- first Republican candidate for president in 1856, running on a free-soil platform

Robert Fulton

- developed the first commercially successful steamboat, the Clermont

- proved steam power could move boats reliably upstream on major rivers

- helped spark a transportation revolution in the early 1800s

Albert Gallatin

- Treasury secretary under Jefferson and Madison

- worked to reduce national debt while still funding key projects

- supported roads and internal improvements to unify the growing republic

William Lloyd Garrison

- radical white abolitionist who published the newspaper The Liberator

- demanded immediate, uncompensated emancipation and denounced the Constitution as pro-slavery

- helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society and pushed a moral, uncompromising approach

Ulysses S. Grant

- top Union general who won key victories like Vicksburg and forced Lee's surrender

- 18th president who tried to enforce Reconstruction and protect black rights

- presidency plagued by scandals, but he backed federal action against the Klan

Horace Greeley

- influential editor of the New York Tribune

- used his newspaper to promote antislavery views, free soil, and reform causes

- ran for president in 1872 as a Liberal Republican/Democrat opposing Grant

George Grenville

- British prime minister after the French and Indian War

- pushed Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and other measures to tax colonies and reduce debt

- his policies helped trigger colonial protests that led toward the American Revolution

Angelina & Sarah Grimke

- sisters from a South Carolina slaveholding family who rejected slavery - became prominent abolitionist lecturers, unusual female public speakers for the time - also early women's rights advocates linking gender equality and antislavery

Nathan Hale

- young American officer who spied on British during the Revolution - captured and executed by the British in New York - remembered for the line "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country"

Alexander Hamilton

- first Secretary of the Treasury and key Federalist leader - designed financial plans including a national bank, funding debt, and assuming state debts - championed a strong central government and co-wrote The Federalist Papers

John Hancock

- wealthy Boston merchant and prominent patriot leader - president of the Second Continental Congress - first and most famous signer of the Declaration of Independence with a large signature

Hinton Helper

- Southern white critic of slavery

- wrote The Impending Crisis of the South arguing slavery hurt non-slaveholding whites

- book enraged Southern elites and was used as Republican antislavery propaganda

Patrick Henry

- fiery Virginia orator and early revolutionary leader

- known for "Give me liberty or give me death" speech against British tyranny

- strong Anti-Federalist who opposed the Constitution without a Bill of Rights

Sam Houston

- military and political leader in the Texas Revolution

- commanded Texan forces to victory at San Jacinto and secured independence

- became president of the Republic of Texas and later U.S. senator and governor, opposed secession

Julia Ward Howe

- author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," a famous Civil War anthem

- active in abolitionism and later a leader in the women's suffrage movement

- co-founded the American Woman Suffrage Association and edited The Woman's Journal

Anne Hutchinson

- Puritan woman in Massachusetts Bay who held home meetings on theology

- challenged ministers' teachings and promoted "covenant of grace," angering authorities

- tried for heresy and banished, later associated with Rhode Island's religious toleration

Washington Irving

- early American writer who gained international fame

- wrote "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" using American settings

- helped establish American literature and served as a diplomat in Europe

Andrew Jackson

- 7th president and symbol of Jacksonian Democracy and the "common man" (white males)

- war hero from the War of 1812 who expanded presidential power and veto use

- pushed Indian Removal Act leading to the Trail of Tears and fought the national bank

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

- key Confederate general under Robert E. Lee

- earned his nickname for standing firm at First Bull Run and led bold flank attacks

- accidentally shot by his own men at Chancellorsville and died soon after, a major Confederate loss

John Jay

- president of the Continental Congress and diplomat in the Revolution

- co-wrote The Federalist Papers to support Constitution ratification

- first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and negotiator of Jay's Treaty with Britain

Thomas Jefferson

- principal author of the Declaration of Independence

- 3rd president who completed the Louisiana Purchase and promoted agrarian republicanism

- leader of the Democratic-Republican Party and champion of limited central government (despite contradictions as a slaveholder)

Andrew Johnson

- Southern Democrat who became 17th president after Lincoln's assassination

- favored lenient Reconstruction and clashed with Radical Republicans in Congress

- impeached over disputes like the Tenure of Office Act but acquitted by one vote

Toussaint L'Ouverture

- leader of the Haitian Revolution against French rule in Saint-Domingue

- helped abolish slavery on the island and issued a constitution asserting autonomy

- captured by Napoleon's forces, but his movement paved the way for Haiti's independence

Ann Lee

- founder and spiritual leader of the Shakers in America

- preached celibacy, communal living, and simplicity as paths to holiness

- her followers established Shaker communities known for equality of the sexes and craftsmanship

Robert E. Lee

- commanding general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia

- brilliant but ultimately unsuccessful strategist whose forces suffered major losses at Antietam and Gettysburg - surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, effectively ending major fighting in the Civil War

Abraham Lincoln

- 16th president who led the Union through the Civil War

- issued the Emancipation Proclamation and pushed the 13th Amendment to end slavery

- gave the Gettysburg Address redefining the war and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

John Locke

- English Enlightenment philosopher who argued for natural rights of life, liberty, and property

- believed government rests on consent of the governed and can be overthrown if tyrannical

- heavily influenced American revolutionary ideas and the Declaration of Independence

Elijah Lovejoy

- abolitionist newspaper editor repeatedly attacked by pro-slavery mobs

- defended his printing press in Illinois and was killed in the violence

- became a martyr for both abolition and freedom of the press

Mary Lyon

- pioneer in women's education

- founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (later Mount Holyoke College)

- argued women deserved rigorous academic training, not just "accomplishments"

James Madison

- "Father of the Constitution" and central figure at the Constitutional Convention

- co-authored The Federalist Papers and supported the Bill of Rights

- 4th president who led the nation through the War of 1812

Horace Mann

- leading advocate for tax-supported public education in Massachusetts

- pushed for trained teachers, longer school terms, and better school buildings

- argued education was essential to democracy and social mobility

William Marbury

- "midnight judge" appointed by Adams whose undelivered commission led him to sue

- his case, Marbury v. Madison, let the Supreme Court claim judicial review

- helped establish the Court's power to strike down unconstitutional laws

John Marshall

- Chief Justice from 1801 to 1835 who strengthened federal authority

- decisions in cases like Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden expanded national power

- made the Supreme Court a co-equal branch of government

George McClellan

- early commander of the Union Army of the Potomac in the Civil War

- skilled organizer but criticized for extreme caution and missed opportunities

- ran against Lincoln in 1864 on a platform leaning toward negotiated peace

Cyrus McCormick

- inventor of the mechanical reaper for harvesting grain

- allowed farmers to harvest much larger fields with fewer workers

- helped turn the Midwest into a major commercial agricultural region

Herman Melville

- author of Moby-Dick and other sea tales exploring obsession and fate

- his work wrestled with deep philosophical and moral questions

- little appreciated in his lifetime but now central to American literary canon

Metacom (King Philip)

- Wampanoag leader called "King Philip" by New England colonists

- led a major Native uprising, King Philip's War, against Puritan expansion

- war devastated Native communities and many colonial towns and reshaped New England power

James Monroe

- 5th president whose era is called the "Era of Good Feelings" for reduced party conflict

- issued the Monroe Doctrine warning European powers against new colonization in the Americas

- presided over debates and tensions around the Missouri Compromise and slavery's expansion

Samuel F. B. Morse

- inventor of the telegraph system and co-creator of Morse code

- made rapid long-distance communication possible for business, news, and war

- also became known for strong nativist and anti-Catholic views

Judith Sargeant Murray

- early American feminist writer

- argued in "On the Equality of the Sexes" that women's minds were as capable as men's

- challenged traditional gender roles and called for equal education

James Otis

- Boston lawyer who challenged British writs of assistance (broad search warrants)

- argued against "taxation without representation" for the colonies

- early intellectual leader of colonial resistance to British policy

Thomas Paine

- pamphleteer who wrote Common Sense calling plainly for independence from Britain

- argued monarchy was corrupt and the colonies should form a republic

- also wrote The American Crisis to inspire soldiers during the Revolutionary War

William Penn

- Quaker founder of Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" in religious toleration

- established elected assemblies and promoted fair treatment of Native Americans

- attracted diverse European settlers and created a relatively tolerant colony

Pocahontas

- daughter of Powhatan connected to the Jamestown colony

- associated with story of saving John Smith and later married John Rolfe

- her trip to England symbolized early alliances and misunderstandings between English and Native peoples

James K. Polk

- 11th president and strong believer in Manifest Destiny

- oversaw annexation of Texas, negotiated the Oregon boundary, and led the Mexican-American War

- U.S. gained huge western territories, including California and the Southwest, under his watch

Popé

- Pueblo religious leader in New Mexico

- organized the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against Spanish rule and missions

- successfully drove Spaniards out for a time and sought to restore Native religion and autonomy

Edmund Randolph

- Virginia statesman who introduced the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention

- favored a strong national government with representation by population

- later served as first U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of State

Paul Revere

- Boston silversmith and Sons of Liberty member

- made famous for his midnight ride warning of British troops marching to Lexington and Concord

- engraved a dramatic image of the Boston Massacre used as patriot propaganda

Sacajawea

- Shoshone woman who joined the Lewis and Clark expedition with her infant son

- served as interpreter and guide, especially helpful in dealing with Native groups

- her presence helped signal peaceful intentions to tribes encountered

William Seward

- leading antislavery Republican senator from New York

- served as Lincoln's Secretary of State, surviving an assassination attempt the night Lincoln was shot

- arranged the purchase of Alaska from Russia, later seen as a strategic bargain

Daniel Shays

- Massachusetts farmer and former Revolutionary soldier - led Shays' Rebellion of indebted farmers against courts and tax collectors

- uprising highlighted weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and helped push elites toward drafting a new Constitution

William Tecumseh Sherman

- Union general known for "hard war" strategy and the March to the Sea

- destroyed railroads, crops, and infrastructure in Georgia and the Carolinas to break Confederate morale

- his tactics aimed at total war against Southern capacity to fight

Samuel Slater

- English-born mechanic who brought textile technology to the U.S.

- built the first successful water-powered spinning mill in Rhode Island

- called the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" in the U.S.

John Smith

- early leader at Jamestown who helped the colony survive

- enforced strict work rules: "he that will not work shall not eat"

- arranged trade and uneasy cooperation with Powhatan Confederacy

Joseph Smith

- founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)

- said he translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates

- faced persecution and was killed by a mob in Illinois, leaving movement to continue westward

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

- leading women's rights activist and abolitionist

- organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 with Lucretia Mott

- co-wrote the Declaration of Sentiments demanding women's suffrage and legal equality

Thaddeus Stevens

- Radical Republican congressman from Pennsylvania

- demanded harsh Reconstruction for ex-Confederates and strong protection for freedpeople

- pushed land redistribution ideas and helped lead the drive to impeach Andrew Johnson

Lucy Stone

- abolitionist and influential women's rights lecturer

- known for keeping her maiden name after marriage, inspiring other "Lucy Stoners"

- helped organize the American Woman Suffrage Association

Harriet Beecher Stowe

- author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a hugely influential antislavery novel

- humanized slavery's cruelties and stirred Northern moral outrage

- Southerners condemned the book; it deepened sectional tensions before the Civil War

Charles Sumner

- Radical Republican senator from Massachusetts

- delivered the "Crime Against Kansas" speech condemning pro-slavery forces

- brutally caned by Representative Preston Brooks in the Senate chamber, becoming a Northern symbol of Southern aggression

Mary Surratt

- Washington, D.C. boardinghouse owner tied to Booth's conspiracy circle

- accused of hosting meetings and aiding the Lincoln assassination plot

- tried and executed by the federal government, the first woman executed by the U.S.