Studied by 2 peopleThomas Paine
Born in England
Political Activist, Philosopher, Political Theorist, & writer
Heavily supported the American Revolution when only about roughly one third of the population supported independence
Released a Pamphlet titled “Common Sense” which heavily impacted the general American population on the idea of Independence in 1776
Traveled with the Continental Army
He also wrote the “American Crisis” which helped inspire the troops and Americans
Moved to France and wrote “The Rights of Man” which was a critique on the French Revolution (1791)
Wrote an anti-church piece titled “The Age of Reason”(1794), making him a French outlaw
Was invited back to the U.S. by Thomas Jefferson
William Penn
Founded the Province of Pennsylvania
Guaranteed free and fair trial, freedom from unjust imprisonment, free elections, and freedom of religion
Set forth democratic practices that later influenced the United States Constitution
Planned out a United States of Europe; “European Dyet, Parliament or Estates”
Against his father’s beliefs, he followed the Quaker faith and was close friends with its founder, George Fox
created Pennsylvania to create a safe heaven for Quakers
Pocahontas
Became known as the emissary between the colonists and her tribe.
Released fellow Powhatans, once held captive by the colonists because of her bartering with John Smith.
Virginia Governor and Powhatan Chief allowed marriage between her and Rolfe.
Her marriage to John Rolfe brought peace in the region between the Indians and Virginia colonists.
She was revered as a princess in London.
chastised John Smith for his treatment of powhatan people
James Polk
was the 11th President of the United States. He served one term as the dark horse president. He was also the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives and 9th Governor of Tennessee. Under his leadership the United States fought in the Mexican War. The US also gained many territories along the Pacific and Southwest. reshaped the nation, fulfilling American spirit of Manifest Destiny The cultural belief that American settlers were destined to expand across North America He established a new federal depository system
Popé
In 1675, was arrested on suspicion of killing spanish missionaries
Member of the Tewa Pueblo Native American tribe
After release, hid and schemed an uprising that would become known as the pueblo revolt
August 10th, 1680 - led a revolt on Santa Fe which was a Spanish capital
Cleared the city of all Spanish influence and united the pueblo tribes under a common enemy
Restored ancestral ways until after his death, when in 1692, The Spanish reclaimed the territory
Edmund Randolph
Virginia Plan offered at the Constitutional Convention
Founding Father of the United States, attorney, and the 7th Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to create the national constitution while serving on its Committee of Detail.
Paul Revere
Joined the rebels (Sons of Liberty) and participated in the Stamp Act protest.
Used his artisan skills to create propaganda promoting the rebellion against the British.
Revere’s warning successfully helped the minutemen to prepare for the Battle of Lexington and Concord, which started the American Revolution
participated in the Boston Tea Party boycott.
His “midnight ride” tipped off Samuel Adams and John Hancock for them to avoid arrest by the British.
Casted the first bell, and constructed the first iron mill.
Sacajawea
was a bilingual Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition in 1805-1806
She was a translator, interpreter, and a guide in unfamiliar or unexplored territory.
She also helped keep peace between the Native Americans and the expedition.
Random fact - She was forcibly married off aged 13
William Seward
Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln
Managed international affairs during the Civil War
Negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867
Other diplomatic achievements include the removal of French troops from Mexico
Was included in the Lincoln Assasinatio plot and was victim of an attempted assassination by Confederate soldier Lewis Thornton Powell (Lewis Payne)
Daniel Shays
was an American officer in the American Revolution and was a leader in the Shay’s Rebellion
Armed rebellion in opposition to debt crisis (ocurred in Western Massachusetts and Worcester
also fought at Bunker Hill as well as Ticonderoga
When the American Revolution rose up he rose to the rank of captain in the 5th Massachusetts regiment
After the Northampton protest Shays ended up taking more of a leadership role
Sept. 26 attempted to shut down supreme judicial court in Hampshire County and Luke Day
headed the largest band of rebels, 1,200 which were looking to seize the federal arsenal
William Tecumseh Sherman
Also was well known as a Union general for his merciless, scorched-earth approach to warfare, which often involved destroying plantations and civilian supplies to crush the spirit of the Confederacy
His tactics were so well-known that he was accused of ordering troops to intentionally burn down the city of Columbia, South Carolina, though there is evidence that suggests the burning was unintentional on the part of the Union troops.
Would prove to be an important military strategist whose emphasis on the use of surprise and shock to overwhelm the opponent would influence World War II-era generals
Samuel Slater
Introduced the first water-powered cotton mill to the U.S.
Introduced the idea of mass production
Known as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution”
He stole the textile factory machinery designs as an apprentice to a pioneer in Britain before coming to the U.S.
Developed a family business with his sons in his later years
John Smith
was the leader of the first English Settlement in North America (Jamestown).
More focused on survival and agriculture rather than other leaders focused on wealth.
Explored the Chickahominy River and came across the Powhatan empire.
Pocahontas saved him from death
Worked with the natives to help develop his colony.
Eager to keep colonizing and travel America, but returned to England after pirates and never returned.
was known as a strong leader, explore, and a national hero.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Leader of the American Women’s Rights movement
After her study in law, she wanted to achieve equal rights for women
In 1848, Stanton and her friend, Lucretia Mott, created the first woman's rights convention in Seneca Falls in New York
Stanton wrote “The Declaration of Sentiments” which simply added the word women into it
She also worked with Susan B Anthony, where she was active in speeches and campaigns for the next 50 years
founded the National Woman Suffrage Association
Thaddeus Stevens
Formed the Pennsylvania Republican Party
Enforced strict party unity
Impeachment of Andrew Jackson
Pursued racial equality in the South
Supported freedmen’s rights and insisted on requirements for readmission of southern states after the Civil War
Served as a whig and advocated for an increase of tariffs and opposed the fugitive slave provision of the Compromise of 1850
Lucy Stone
Was the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree
When she graduated in 1847 she rejected the offer to write a commencement speech that would be read by a man
Was hired by William Lloyd Garrison for his American Anti-Slavey Society where she wrote and delivered speeches
Organized the first national Woman’s Rights Convention in Massachusetts
Stone gave speeches in US and Canada
She worked with many suffragists like Elizabeth Staton and Susan Anthony in the National Woman Suffrage Association
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Notable Activist for Women’s Rights
Became well-known for her “Ain’t I A Woman?” Speech
Auctioned to John Neely for $100, and a flock of sheep
The first woman to sue a white man; and win.
Gave well-spoken speeches, and contributed to the Civil Rights movement
Born as Isabella Baumfree
Charles Sumner
is best known for his controversial “Crimes against Kansas” speech which denounced The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the need or Kansas to become a free state, in response he was brutally assaulted by a SC representative
During the recuperation of the following events, his empty chair in the Senate Chamber served as a symbol of the tensions between North and South in the years prior to the civil war
Sumner was a strong leader of the anti-slavery forces in MA as a fierce advocate for civil rights
a leader of the Radical Republicans in the US senate, during the Civil War, this group fought for slavery abolition and equality
Mary Surratt
An alleged member of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy,
Mary Surratt was the first woman executed by the U.S. government.
She was hung for treason in July 1865, after being tried and convicted for her role in the plot
Random fact - she opened a boarding house and it is believed John Wilkes Booth devised his assassination plot at this location
Roger Taney
Fifth Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
The first Roman Catholic to serve on the Supreme Court
Known for the Dred Scott Decision (1857)
Upheld slavery in United States territory
Denied the legality of black citizenship in America
Declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional
In the ruling said that Scott as an African American “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect”
Zachary Taylor
was elected the twelfth president of the United States in 1849
He served in the army for forty years and was known as a national war hero for his battles in the Mexican War
signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
Established that British and American ships were allowed on any Central American canal linking the Atlantic to the Pacific
was also a slave owner that wanted to ban the expansion of slavery into the western territories
Interesting Fact: he died from eating cherries and milk
Tecumseh
Organized the Native American Confederacy to stop white settlement in the North West
His name means “shooting star” or “blazing comet” in Shawnee
Was raised to hate the White people but the Shawnee tactics they used horrified him
When his brother had a vision they ventured to the land they signed away in the Battle of Fallen Timbers to reclaim it while recruiting other tribes along the way
His coalition and village were destroyed when his brother disobeyed his command
Sojourner Truth
Notable Activist for Women’s Rights
Became well-known for her “Ain’t I A Woman?” Speech
Auctioned to John Neely for $100, and a flock of sheep
The first woman to sue a white man; and win.
Gave well-spoken speeches, and contributed to the Civil Rights movement
Born as Isabella Baumfree
Harriet Tubman
She was an american abolitionist and social activist
She was born into slavery but escaped through the underground railroad
Made 13 missions back in order to rescue over 70 slaves
She was known as moses in the underground railroad, this was her “code name”
She was also an activist for womens suffrage
Nat Turner
Originally an enslaved man
As a deeply religious Christian, believed he was given visions from god for his purpose
Organized a violent slave rebellion in Southampton, Virginia on August 31, 1831
200 blacks massacred; led to even more oppressive measures on blacks
55 white people were killed in the rebellion, though many rebels were captured and executed, including himself
Martin Van Buren
8th President of The United States
Father was a patriot in the Revolutionary War
Was the vice president of Andrew Jackson
He was a founder of the Democratic Party
Previously governor of New York
Was largely blamed for the panic of 1837 and the subsequent economic crisis and depression that followed
Opposed to the expansion of slavery and thus the annexation of Texas
David Walker
was an Abolitionist who wrote many texts including the pamphlet: Appeal.. To the colored citizens of the world in 1829
Most of his writing encouraged slaves to fight for their freedom and encouraged riots and other acts of violence
grew up free in North Carolina but lived in Boston most of his life and that is where he helped write Freedom’s Journal with some other men in 1829
Shortly after the spread of his writings a bounty was placed on his head for an unknown amount by Williams Father’s slave owners
Mercy Otis Warren
Poet and playwright during revolutionary era
Had no formal education, learned through her brother and on her own.
Married James Warren, a very politically involved man.
Very close friends with John Adams (first vice president). They wrote to one another often.
Wrote three satirical pieces criticizing the British as dramas.
These dramas were “The Adulator” (1772), “Defeat” (1773), and “The Group” (1775).
She aided the popularity of the boycott on British imports by urging women to participate and also supported those who partook in the Boston Tea party.
By the end of her life she played an influential role in women’s history by being one of the most intellectual women of the Revolutionary Era.
George Washington
He led an attack on a French Port
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A Founding Father of the United States
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Led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War
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Was the 1st President of the US
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Served only 2 terms as President
Daniel Webster
7th of March Speech
Became famous through his defense of the union during the states rights nullification crisis
Part of the US senate from 1845 to 1850
Influenced American Diplomacy
Negotiated long standing disputes with Great Britain
Helped suppress the slave trade - Bought Freedom
Secretary of State
Theodore Dwight Weld
Wrote many pamphlets which were largely anonymous
He had participated in anti-slavery debates at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati Ohio and later enrolled in Oberlin College
In 1834 he had become an agent for the American Anti-Slave Society
Wrote the books The Bible Against Slavery (1837) and Slavery As It Is (1839)
His work on Slavery As It Is was said to have partly contributed to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
He would later marry and go on to continue to lobby in Washington D.C. against slavery until he returned to private live and taught in schools with his wife
Phillis Wheatley
shipped to the ports of Boston at the age of seven from her hometown of Senegal
The Wheatley family taught Phillis how to read and write, eventually sparking her passion for poetry
When Wheatley's poems were not able to be published, she turned to Archibald Bell in London where she gained support for abolitionist causes and got her poetry published
Many of Wheatley’s poems were about the upbringing of the United States of America and connected the struggle of independence to racial freedom.
Even after her death, Phillis’ work was referenced by people attempting to promote education for African Americans.
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