US History Important People
Wentwork Cheswell
African American Revolutionary War veteran and first African American elected to public office
James Armistead
African American slave who served as a spy for the Patriots in the American Revolution
Bernardo de Galviz
Spanish ally to the colonists during the Revolution, he gave supplies to Patriots and guarded Louisiana against British attacks during the Revolution
Haym Salomon
Jewish immigrant to America who financed the American Revolution
Patrick Henry
Patriot and Anti-federalist famous for saying, "and as for me...give me liberty or give me death!"
Abigail Adams
early women's rights activist, asked that women's rights be protected when the Declaration ignored women
Crispus Attucks
escaped slave who was the first man shot in the "Boston Massacre", he was the first man to die for the cause of freedom in the colonies
James Oglethorpe
formed the colony of Georgia....this colony was established for social reasons.....a place for debtors and convicts sent from England
William Penn
founded Pennsylvania colony as a haven for Quakers
John Paul Jones
founder of the US Navy, stated, "I have not yet begun to fight!" during the battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the British ship, Serapis, of which he defeated.
Benjamin Franklin
founding father from Philadelphia, PA and delegate to the constitutional convention
George Washington
leader of the Continental Army during the Revolution and 1st President
Samuel Adams
leader of the Sons of Liberty
John Adams
leader of the movement for separation from England, helped draft the Declaration of Independence and 2nd President of US
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Abolitionist who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel on the horrors and mistreatment of slavery that set off a tidal wave of abolitionist feelings in the North and angered the South
Thomas Paine
Author of Common Sense, a pamphlet which urged colonists to fight for their independence for Britain (England)
Stonewall Jackson
Confederate Commander
Sojourner Truth
Ex-slave, abolitionist, active in Women's Rights Movement and the speech "Ain't I a woman?"
Sergeant William Carney
First African American to get the Medal of Honor, he took part in an attack on Fort Wagner during the Civil War
Marques de Lafayette
French nobleman who became a military leader for Washington and helped train troops
Seaman Philip Bazaar
Hispanic seaman who aided the Union victory
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Leader of the early women's rights movement who organized the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) and gave the Declaration of Sentiments (Rights of Women)
Dorothea Dix
Prison reformer and wanted humane care of the mentally ill (disabled) and prisoners
Dred Scott
a southern slave taken by his owner to the North and then back into slavery in the South. Scott sued for his freedom...having been on free soil, he argued that he could not be taken back into slavery
Susan B. Anthony
active in temperance and abolition of slavery, she joined women's rights movement w/ Elizabeth Cady Stanton, believed women should be able to own property and keep $$ earned and she was dedicated to women's suffrage (women's right to vote)
Paul Revere
midnight rider warning the colonists of Lexington and Concord the British were coming to attack
Clara Barton
pioneer nurse who founded the American Red Cross
Peter Zenger
published a newspaper accusing the Governor of New York of corruption, Zenger was put on trial and won, this case established the right of the press to criticize those in power, so long as the writer told the truth
Roger Williams
started the colony of Rhode Island based on religious tolerance,
Mercy Otis Warren
wrote pamphlets and plays making fun at British and Loyalists, she wrote the history of American Revolution and believed in women's rights and women's suffrage (right to vote)
Thomas Jefferson
wrote the Declaration of Independence, 3rd President, and purchased the Louisiana Purchase