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1734, Jan 201750-17981806, May 8
an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States. He was a second cousin to President John Adams[2].
 Timeline (3)
02/11/1768-Samuel Adams' letter circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes 
01/07/1776-Samuel Adams writes that the confederation “is not dead, but sleepeth”
04/30/1776-Samuel Adams writes of hope for more battles
 Notes (1)
Signers of the US Declaration of Independence:
Adams , Samuel: an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachu...
Adams [2], John: an American lawyer, author, statesman, and diplomat. He served as the second President of the United States (1797–1801), the first Vice Pr...
Bartlett , Josiah: an American physician and statesman, delegate to the Continental Congress for New Hampshire, and signatory of the Declaration of Independenc...
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 Mentions (4)
Patrick Henry
...me liberty, or give me death!" speech. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he is regarded as one of the most...
Josiah Quincy II
...leadership, and by 1767, he was contributing regularly to Samuel Adams' Boston Gazette.
Joseph Warren
...Concord and arrest rebel leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Warren participated in the next day's Battles of...
Anne Whitney
...prestigious commissions for monuments. Two statues of Samuel Adams were made by Whitney and are located in Washington,...
 Quotes (59) • View in Quotations
A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.
All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave the society they belong to, and enter into another.
Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.
And as it is our duty to extend our wishes to the happiness of the great family of man, I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that the rod of tyrants may be broken into pieces, and the oppressed made free: that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all the people willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is the Prince of Peace.
And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms; or to raise standing armies, unless necessary for the defense of the United States, or of some one or more of them; or to prevent the people from petitioning, in a peaceable and orderly manner, the federal legislature, for a redress of grievances; or to subject the people to unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers or possessions.
As Piety, Religion and Morality have a happy influence on the minds of men, in their public as well as private transactions, you will not think it unseasonable, although I have frequently done it, to bring to your remembrance the great importance of encouraging our University, town schools, and other seminaries of education, that our children and youth while they are engaged in the pursuit of useful science, may have their minds impressed with a strong sense of the duties they owe to their God, their instructors and each other, so that when they arrive to a state of manhood, and take a part in any public transactions, their hearts having been deeply impressed in the course of their education with the moral feelings - such feelings may continue and have their due weight through the whole of their future lives.
Before the formation of this Constitution, it had been affirmed as a self evident truth, in the declaration of Independence, very deliberately made by the Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled that, all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. This declaration of Independence was received and ratified by all the States in the Union, and has never been disannulled. May we not from hence conclude, that the doctrine of Liberty and Equality is an article in the political creed of the United States.
Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.
Every citizen will see, and I hope be deeply impressed with a sense of it, how exceedingly important it is to himself, and how intimately the welfare of his children is connected with it, that those who are to have a share in making as well as in judging and executing the laws should be men of singular wisdom and integrity.
For true patriots to be silent, is dangerous.
Freedom of thought and the right of private judgment, in matters of conscience, driven from every other corner of the earth, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.
He who is void of virtuous Attachments in private Life, is, or very soon will be void of all Regard for his Country. There is seldom an Instance of a Man guilty of betraying his Country, who had not before lost the Feeling of moral Obligations in his private Connections.
He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all. Our forefathers threw off the yoke of Popery in religion; for you is reserved the honor of leveling the popery of politics. They opened the Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for himself in religion.
How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!
I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.
I could dwell on the importance of piety and religion; of industry and frugality; of prudence, economy, regularity and an even government; all which are essential to the well-being of a family. But I have not Time. I cannot however help repeating Piety, because I think it indispensible. Religion in a Family is at once its brightest Ornament & its best Security. The first Point of Justice, says a Writer I have met with, consists in Piety; Nothing certainly being so great a Debt upon us, as to render to the Creator & Preserver those Acknowledgments which are due to Him for our Being, and the hourly Protection he affords us.
I have thought fit, according to the ancient and laudable Practice of our renowned ancestors, to appoint a day of PUBLIC THANKSGIVING to God, for the great benefits which HE has been pleased to bestow upon us, in the Year past. And I do by advice and consent of the Council, appoint THURSDAY the Nineteenth day of November next, to be observed as a DAY of PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAISE throughout this Commonwealth: Calling upon the Ministers of the Gospel of all Denominations, with their respective Congregations to assemble on that Day to offer to God, their unfeigned Gratitude, for his great Goodness to the People of the United States in general, and of this Commonwealth in particular.
I hope Congress, before they adjourn will take into very serious Consideration the necessary Amendments of the Constitution. Those whom I call the best - the most judicious & disinterested Federalists, who wish for the perpetual Union, Liberty & Happiness of the States & their respective Citizens, many of them if not all are anxiously expecting them. They wish to see a Line drawn as clearly as may be, between the federal Powers vested in Congress and the distinct Sovereignty of the several States upon which the private & personal Rights of the Citizens depend. Without such Distinction there will be Danger of the Constitution issuing imperceptibly and gradually into a consolidated Government over all the States: which, although it may be wished for by some was reprobated in the Idea by the highest Advocates for the Constitution as it stood without Amendments. I am fully persuaded that the population of the U S living different Climates, of different Education and Manners, and possessed of different Habits & feelings under one consolidated Government can not long remain free, or indeed remain under any kind of Government but despotism.
I mean, my friend, to let you know how deeply I am impressed with a sense of the importance of Amendments; that the good people may clearly see the distinction, for there is a distinction, between the federal powers vested in Congress and the sovereign authority belonging to the several States, which is the Palladium (the protection) of the private and personal rights of the citizens.
I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue.
If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.
If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme Being and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation.
If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.
If we continue to be a happy people, that happiness must be assured by the enacting and executing of reasonable and wise laws, expressed in the plainest language, and by establishing such modes of education as tend to inculcate in the minds of youth, the feelings and habits of piety, religion and morality, and to lead them to the knowledge and love of those truly Republican principles upon which our civil institutions are founded.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
If you, or Colonel Dalrymple under you, have the power to remove one regiment you have the power to remove both. It is at your peril if you refuse. The meeting is composed of three thousand people. They have become impatient. A thousand men are already arrived from the neighborhood, and the whole country is in motion. Night is approaching. An immediate answer is expected. Both regiments or none!
In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practised, and, both by precept and example, inculcated on mankind.
In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the laws of nature, or to speak more properly, the laws of the Creator. They are imprinted by the finger of God on the heart of man. Thou shall do no injury to thy neighbor, is the voice of nature and reason, and it is confirmed by written revelation.
It has been observed, that education has a greater influence on manners, than human laws can have. Human laws excite fears and apprehensions, least crimes committed may be detected and punished: But a virtuous education is calculated to reach and influence the heart, and to prevent crimes. A very judicious writer, has quoted Plato, who in shewing what care for the security of States ought to be taken of the education of youth, speaks of it as almost sufficient to supply the place both of Legislation and Administration. Such an education, which leads the youth beyond mere outside shew, will impress their minds with a profound reverence of the Deity, universal benevolence, and a warm attachment and affection towards their country. It will excite in them a just regard to Divine Revelation, which informs them of the original character and dignity of Man; and it will inspire them with a sense of true honor, which consists in conforming as much as possible, their principles, habits, and manners to that original character. It will enlarge their powers of mind, and prompt them impartially to search for truth in the consideration of every subject that may employ their thoughts; and among other branches of knowledge, it will instruct them in the skill of political architecture and jurisprudence; and qualify them to discover any error, if there should be such, in the forms and administration of Governments, and point out the method of correcting them.
It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.
It is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or any number of men, at the entering into society, to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights; when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are Life, Liberty, and Property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.
Let Divines, and Philosophers, Statesmen and Patriots unite their endeavours to renovate the Age, by impressing the Minds of Men with the importance of educating their little boys, and girls - of inculcating in the Minds of youth the fear, and Love of the Deity, and universal Phylanthropy; and in subordination to these great principles, the Love of their Country - of instructing them in the Art of self government, without which they never can act a wise part in the Government of Societys great, or small - in short of leading them in the Study, and Practice of the exalted Virtues of the Christian system, which will happily tend to subdue the turbulent passions of Men, and introduce that Golden Age beautifully described in figurative language; when the Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb, and the Leopard lie down with the Kid - the Cow, and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together, and the Lyon shall eat straw like the Ox - none shall then hurt, or destroy; for the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord.
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual - or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
Men who content themselves with the semblance of truth, and a display of words, talk much of our obligations to Great Britain for protection. Had she a single eye to our advantage? A nation of shopkeepers are very seldom so disinterested
Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.
Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men.
Our unalterable resolution would be to be free. They have attempted to subdue us by force, but God be praised! in vain. Their arts may be more dangerous then their arms. Let us then renounce all treaty with them upon any score but that of total separation, and under God trust our cause to our swords.
Principally and first of all, I recommend my soul to that Almighty Being who gave it and my body I commit to the dust, relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.
Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness.
Religion in a Family is at once its brightest Ornament & its best Security.
Revelation assures us that Righteousness exalteth a Nation - Communities are dealt with in this World by the wise and just Ruler of the Universe. He rewards or punishes them according to their general Character. The diminution of publick Virtue is usually attended with that of publick Happiness, and the publick Liberty will not long survive the total Extinction of Morals.
Since private and publick Vices, are in Reality, though not always apparently, so nearly connected, of how much Importance, how necessary is it, that the utmost Pains be taken by the Publick, to have the Principles of Virtue early inculcated on the Minds even of children, and the moral Sense kept alive, and that the wise institutions of our Ancestors for these great Purposes be encouraged by the Government. For no people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.
The first Point of Justice, says a Writer I have met with, consists in Piety; Nothing certainly being so great a Acknowledgments which are due to Him for our Being, and the hourly Protection he affords us.
The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on Earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule.
The Opinion of others I very little regard, & have a thorough Contempt for all men, be their Names Characters & Stations what they may, who appear to be the irreclaimable Enemies of Religion & Liberty.
The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government and to reform, alter, or totally change the same when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it. And the federal Constitution - according to the mode prescribed therein [Article V] - has already undergone such amendments in several parts of it as from experience has been judged necessary.
The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave... These may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.
The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heave, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve to enjoy it. While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, through the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.
The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.
There is One above us who will take exemplary vengeance for every insult upon His majesty. You know that the cause of America is just. You know that she contends for that freedom to which all men are entitled - that she contends against oppression, rapine, and more than savage barbarity. The blood of the innocent is upon your hands, and all the waters of the ocean will not wash it away. We again make our solemn appeal to the God of heaven to decide between you and us. And we pray that, in the doubtful scale of battle, we may be successful as we have justice on our side, and that the merciful Savior of the world may forgive our oppressors.
We cannot make Events. Our Business is wisely to improve them. There has been much to do to confirm doubting Friends & fortify the Timid. It requires time to bring honest Men to think & determine alike even in important Matters. Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason.
We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and with a propitious eye beholds his subjects assuming that freedom of thought and dignity of self-direction which He bestowed on them. From the rising to the setting sun, may His kingdom come!
We, therefore, the Congress of the United States of America, do solemnly declare and proclaim that... We appeal to the God who searcheth the hearts of men for the rectitude of our intentions; and in His holy presence declare that, as we are not moved by any light or hasty suggestions of anger or revenge, so through every possible change of fortune we will adhere to this our determination.
Were the talents and virtues which heaven has bestowed on men given merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by all?
What a glorious morning this is!
When I heard, that you had turned your mind to a defence of infidelity, I felt myself much astonished, and more grieved, that you had attempted a measure so injurious to the feelings, and so repugnant to the true interest of so great a part of the citizens of the United Stares. The people of New-England, if you will allow me to use a Scripture phrase, are fast returning to their first love. will you excite among them the spirit of angry controversy, at a time, when they are hastening to unity and peace? I am told that some of our news-papers have announced your intention to publish an additional pamphlet upon the principles of your Age of Reason. Do you think, that your pen, or the pen of any other man can unchristianize the mass of our citizens, or have you hopes of converting a few of them to assist you in so bad a cause?
[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.
[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.
[T]he importance of piety and religion; of industry and frugality; of prudence, economy, regularity and an even government; all ... are essential to the well-being of a family.
 Contemporaries
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Samuel Adams1734, Jan 201750
 
17981806, May 8

William IV of Orange1711, Sep 11711
 
17511751, Oct 22
 the first hereditary Stadtholder of all the United Provinces. He was born six weeks after the dea...
Mahmud I1696, Aug 21730
 
17541754, Dec 13
  Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph (Sunni Islam) of the Ottoman Caliphate from 1730 to 1754...
Lionel Sackville1688, Jan 181730
 
17551765, Oct 10
 an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Dorset served twice as Lord Lieutenan...
Josiah Quincy I17101735
 
17551784
 an American merchant, planter, and politician. He was the son of Col. Edmund and Dorothy Flynt Qu...
Spencer Phips1685, Jun 61713
 
17571757, Apr 4
 a British politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Born Spencer Bennett, he was adopted b...
Osman III1699, Jan 2/31754
 
 
17571757, Oct 30
 the Sultan and Caliph (Sunni Islam) of the Ottoman Empire/Caliphate from 1754 to 1757. His brief...
James De Lancey [1]1703, Nov 271725
 
17601760, Jul 30
 served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New...
King George II1683, Oct 301727
 
17601760, Oct 25
 King of Great Britain and Ireland, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Duke of Brunswick-L...
George Clinton [1]1686 ca1720
 
17611761, Jul 10
 a Royal Navy officer and politician. Benefiting from the patronage of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st D...
Emperor Momozono unknown1747
 
1762unknown
 Given name: Toohito
Shingasunknown1740
 
1763unknown
 a leader of the Delaware (Lenape) people in the Ohio Country and a noted American Indian warrior ...
Henry Fox1705, Sep 281735
 
17651774, Jul 1
 a leading British politician of the 18th century. He identified primarily with the Whig faction. ...
HRE Francis I1708, Dec 81740
 
17651765, Aug 18
  Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real powe...
Marie Leszczynska1703, Jun 231720
 
17681768, Jun 24
 a Polish noblewoman and French Queen consort. The daughter of King Stanislaw Leszczynski — Stan...
Horatio Sharpe17181753
 
 
17681790
 the 22nd proprietary governor of Maryland from 1753 to 1768 under the restored proprietary govern...
Neolinunknown1760
 
 
1769unknown
 a prophet of the Lenni Lenape, who was known as the "Delaware Prophet" but derided by the British...
Chief Pontiac1720 ca1760
 
 
17691769
 an Ottawa war chief who became noted for his role in Pontiac's War (1763–1766), an American Ind...
Adolf Frederick1710, May 141751
 
 
17711771, Feb 12
 King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. The first king from the House of Holstein-Gottorp, Adol...
Empress Go-Sakuramachi 1740, Sep 231762
 
 
17711813, Dec 24
 the 117th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Sakuramachi's re...
James Hasellunknown1763
 
 
1771unknown
 a British colonial official who served as the acting governor of North Carolina in 1771. After Go...
Louis XV1710, Feb 151715
 
17741774, May 10
 a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 u...
Mustafa III1717, Jan 18/281757
 
 
17741774, Jan 21
  the Sultan and Caliph of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III ...
Peyton Randolph1721, Sep 101743
 
17751775, Oct 22
 a planter and public official from the Colony of Virginia. He served as Speaker of the Virginia H...
Joseph Warren1741, Jun 111759
 
 
17751775, Jun 17
 an American physician who played a leading role in American Patriot organizations in Boston in th...
John Morton [2]17251756
 
 
17771777, Apr 1
 a farmer, surveyor, and jurist from the Province of Pennsylvania and a Founding Father of the Uni...
Button Gwinnett17351765
 
 
17771777, May 19
 a British-born American founding father who, as a representative of Georgia to the Continental Co...
Thomas Lynch Jr.1749, Aug 51772
 
 
17771779
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina; ...
Philip Livingston1716, Jan 151737
 
17781778, Jun 12
 an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Cont...
John Hart [2]1710 ca1750
 
17781779, May 11
 a public official and politician in colonial New Jersey who served as a delegate to the Continent...
Stephen Hopkins1707, Mar 71730
 
17791785, Jul 13
 a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Chief Justice of the Rhode...
Robert Rogers1731, Nov 71746
 
17791795, May 18
 an American colonial frontiersman. Rogers served in the British army during both the French and I...
George Ross Jr.1730, May 101756
 
 
17791779, Jul 14
 a signer of the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence as a re...
Joseph Hewes1730, Jan 231763
 
 
17791779, Nov 10
 Hewes attended Princeton but there is no evidence that he actually graduated. What is known is th...
Chief Logan1725 ca1770
 
 
17791780
 a Native American orator and war leader born in the Iroquois Confederacy. Although he was of the ...
Emperor Go-Momozono 1758, Aug 51771
 
 
17791779, Dec 16
 the 118th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Momozono's reign...
Francis Lightfoot Lee1734, Oct 141774
 
 
17791797, Jan 11
 a member of the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia. As an active protester regarding is...
Reynier de Klerck1710, Nov1730
 
17801780, Sep 1
  Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1778 until 1780. De Klerk's date of birth is not ...
Francis Lewis1713, Mar 211734
 
17801802, Dec 31
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York. He was...
Maria Theresa1717, May 131740
 
17801780, Nov 29
 the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was th...
George Taylor1716 ca1736
 
17811781, Feb 23
 a Colonial ironmaster and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a represen...
Cornelius Harnett1723, Apr 101740
 
17811781, Apr 28
 an American merchant, farmer, and statesman from Wilmington, North Carolina. He was a leading Ame...
John Witherspoon1723, Feb 51745
 
17811794, Nov 15
  a Scots Presbyterian minister and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence a...
Richard Stockton1730, Oct 11754
 
 
17811781, Feb 28
 an American lawyer, jurist, legislator, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Stockton...
Thomas Gage [2]1718/19, Mar 101741
 
17821787, Apr 2
 a British general best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role a...
Jack Jouett1754, Dec 71776
 
 
17821822, Mar 1
 a politician and a hero of the American Revolution, known as the "Paul Revere of the South" for h...
Charles Edward Stuart1720, Dec 311743
 
17831788, Jan 31
 the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, France and Ireland from the de...
John Hanson1715, Apr 31750
 
17831783, Nov 15
 a merchant and public official from Maryland during the era of the American Revolution. In 1779, ...
Jonathan Trumbull1710, Oct 121731
 
17841785, Aug 17
 one of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Rev...
Caesar Rodney1728, Oct 71755
 
 
17841784, Jun 25
 an American lawyer and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, ea...
Silas Deane1737, Dec 241759
 
 
17841789, Sep 23
 an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane s...
John Penn1741, May 171762
 
 
17841788, Sep 14
 a signer of both the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation ...
Joseph Reed [2]1741, Aug 271770
 
 
17841785, Mar 5
 a lawyer, military officer and statesman of the Revolutionary Era who lived the majority of his l...
James Smith [2]1719, Sep 171740
 
17851806, Jul 11
 an American lawyer and a signer to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representat...
William Whipple Jr.1730, Jan 141751
 
 
17851785, Nov 28
 a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire...
Thomas Stone17431764
 
 
17851787, Oct 5
 an American planter and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a dele...
Matthew Thornton1713, Mar 171740
 
17861803, Jun 24
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. I...
Jean Sylvain Bailly1736, Sep 151759
 
 
17871793, Nov 12
 a French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the Fren...
Arthur Middleton1742, Jun 261764
 
 
17871787, Jan 1
 a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. He was educated in Britain, at Harr...
Robert Nugent17091739
 
17881788, Oct 13
 an Irish politician and poet. He was tersely described by Richard Glover as a jovial and voluptuo...
Juan Bautista de Anza1736, Jul 6/71752
 
 
17881788, Dec 19
 a New-Spanish explorer of Basque descent, and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire. In 1...
Henry Laurens1723, Feb 241757
 
 
17881792, Dec 8
 an American merchant, slave trader, and rice planter from South Carolina who became a political l...
Lewis Morris1726, Apr 81760
 
 
17881798, Jan 22
 an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of ...
William Hooper1742, Jun 281764
 
 
17881790, Oct 14
 an American lawyer, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carol...
Benjamin Franklin1705, Jan 61718
 
17891790, Apr 17
 one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading aut...
Richard Caswell1729, Aug 31750
 
17891789, Nov 10
 the first and fifth governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina, serving from 1776 to 1780 and f...
Ethan Allen1737, Jan 101757
 
 
17891789, Feb 12
 a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, and American Revolut...
Thomas Nelson Jr.1738, Dec 261761
 
 
17891789, Jan 4
 an American planter, soldier, and statesman from Yorktown, Virginia. He represented Virginia in t...
Michael Hillegas1729, Apr 221765
 
 
17891804, Sep 29
 a merchant, sugar refiner, and iron magnate who used his wealth to assist the American revolution...
Abdul Hamid I1725, Mar 201774
 
 
17891789, Apr 7
 the 27th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate (Islam), reigning over ...
William Pierce17531775
 
 
17891789, Dec 10
 an army officer during the American Revolutionary War and a member of the United States Constitut...
Mohammed III1710 ca1748
 
17901790, Apr 9
 Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 under the Alaouite dynasty. He was the governor of Marrakech ...
Lyman Hall1724, Apr 121749
 
17901790, Oct 19
  physician, clergyman, and statesman, was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independen...
Josiah Bartlett1729, Nov 211750
 
17901795, May 19
 an American physician and statesman, delegate to the Continental Congress for New Hampshire, and ...
HRE Joseph II1741, Mar 131765
 
 
17901790, Feb 20
  Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was t...
David Brearley1745, Jun 111776
 
 
17901790, Aug 16
 a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention and signed the U.S. Constitution on behalf of Ne...
Benjamin Harrison V1726, Apr 51745
 
17911791, Apr 24
 an American politician, planter, and merchant, a revolutionary leader and a Founding Father of th...
James De Lancey [2]17321758
 
 
17911800
 a colonial politician, turfman, and the son of Lieutenant Governor James De Lancey and Anne Heath...
Francis Hopkinson1737, Sep 211761
 
 
17911791, May 9
 designed the first official American flag. He was an author, a composer, and one of the signers o...
William Paca1740, Oct 311761
 
 
17911799, Oct 13
 a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and...
Pomare I1753 ca1788
 
 
17911803, Sep 3
 the unifier and first king of Tahiti and founder of the Pomare dynasty and the Kingdom of Tahiti ...
John Burgoyne1722, Feb 241743
 
17921792, Aug 4
 a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War...
George Mason1725, Nov 301747
 
17921792, Oct 7
 a Virginia planter and politician, and a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, ...
Hamengkubuwono Iunknown1755
 
 
17921792
 the first sultan of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.He ruled from February 13, 1755 to March 24, 1792. As a...
Richard Henry Lee1732, Jan 201757
 
 
17921794, Jun 19
 an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress ...
James Wilson [2]1742, Sep 141766
 
 
17921798, Aug 21
 one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the United States Declaration...
Nguyen Hue17531788
 
 
17921792, Sep 16
 the second emperor of the Tay Son dynasty, reigning from 1788 until 1792. He was also one of the ...
HRE Leopold II1747, May 51790
 
 
17921792, Mar 1
 Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Gra...
Henry Clinton1730, Apr 161751
 
 
17931795, Dec 23
 a British army officer and politician, best known for his service as a general during the America...
John Hancock1736, Jan 121754
 
 
17931793, Oct 8
 an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as p...
Roger Sherman1721, Apr 191754
 
 
17931793, Jul 23
 an early American lawyer and statesman, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He ser...
Israel Jacobs1726, Jun 91770
 
 
17931796, Dec 10
 a colonial Pennsylvania Legislator and United States Representative from Pennsylvania. In 1790, J...
King Louis XVI1754, Aug 231774
 
 
17931793, Jan 21
  King of France from 1774 until his deposition in 1792, although his formal title after 1791 was ...
Carter Braxton1736, Sep 101760
 
 
17941797, Oct 10
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, as well as a merchant, planter, and Vi...
Alexandre de Beauharnais1760, May 281775
 
 
17941794, Jul 23
 a French political figure and general during the French Revolution. He was the first husband of J...
Abraham Clark1726, Feb 151775
 
 
17941794, Sep 15
 an American politician and Revolutionary War figure. He was delegate for New Jersey to the Contin...
Artemas Ward1727, Nov 261751
 
 
17951800, Oct 28
 an American major general in the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts....
John Rutledge1739, Sep 171760
 
 
17951800, Jul 23
 the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. A lawyer and a judge, Rutledg...
Joseph McDowell1758, Feb 251776
 
 
17951795, May 18
 an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Morganton, North Carolina. His estate was name...
Louis XVII of France1785, Mar 271793
 
 
17951795, Jun 8
 the younger son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. He was at birth given the...
Samuel Huntington1731, Jul 51754
 
 
17961796, Jan 5
 a jurist, statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut. As a delegate to th...
Nathaniel Gorham1738, May 271759
 
 
17961796 Jun 11
 Starting at 15, Gorham served an apprenticeship with a merchant in New London, Connecticut, after...
Catherine the Great1729, Apr 211762
 
 
17961796, Nov 6
 a Russian monarch. She was the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 1762 until h...
George Clymer1739, Mar 161765
 
 
17961813, Jan 23
 an American politician and Founding Father of the United States. He was one of the first Patriots...
Anthony Wayne1745, Jan 11775
 
 
17961796, Dec 15
 a United States Army officer, statesman, and member of the United States House of Representatives...
Horace Walpole1717, Sep 241737
 
17971797, Mar 2
 an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill...
Oliver Wolcott1726, Nov 201747
 
17971797, Dec 1
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and also the Articles of Confederation ...
Martha Washington1731, Jun 21789
 
 
17971802, May 22
 the wife of George Washington, the first President of the United States. Although the title was n...
George Washington1732, Feb111789
 
 
17971799, Dec 14
 the first President of the United States (1789–97), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental A...
Robert Morris Jr.1734, Jan 201750
 
17981806, May 8
 a Founding Father of the United States, was a Liverpool-born American merchant who financed the A...
George Read1733, Sep 181753
 
17981798, Sep 21
 an American lawyer and politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a signer...
Philip Schuyler1733, Nov 101761
 
17981804, Nov 18
 a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually kno...
Thomas Heyward Jr.1746, Jul 281775
 
17981809, Mar 6
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and of the Articles of Confederation as...
Patrick Henry1736, May 291760
 
17991799, Jun 6
 an American attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement fo...
John Mare Jr.17391765
 
17991802/03
 an American painter, businessman, and public figure. Not much is known of Mare's training, althou...
Tipu Sultan1750, Nov 101766
 
17991799, May 4
  a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the eldest son of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore. Tipu intr...
Red Jacket1750 ca1770
 
17991830
 a Native American Seneca orator and chief of the Wolf clan. He negotiated on behalf of his nation...
Daniel Morgan1736, Jul 61775
 
17991802, Jul 6
 an American pioneer, soldier, and United States Representative from Virginia. One of the most gif...
Joseph McDowell Jr.1756, Mar 81776
 
17991801, Feb 5
 an American planter, soldier, and statesman from North Carolina. He was known as "Quaker Meadows ...
Abigail Adams1744, Nov 111764
 
18001818, Oct 28
 the closest advisor and wife of John Adams[2], as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She i...
Fisher Ames1758, Apr 91774
 
18001808, Jul 4
 a Representative in the United States Congress from the 1st Congressional District of Massachuset...
Edward Rutledge1749, Nov 231774
 
18001800, Jan 23
 an American politician, and youngest signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He ...
William Blount [2]1749, Mar 261776
 
18001800, Mar 21
 an American statesman and land speculator, and a signer of the United States Constitution. He was...
Jeremiah Wadsworth1743, Jul 121761
 
18011804, Apr 30
 an American sea captain, merchant, and statesman from Hartford, Connecticut who profited from his...
James De Lancey [3]1746, Sep 61769
 
18011804, May 2
 a political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Annapolis township in the Nova Scotia House of ...
Frederick Muhlenberg1750, Jan 11770
 
18011801, Jun 4
 an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Repre...
Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten1755, Feb 191780
 
18011801, Aug 22
  Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1796 until 1801. He was the last Governor-General...
John Adams [2]1735, Oct 301797
 
18011826, Jul 4
 an American lawyer, author, statesman, and diplomat. He served as the second President of the Uni...
John Wattsunknown1788
 
18021802
 one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee (or "Lower Cherokee") during the Cherokee-American...
Robert Treat Paine1731, Mar 111757
 
18041814, May 11
 a Massachusetts lawyer and politician, best known as a signer of the Declaration of Independence ...
John Pickering1737, Sep 221761
 
18041805, Apr 11
 served as chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature, and as judge for the U...
Alexander Hamilton1755/57, Jan 111770
 
18041804, Jul 12
 an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential...
George Walton17491774
 
18041804, Feb 2
 signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also serv...
George Wythe17261746
 
18061806, Jun 8
 the first American law professor, a noted classics scholar, and a Virginia judge. The first of th...
Peter Muhlenberg1746, Oct 11768
 
18071807, Oct 1
 an American clergyman, Continental Army soldier during the American Revolutionary War, and politi...
Selim III1761, Dec 241789
 
18071808, Jul 28
 the reform-minded Sultan and Islam Caliph of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissarie...
John Page1743, Apr 281763
 
18081808, Oct 11
 a figure in early United States history. He served in the U.S. Congress and as the 13th Governor ...
Christian VII1749, Jan 291766
 
18081808, Mar 13
 a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark-Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Hols...
Aaron Burr1756, Feb 61775
 
18081836, Sep 14
 an American politician. He was the third Vice President of the United States (1801–1805), servi...
Jean-Nicolas Demeunier1751, Mar 151789
 
18081814, Feb 2
 a French author and politician. It was as a member of the Constitutional Committee that Démeunie...
Joseph Brant1743 ca1750
 
18091807
 a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated...
Blue Jacket1743 ca 1770
 
18091810 ca
 a war chief of the Shawnee people, known for his militant defense of Shawnee lands in the Ohio Co...
Buckongahelas1720 ca1770
 
18091805
 a regionally and nationally renowned Lenape chief, councilor and warrior. He was active from the ...
Charles Willson Peale1741, Apr 151770
 
18101827, Feb 22
 an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remember...
Samuel Chase1741, Apr 171761
 
18111811, Jun 19
 an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and earlier was a signatory to the United...
Robert R. Livingston1746, Nov 161770
 
18111813, Feb 26
 an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United State...
William Williams [3]1731, Apr 231771
 
18111811, Aug 2
 a merchant, and a delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress in 1776, and a signatory o...
George Clinton [2]1739, Jul 261754
 
18121812, Apr 20
 an American soldier and statesman, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. H...
Thomas McKean1734, Mar 191755
 
18121817, Jun 24
 an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware and Philadelphi...
Benjamin Rush1745, Dec 241769
 
18121813, Apr 19
 a Founding Father of the United States. Rush was a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a p...
Joel Barlow1754, Mar 241778
 
18121812, Dec 26
 an American poet and diplomat, and French politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolu...
Samuel Osgood1747, Feb 31771
 
18131813, Aug 12
 an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Ando...
William Bligh1754, Sep 91761
 
18141817, Dec 7
 an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. He is best remembered for the ...
Elbridge Gerry1744, Jul 61765
 
18141814, Nov 23
 an American statesman and diplomat. As a Democratic-Republican he was selected as the fifth Vice ...
Gouverneur Morris1752, Jan 311775
 
18141816, Nov 6
 an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a native of New York City who ...
David Ramsay1749, Apr 21773
 
18151815, May 8
 an American physician, public official, and historian from Charleston, South Carolina. He was one...
Joachim Murat1767, Mar 251790
 
18151815, Oct 13
 a Marshal of France and Admiral of France under the reign of Napoleon. He was also the 1st Prince...
Timothy Pickering1745, Jul 171768
 
18161829, Jan 29
 a politician from Massachusetts who served in a variety of roles, most notably as the third Unite...
John Clopton1756, Feb 71776
 
18161816, Sep 11
 a United States Representative from Virginia. He served as first lieutenant and as captain in the...
Emperor Kokaku 1771, Sep 231780
 
18171840, Dec 11
 Given name, Tomohito, the 119th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of successio...
Isaac Shelby1750, Dec 111774
 
18181826, Jul 18
 the first and fifth Governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and Nor...
Philip J. Schuyler1768, Jan 211796
 
18191835, Feb 21
 an American politician from New York. Schuyler lived in Rhinebeck, where he managed farms and est...
William Ellery1727, Dec 21748
 
18201820, Feb 15
 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island. In...
King George III1738, Jun 41760
 
18201820, Jan 29
 King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 ...
William Floyd1734, Dec 171774
 
18201821. Aug 4
 an American politician from New York, and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independen...
Elias Boudinot1740, May 21760
 
18211821, Oct 24
 a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress ...
Joseph Bloomfield1753, Oct 181775
 
18231823, Oct 3
 the fourth Governor of New Jersey. The township of Bloomfield, New Jersey is named for him. He at...
Thomas Jefferson1743, Apr 21767
 
18241826, Jul 4
 an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and ...
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney1746, Feb 251769
 
18251825, Aug 16
 an early American statesman of South Carolina, Revolutionary War veteran, and delegate to the Con...
William Hull1753, Jun 241775
 
18251825, Nov 29
 an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolution and was appointed as Gov...
Pierre-Simon Laplace1749, Mar 231771
 
18271827, Mar 5
 an influential French scholar whose work was important to the development of mathematics, statist...
Charles Carroll III1737, Sep 191772
 
18281832, Nov 14
 a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britai...
Hamengkubuwono II1750, Mar 71792
 
18281828, Jan 3
 the second sultan of Yogyakarta 1792–1810, 1811–12 and finally 1826–28 during the Java War....
Manuel Quimper17571770
 
18291844, Apr
 a Spanish Peruvian explorer, cartographer, naval officer, and colonial official. He participated ...
Daniel Sargent Jr.1764, Jan 151780
 
18291842, Apr 2
 a successful American merchant and politician in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a successful merch...
William Clark [2]1770, Aug 11789
 
18291838, Sep 1
 an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. Along with Meriwether Lewi...
Petar I Petrovic-Njegos1747/481782
 
18301830, Oct 31
 the ruler of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro as the Metropolitan (vladika) of Cetinje, and Exa...
William H. Crawford1772, Feb 241788
 
18321834, Sep 15
 an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secret...
William Wilberforce1759, Aug 241780
 
18331833, Jul 29
 an English politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to stop the slave trade. A na...
Charles Grey1764, Mar 131786
 
18341845, Jul 17
 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from November 1830 to July 1834. A member of the Whig Party,...
William Wirt1772, Nov 81792
 
18341834, Feb 18
 an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attor...
HRE Francis II1768, Feb 121792
 
18351835, Mar 2
 the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Holy Rom...
Noah Webster1758, Oct 161781
 
18431843, May 28
 an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer...
Morgan Lewis1754, Oct 161774
 
18441844, Apr 7
 an American lawyer, politician, and military commander. The second son of Francis Lewis, a signer...
Artemas Ward Jr.1762, Jan 91783
 
18441847, Oct 7
 like his father, Artemas Ward, he was a United States Representative from Massachusetts. He serve...
Albert Gallatin1761, Jan 291788
 
18491849, Aug 12
 a Swiss-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. He was an important leader of th...
Henry Clay1777, Apr 121797
 
18521852, Jun 29
 an American lawyer and planter, statesman, and skilled orator who represented Kentucky in both th...
Josiah Quincy III1772, Feb 41793
 
18561864, Jul 1
 a U.S. educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805-...
Cornstalk1720 ca1760
 
 
1861777
 a prominent leader of the Shawnee nation just prior to the American Revolution. Cornstalk opposed...
Major Ridge1771 ca1790
 
 
1921839
 a Cherokee leader, a member of the tribal council, and a lawmaker. As a warrior, he fought in the...
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