- Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). - George Washington
George Washington was a central and critical figure in the founding of the United States, and is commonly referred to as father of the nation. He led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. He served two four-year terms from 1789 to 1797, winning reelection in 1792. - John Brown
John Brown (1736-1803) was an American merchant and statesman from Providence, Rhode Island and founder of Brown University. Born in Providence, January 27, 1736, Brown went on to own a successful farming and shipping business with his brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, and Moses Brown. He was active in the slave trade and china trade and invested heavily in privateers during the 1760s through 1780s. John Brown sold the United States Navy its first ship, … - Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 - June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829-1837). He was also military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), a founder of the modern Democratic Party, and the eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. He was a polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s. Nicknamed "Old Hickory" because he was renowned for his toughness, … - Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 - June 29, 1852) was a nineteenth-century American statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He was a dominant figure in both the First Party System to 1824, and the Second Party System after that. Known as "The Great Compromiser" for his ability to bring others to agreement, he was the founder and leader of the Whig Party and a leading advocate of programs for modernizing the economy, … - James Madison
James Madison, Jr., was an American politician and the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. Considered to be the "Father of the Constitution", he was the principal author of the document. In 1788, he wrote over a third of the Federalist Papers, still the most influential commentary on the Constitution. - Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 - October 12, 1870) was a career U.S. Army officer and the most celebrated general of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Lee was the son of Maj. Gen. Henry Lee III "Light Horse Harry" (1756-1818), Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829). He was a descendant of Thomas More and of King Robert II of Scotland through the Earls of Crawford. - John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 - March 31, 1850) was a leading United States Southern politician and political philosopher from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century, at the center of the foreign policy and financial disputes of his age and best known as a spokesman for slavery, nullification and the rights of electoral minorities, such as the Southern states. After a short stint in the South Carolina legislature, … - Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 - June 6, 1799) was a prominent figure in the American Revolution, known and remembered primarily for his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he was one of the most influential (and radical) advocates of the American Revolution and republicanism, especially in his denunciations of corruption in government officials and his defense of historic rights. - Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865–1869), succeeding to the presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a U.S. Senator from Greeneville, Tennessee at the time of the secession of the southern states. He was the only Southern Senator not to quit his post upon secession, and became the most prominent War Democrat from the South. In 1862 Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of Tennessee, … - Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 - July 9, 1850) was an American military leader and the twelfth President of the United States. Known as "Old Rough and Ready," Taylor had a 40-year military career in the U.S. Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Second Seminole War after achieving fame while leading U.S. troops to victory at several critical battles of the Mexican-American War. A Southern slaveholder who opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, … - Martin van Buren
Martin Van Buren (December 5 1782 - July 24 1862), nicknamed "Old Kinderhook", was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency he served as the eighth Vice President (1833-1837) and the 10th Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, a dominant figure in the Second Party System, and the first president who was not of English, Irish, Welsh, or Scottish descent. - James Monroe
James Monroe (April 28, 1758 - July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (1817-1825), and the fourth Virginian to hold the office. Monroe, a close ally of Thomas Jefferson, was a diplomat who supported the French Revolution. He played a leading role in the War of 1812 as secretary of war and secretary of state under James Madison. Elected in 1816, his administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida (1819); the Missouri Compromise (1820), … - Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant, April 27, 1822 - July 23, 1885) was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War, capturing Vicksburg in 1863 and Richmond in 1865. He accepted the surrender of his Confederate opponent Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House. - John Marshall
John Marshall was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, on the 24th of September, 1755. He was the oldest of a family of fifteen children, and was the son of Colonel Thomas Marshall , a planter of moderate fortune. During the Revolution, Colonel Marshall commanded a regiment of Virginia troops, and won considerable distinction at the battles of the Great Bridge, Germantown, Brandywine, and Monmouth. - Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas (nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short but was considered by many a "giant" in politics) was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln. Douglas was well-known as a resourceful party leader, and an adroit, ready, skillful tactician in debate and passage of legislation. - John Tyler
John Tyler, Jr. (March 29, 1790 - January 18, 1862) was the tenth (1841-1845) President of the United States. A long-time Democrat-Republican, he was elected Vice President on the Whig ticket and on becoming president in 1841, broke with that party. His term as Vice President began on March 4, 1841 and one month later, on April 4, incumbent President William Henry Harrison died of what is today believed to have been viral pneumonia. - James K. Polk
Often referred to as the first "dark horse" President, James K. Polk was the last of the Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the Civil War. He was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1795. Studious and industrious, Polk was graduated with honors in 1818 from the University of North Carolina. As a young lawyer he entered politics, served in the Tennessee legislature, and became a friend of Andrew Jackson . - William Penn
William Penn (October 14, 1644 - July 30, 1718) founded the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony that became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Well ahead of his time, Penn wrote and urged for a Union of all the English colonies in what was to become the United States of America. The democratic principles that he set forth in the Pennsylvania Frame of Government served as an inspiration for the United States Constitution. - John Bell
John Bell (also known as "The Great Apostate") (February 15, 1797 - September 10, 1869) was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig. - Sam Houston
Samuel Houston (March 2, 1793-July 26, 1863) was a 19th century American statesman, politician, and soldier. Born in Virginia, Houston was a key figure in the history of Texas, including periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator for Texas after it joined the United States, and finally as governor. Although a slaveowner and opponent of abolitionism, he refused, due to his unionist convictions, … - Roger B. Taney
Roger Brooke Taney (pronounced "Tawney") (March 17, 1777 - October 12, 1864) was the twelfth United States Attorney General and the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, from 1836 until his death in 1864, and the first Roman Catholic to hold that office. Taney died during the final months of the American Civil War, on the same day that his home state of Maryland abolished slavery. - John Ross
John Ross (October 3, 1790 - August 1, 1866), also known as Kooweskoowe - "the great", Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation. - Edward Covey
Edward Covey (early 1800s). Edward Covey was an early nineteenth century American slaveholder. He is described by Frederick Douglass in My Bondage and My Freedom (published in 1855) as a "a first rate hand at breaking young negroes". In 1833, Douglass was rented to Covey for a year in order to break the teenage slave's spirit. Covey's former home, Mount Misery in Maryland (located in the town of St. Michaels), … - Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (October 22, 1734 - September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and hunter whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the U.S. state of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, … - William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 - September 1, 1838) was an American explorer who accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. William Clark was born in Caroline, Virginia on August 1, 1770. He was the second-youngest of the ten children born to John and Ann Rogers Clark. When the Revolutionary War began, William Clark was the only male member of his family who did not go off to battle, as he was too young. When he was 12 he entered the Continental Army. - Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton nicknamed "Old Bullion" (March 14, 1782 - April 10, 1858), was an American Senator from Missouri and a staunch advocate of westward expansion of the United States. He served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve 5 terms. Benton was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny. - Sterling Price
Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 20, 1809 - September 29, 1867) was an antebellum politician from the U.S. state of Missouri and a Confederate major general during the American Civil War. He led an army back into Missouri in 1864 on an ill-fated expedition to recapture the state for the Confederacy. He took his remaining troops to Mexico following the war rather than surrender to the Union Army. - Stand Watie
Stand Watie (12 December 1806 - 9 September 1871) (also known as Degataga "stand firm" and Isaac S. Watie) was a leader of the Cherokee Nation and a brigadier general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the American Indian cavalry made up mostly of Cherokee, Creek and Seminole. - George Wythe
George Wythe (1726 - June 8, 1806), was a lawyer, a judge, a prominent law professor and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He was the first professor of law in America, earning him the title of "The Father of American Jurisprudence." Wythe served as a representative of Virginia and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention-though he left the Convention early and did not sign the final version of the Constitution - Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818 - July 16, 1882) was the First Lady of the United States when her husband, Abraham Lincoln, served as the sixteenth President, from 1861 until 1865. - Edmund Ruffin
Edmund Ruffin (January 5, 1794 - June 18, 1865) was born in Prince George County, Virginia. He was a descendant of William Randolph, the progenitor of the Randolph family. Ruffin was a farmer and slaveholder, a Confederate soldier, and an 1850s political activist. He advocated states' rights, secession, and slavery and was described by opponents as one of the fire-eaters. - Sarah
Sarah (Fendall) Contee (1732-1793), daughter of Benjamin Fendall I, Esq. (1708-1764) and first wife, Eleanor Lee (1710-1759). Sarah was born February 7, 1732 at "Potomoe", Charles Co., Maryland. She was the daughter of Benjamin Fendall I, Esq. (1708-1764) of "Potomack", and his first wife, Eleanor Lee (1710-1759). Sarah was described as a very beautiful woman with a wealth of golden hair. Sarah married Col. Thomas Contee (1729-1811) in 1751 in Charles Co., Maryland. - William Crawford
William Crawford was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and burnt at the stake by American Indians in a notorious incident near the end of the American Revolution. - George W. Johnson
George Washington Johnson (May 27, 1811 - April 8, 1862) was the first Confederate governor of Kentucky. A lawyer-turned-farmer from Scott County, Kentucky, Johnson favored secession as a means of preventing the Civil War, believing the Union and Confederacy would be forces of equal strength, each too wary to attack the other. As political sentiment in the Commonwealth took a decidedly Union turn following the elections of 1861, … - Charles W. Chesnutt
Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 - November 15, 1932) was an author and political activist best known for novels and short stories from Fayetteville, North Carolina. His paternal grandfather was a white slaveholder. Chesnutt was of mixed race but could pass with relative ease for a white man. During that time in America he was considered "legally" black. Issues of miscegenation, "passing", and racial identity would influence his writing throughout his career. - Robert J. Walker
Robert John Walker (July 23, 1801 - November 11, 1869) was an American economist and statesman. - Arthur William Hodge
Arthur William Hodge (1763 - 1811) was a plantation farmer, member of the Council and Legislative Assembly and slave owner in the British Virgin Islands who was hanged on 8 May, 1811 for the murder of one of his slaves. It has been asserted that no other slave owner was ever executed for a murder of a slave in the history of the British West Indies. - Henry Winter Davis
Henry Winter Davis (August 16 1817 - 30 December 1865) was a United States Representative from the fourth and third districts of Maryland, well known as one of the Radical Republicans during the Civil War. - Moses Brown
Moses Brown, was a New England abolitionist and industrialist, who designed and built the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution (Slater Mill). Brown grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and owned a farming and shipping business with his brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, and John Brown. The brothers were co-founders of Brown University. They were active in the Baptist community of Providence.
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