Thursday, May 10, 2018

Important Figures in Early American History

Here's some important people to know for the test... starting with Period 1 and the colonial era! Note that this isn't everyone (hopefully you already know people like Jefferson and Hamilton)

John Winthrop: founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Coined "City on a Hill". He was a Puritan and religiously intolerant.

Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams: Both dissenters of the rigid theocracy of the Puritans.  Williams was kicked out and founded Rhode Island; Hutchinson claimed that God talked directly to her and was banished to Rhode Island, which was now religiously tolerant.

John Locke: Inspired Declaration of Independence. Life, Liberty and Property.

George Whitefield: Part of 1st Great Awakening, this great orator spread evangelical virtues, giving Americans a sense of identity separate from Europe.

Patrick Henry: "Give me liberty, or give me Death!" Represents the patriotic attitude of the Revolution.

Benjamin Franklin: An inventor who helped Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. He was also instrumental in gaining the French assistance in the Revolutionary War, and uniting the colonies.

Abigail Adams: One of the newly-founded nation's first feminists. Wife of President John Adams, she is famous for her letter to him called "Remember the Ladies". (Unfortunately, they largely weren't remembered due to the domination of Republican Motherhood ideals.)

Daniel Shays: Led Shays' rebellion against high taxes, which brought attention to the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

Eli Whitney: Inventor of the Cotton Gin and Interchangeable Parts.

Harriet Tubman: Escaped slave, abolitionist, instrumental to the Underground Railroad which helped other slaves escape.

John Marshall: Chief Justice who gained Judicial Review through Marbury v. Madison. Strengthened federal government. Other important cases include Gibbons v. Ogden and McCulloch v. Maryland.

Henry Clay: Whig senator, nicknamed the "Great Compromiser". Helped with the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and more. Continually kicked the slavery issue down the road.

There you go! Obviously these are only a few, and from the early periods of US history. My next post will have more figures, spanning until about the advent of the Cold War.

https://quizlet.com/18370812/us-history-important-people-flash-cards/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35WvlAlMv8

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