Not Your Father's Founders: An "Amended" Look at America's First Patriots

254 Pages·2012·1.18 MB·English

by  Arthur G. Sharp

NOT YOUR
FATHER’S
FOUNDERS
AN “AMENDED” LOOK AT
AMERICA’S FIRST PATRIOTS
FEDERAL FACTS, REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS,
AND QUOTATIONS TO LIVE (and Die) BY!
________________________________________________
ARTHUR G. SHARP, MA
Author’s Note
Some dates, names, and places given in this book may not agree with
those in other historical accounts. That is because record keeping was
not an exact science in the eighteenth century. And the British Empire,
including its North American colonies, switched calendars in 1752 (“Old
Style” versus “New Style”) to make sure the new year started on January
1. Consequently, there is often confusion regarding dates of individuals’
births and events. For example, depending on the source, Ethan Allen’s
birth date was January 10, 1738; January 21, 1738; January 21, 1737;
or even some other date, depending on the conversion between the
Julian and Gregorian calendars. And, he was born in either Litchfield or
Roxbury, Connecticut (which is a geography issue, not calendar related).
In any case, he was born and lived during the Founding Fathers’ era—
and performed remarkable feats. Those are the criteria on which this
book is based.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Samuel Adams
Ethan Allen
Penelope Barker
Josiah Bartlett
William Campbell
Samuel Chase
Henry Clay
Lydia Darragh
Silas Deane
John Dickinson
Benjamin Franklin
Elbridge Gerry
Nathanael Greene
Alexander Hamilton
John Hancock
Benjamin Harrison
Patrick Henry
Joseph Hewes
Stephen Hopkins
John Jay
Thomas Jefferson
John Paul Jones
Rufus King
Henry Knox
Arthur Lee
Richard Henry Lee
Philip Livingston
Robert R. Livingston
James Madison
John Marshall
James Monroe
Gouverneur Morris
Robert Morris
Jeremiah O’Brien
James Otis Jr.
Thomas Paine
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Caesar Rodney
Benjamin Rush
Haym Salomon
Deborah Sampson
Roger Sherman
Thomas Sumter
Benjamin Tallmadge
James Thacher
George Walton
Joseph Warren
Mercy Otis Warren
George Washington
Martha Washington
John Witherspoon
Appendix A:
The Acts of King George III and Parliament
Appendix B:
Contributions of Women
To the brave American men and women who stood up for their rights in the
late eighteenth century and contributed to the construction of a new nation—
the United States of America.
Acknowledgments
For the efforts of teachers who drum history into students’ heads in
countless classrooms—even when the students do not think they are
listening.
INTRODUCTION
What’s All the Fuss About?
The men and women profiled in this book compose a hall of fame of
patriots and heroes of the American Revolution. While you may think
you’ve heard all there is to hear about them before, you haven’t. The
stories in this book are not the typical tales readers are used to hearing
about the Founding Fathers and the other people who worked behind
the scenes to carry out their revolution.
These offbeat profiles are what make this book unique. More
importantly, they’ll give you a new perspective on the men and women
who founded the country. The founders portrayed here were not always
as moral and upright as some histories present them. They had foibles
and idiosyncrasies. That’s what made them human—and explains why
they sometimes acted bizarrely, lived lives of luxury while the country
struggled to feed and clothe its army, engaged in scandalous
extramarital affairs, etc.
While he was president of the Second Continental Congress in
Philadelphia, John Hancock rode around town in an exquisitely
decorated chariot, accompanied by fifty armed horsemen and several
servants. Benjamin Franklin often defied social mores. In Paris, he
played chess late into the night with a close friend of his, a much-
younger woman named Madame Brillon de Jouy (1744–1824), while she
lay in her bath. Silas Deane may have been murdered, although no one
will ever know for sure because his body was buried in an unmarked
grave in England and never repatriated. Deborah Sampson was a male
impersonator. These are the stories that make this book required reading
if you’re trying to gain insights into the real personalities of the men and
women who created the United States.
Each profile includes a summary of the patriot’s life, his or her
contributions and achievements, and sidebars that highlight unusual or
little-known information. The profiles are listed in alphabetical order
because no one was more important than anyone else. All of the people
included were instrumental in creating the republic we live in without
regard to whose contributions were more significant on a scale of one to
ten. Appendix A includes a brief description of the three Acts of King
George III and Parliament that inflamed American patriots and spurred
them to seek their independence from Britain.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“GEORGE THE THIRD
OUGHT NEVER TO HAVE OCCURRED.
ONE CAN ONLY WONDER
AT SO GROTESQUE A BLUNDER.”
—E C B , B
DMUND LERIHEW ENTLEY RITISH POET
In these pages, you’ll find thinkers and doers, the people who wrote
the Constitution, the people who fought to protect it, and the people
who upheld it. They include statesmen, spies, scalawags, and soldiers.
They came from all walks of life. In the face of hostile laws enacted by
the British sovereign, and at great risk to their lives and liberty, they
were united in a single purpose: to form an independent United States of
America.