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John Trumball Sr.
Was one of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Revolutionary state. He was one of only two colonial governors to continue in office after independence. In 1782, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. -
John Witherspoon
He was a Scots Presbyterian minister and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey. -
John Hancock
Soon became very involved in revolutionary politics and his sentiments were, early on and clearly, for independence from Great Britain. In 1768 his sloop Liberty was impounded by customs officials at Boston Harbor, on a charge of running contraband goods. A large group of private citizens stormed the customs post, burned the government boat, and beat the officers, causing them to seek refuge on a ship off shore. Soon afterward, Hancock abetted the Boston Tea Party. -
Charles Carroll
He served in the Continental Congress, on the Board of War, through much of the War of Independence, and simultaneously participated in the framing of a constitution for Maryland. In 1778 he returned to Maryland to participate in the formation of the state government. Charles Carroll was the last surviving member of those who signed the Declaration. He died, the last survivor of the signers of the Declaration, in 1832 at the age of 95. -
John Jay
He attended the First Continental Congress as the second youngest member•*, at age twenty eight. n 1779 Jay was appointed Minister to Spain in order to seek recognition of Colonial Independence, financial aid, and commercial treaties. In 1782 Jay, along with Adams, Franklin, and Laurens signed the treaty of peace with Great Britain. When he returned to Congress, he had already been appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs. -
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush, eminent Physician, writer, educator, humanitarian, is as interesting a figure as one could find in the formation of the United States. Rush published the first American textbook on Chemistry. In 1773 he contributed editorial assays to the papers about the Patriot cause and also joined the American Philosophical Society. He was active in the Sons of Liberty in Philadelphia during that time. -
John Peter Muhlenberg
Was an American clergyman, Continental Army soldier during the American Revolutionary War, and political figure in the newly independent United States. A Lutheran minister, he served in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate from Pennsylvania. -
Declaration of Independence
Statement adopted by the Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. -
"E Pluribus Unum"
Was an unoffical motto of the United States. Means "out of many, one.". It is Latin. -
U.S Constitution
The supreme law of the United States of America.The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. -
Eminent Domain
The right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation. Saying government can take away private property? -
Bill Of Rights
The first ten admendments of the US Constitution. Some examples are the right to bear arms, right to free speech, and excessive bail shall not be required. -
5th Amendment
Constitution provides, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger." -
Alexis De Toqueville
Traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prisons and returned with a wealth of broader observations that he codified in “Democracy in America” (1835), one of the most influential books of the 19th century. Tocqueville’s work remains a valuable explanation of America to Europeans and of Americans to themselves. -
"In God We Trust"
Is the official motto of the United States. Originated from the "Star Spangled Banner", written during the War of 1812.