{"id":15916,"date":"2022-07-06T08:30:44","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T06:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=211259"},"modified":"2022-07-06T08:46:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T06:46:14","slug":"19-key-figures-of-the-american-revolution-from-royals-to-revolutionaries","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/19-key-figures-of-the-american-revolution-from-royals-to-revolutionaries\/","title":{"rendered":"19 key figures of the American Revolution, from royals to revolutionaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rhiannon Davies\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 06 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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1<\/span>

Benjamin Franklin<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1706\u201390<\/strong><\/p>\n

A man with many strings to his bow, Benjamin Franklin<\/a> was a scientist, inventor, author, publisher and diplomat \u2013 not to mention one of the nation\u2019s most esteemed founding fathers. For decades he was enamoured with Britain, but, in time, his glowing opinion of the British soured. In 1775 he sailed back to America and firmly threw his lot in with the revolutionaries.<\/p>\n

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Benjamin Franklin after a portrait by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (French, 1725-1802) (oil on canvas from the National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC), 1783. (Photo by GraphicaArtis\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The next year, after signing the Declaration of Independence<\/a>, Franklin was sent back across the Atlantic, where his negotiations in France led to the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, formalising French support for the colonists\u2019 cause. Later, he helped to negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris<\/a>, which marked the official end of the war, before going on to sign the US Constitution in 1787.<\/p>

2<\/span>

George Washington<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1732\u201399 <\/strong><\/p>\n

George Washington<\/a> was a towering figure in the American Revolutionary War<\/a>, as well as being a highly capable politician. Taking the helm of the Continental Army through the conflict, he steered the military through initial struggles to victory over the British in 1783. Six years later he became the first president of the United States.<\/p>

3<\/span>

Alexander Hamilton<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1755\/57\u20131804 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Best known today as the protagonist in Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s musical Hamilton<\/em>, Alexander Hamilton<\/a> was one of the Revolution\u2019s key figures. Born in the West Indies, in 1776 he joined the Continental Army where he became an aide to George Washington. He also saw action in the field, fighting at the 1781 battle of Yorktown.<\/p>\n

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America\u2019s first Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

However, Hamilton is best known for his contributions to politics and finance. Along with James Madison and John Jay, he wrote the \u2028pro-Constitution Federalist Papers, and was the United States\u2019 first secretary of the Treasury during Washington\u2019s administration, responsible for setting up the nation\u2019s financial system.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, his star dimmed after an affair smeared his name, and he died after being shot by Vice President Aaron Burr during a duel.<\/p>

4<\/span>

The Marquis de Lafayette<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1757\u20131834<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, was a French military officer who took up arms with the patriots. Seeking the glory of the battlefield, he arrived in the New World in 1777 and became a major general in the Continental Army. He grew particularly close with George Washington, who saw Lafayette as his son.<\/p>\n

Perhaps his most significant contribution was his role in helping convince King Louis XVI\u2019s government to front additional supplies and soldiers for the colonists\u2019 cause in 1779. In 1781, he also chased the British general Charles Cornwallis across Virginia, trapping him at Yorktown. Back in France, Lafayette played a crucial role in his home country\u2019s revolution.<\/p>

5<\/span>

Thomas Jefferson<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1743\u20131826<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jefferson pictured in 1791, while serving as the first US secretary of state. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Few have contributed as much to American history as Thomas Jefferson<\/a>. However, he helped not with his speeches, but with his writing. Staying quiet during the impassioned discussions of the Second Continental Congress in 1775, the following year \u2013 aged just 33 \u2013 he wrote the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n

Jefferson held various political offices, most notably serving as America\u2019s president from 1801 to 1809, after stints as vice president and secretary of state. During his two terms as president, he bought the Louisiana Territory from the French in 1803. Having owned hundreds of slaves (one of whom he fathered four children with), Jefferson has left a complex legacy.<\/p>

6<\/span>

Samuel Adams<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1722\u20131803<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another one of America\u2019s founding fathers<\/a>, Samuel Adams certainly had a knack for politics. By 1764, the year of the Sugar Act, Adams had already established himself as a significant anti-British presence in the New World, and in 1765, he helped fuel protests in Boston over the hated Stamp Act. Crucially, he was also among the first of the patriots\u2019 leaders to announce that America\u2019s independence was their ultimate goal. The leader of the Massachusetts \u2018radicals\u2019, Adams sat on the Continental Congress until 1781, and continued to play an important role after the war as the governor \u2028of Massachusetts from 1794 to 1797.<\/p>

7<\/span>

Salem Poor<\/h3>\n<\/div>

c1747\u20131802<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beginning life as an enslaved person in Massachusetts, by 1769 Salem Poor had purchased his freedom for \u00a327. When the Revolutionary War broke out he joined the Massachusetts militia, going on to take part in several offensives.<\/p>\n

During the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, Poor is believed to have helped fend off waves of British troops. For his valiant efforts, 14 officers submitted a petition to Congress where they commended him as \u201ca brave and gallant soldier\u201d and recommended he be rewarded. However, the General Court never acted upon this recommendation.<\/p>

8<\/span>

Benedict Arnold<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1741\u20131801<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Benedict Arnold ended up defecting\u00a0to the British after being passed over\u00a0for promotion. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Although most figures here are celebrated for their contributions to the war, Benedict Arnold is remembered for his sabotage. Despite his initial exemplary service as a general in the Continental Army during campaigns and battles in Quebec, Saratoga and Valcour Island, he was upset after missing out on promotions.<\/p>\n

As a result, he turned coat to deliver information to the British. In 1780 he helped hatch a plot for them to capture West Point, a fort he controlled. When his plans were discovered by the patriots, he fled and started fighting for the other side.<\/p>

9<\/span>

Thomas Paine<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1737\u20131809<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Despite being an Englishman, Thomas Paine\u2019s radical writings urged the colonists to demand independence from British rule. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Exerting significant influence over both the American and French Revolutions<\/a>, Thomas Paine made a career as a revolutionary activist. In his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense<\/em> he persuasively outlined the reasons why America should break with Britain \u2013 a document\u00a0that helped unite the colonists to pursue independence.<\/p>

10<\/span>

John Adams<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1735\u20131826<\/strong><\/p>\n

If Jefferson was the writer of the Revolution, John Adams was its speaker. After studying law, he soon joined the patriot cause. While the Revolutionary War raged, Adams travelled around Europe as a diplomat, spending time in the Netherlands and Britain. Present at the first and second Continental Congresses, he delivered radical speeches outlining the reasons to push for American independence. Later, once the fighting had ended, he would go on to play a part in creating the Treaty of Paris.<\/p>\n

Adams served as George Washington\u2019s vice president for two terms, griping: \u201cMy country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.\u201d He was elected America\u2019s second president in 1797, and later retired to his birthplace, Quincy. He and Jefferson both died on 4 July 1826.<\/p>

11<\/span>

George III<\/h3>\n<\/div>

1738\u20131820<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
King George III\u2019s troubled reign also coincided with the French Revolutionary Wars and the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Britain\u2019s monarch from 1760 until his death in 1820, George III<\/a> was the \u201ctyrant\u201d that the colonists wanted to break free from. While he didn\u2019t personally take charge of any military campaigns during the conflict, it was his signature \u2013 as Britain\u2019s head of state \u2013 that had been on laws such as the hated Stamp Act, which had drawn the ire of the revolutionaries. During the final decade of his life, George was too mentally unwell to serve, and his son \u2013 the future George IV<\/a> \u2013 ruled in his place as prince regent.<\/p>\n