Knox supported the American rebels, the Sons of Liberty, and was present at the Boston Massacre. He volunteered as a member of the Boston Grenadier Corps in 1772 and served under General Artemas Ward at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Being a member of the Army of Observation, Knox met and impressed General George Washington when he took command. Knox offered his services to Washington, who had him commissioned a Colonel and gave him command of the Continental Regiment of Artillery. Washington and Knox soon became good friends.

As the Siege of Boston continued, he suggested that the 59 cannons recently captured at Fort Ticonderoga and at Crown Point could have a decisive impact. Washington put him in charge of an expedition to retrieve them. His force brought them by ox-drawn sled south along the west bank of the Hudson River from Fort Ticonderoga to Albany where he crossed the Hudson, continued east through the Berkshires and finally to Boston. Knox and his men averaged approximately 5 ⅜ miles per day, completing the 300-mile trip in 56 days. The Cannon Train was composed of fifty-nine cannon and mortars, 29 from Crown Point and 30 from Fort Ticonderoga, and weighed a total of 60 tons. Upon their arrival in Cambridge, when Washington’s army took the Heights of Dorchester, the cannons were placed in a heavily fortified position overlooking Boston from which they threatened the British fleet in the harbor. As a result, the British were forced to withdraw to Halifax on March 17, 1776.

During the Battle of Trenton, Colonel Knox was in charge of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River. Though hampered by ice and cold, with John Glover’s Marbleheaders manning the boats, he got the attack force of men, horses and artillery across the river without loss. Following the battle he returned the same force, along with hundreds of prisoners, captured supplies and all the boats back across the river by the afternoon of December 26. Knox was promoted to brigadier general for this accomplishment, and Chief of Artillery.

The Continental Congress made Knox Secretary of War under the Articles of Confederation on March 8, 1785. He held that position without interruption until September 12, 1789, when he assumed the same duties as the Secretary of War in Washington’s first Cabinet. As secretary, Knox urged and presided over the creation of a regular United States Navy and created a series of coastal fortifications.

Knox settled at Montpelier, the estate he built in Thomaston, Maine. He spent the rest of his life engaged in cattle farming, ship building, brick making, and real estate speculation. He had assembled a vast 1,000,000-acre real estate empire in Maine through graft and corruption, triggering an armed insurrection by local settlers who, at one point, threatened to burn Montpelier to the ground. He also was industrious in lumbering, ship building, stock raising, and brick manufacturing, although all of these businesses failed, building up staggering debts that would ultimately bankrupt his heirs.

In 1806, while visiting a friend in Union, Maine, he swallowed a chicken bone which punctured his intestine. He died of an infection (peritonitis) three days later on October 25, 1806 and was buried in Thomaston. Many incidents in Knox’s career attest to his character, both good and bad. As one example, when he and Lucy were forced to leave Boston in 1775, his home was used to house British officers who looted his bookstore. In spite of personal financial hardships, he managed to make the last payment of 1,000 pounds to Longman Printers in London to cover the price of a shipment of books that he never received.

Two separate American forts, Fort Knox (Kentucky), and Fort Knox (Maine) were named after him. Knox Hall at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, home of the Field Artillery Center and Field Artillery School, is also named after him. Knoxville, Tennessee, is named in his honor. There are counties named for Knox in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas.

Excerpted from and continued on: Wikipedia

Despite the controversy Knox caused later in private life, I consider Henry Knox to be one of the greatest contributors to our freedom in America. Through his determination in war and as the Secretary of State, Knox defined the meaning of a patriot.

Born and raised in the Caribbean, Hamilton attended King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York. At the start of the American Revolutionary War, he organized an artillery company and was chosen as its captain. Hamilton became the senior aide-de-camp and confidant to General George Washington, the American commander-in-chief. After the war, Hamilton was elected to the Continental Congress from New York, but he resigned to practice law and to found the Bank of New York. He served in the New York Legislature, and he was the only New Yorker who signed the U.S. Constitution. In the new government under President Washington, Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury. An admirer of British political systems, Hamilton was a nationalist who emphasized strong central government and used the implied powers of the Constitution to fund the national debt, assume state debts, and create the government-owned Bank of the United States; he paid for it all with a tariff on imports and a highly controversial whiskey tax.

Soon after the gubernatorial election in New York—in which Morgan Lewis, greatly assisted by Hamilton, defeated Aaron Burr—the Albany Register cited Hamilton’s opposition to Burr and alleged that Hamilton expressed “a still more despicable opinion” of the Vice President at an upstate New York dinner party. Burr, sensing an attack on his honor, demanded an apology. Hamilton refused on the grounds that he could not recall the instance. Following an exchange of three testy letters, and despite the attempts of friends to avert a confrontation, a duel was nevertheless scheduled for July 11, 1804, along the west bank of the Hudson River on a rocky ledge in Weehawken, New Jersey, a common dueling site at which Hamilton’s eldest son, Philip, had been killed three years earlier. At dawn, the duel began, and Vice President Aaron Burr shot Hamilton. Hamilton’s shot broke a tree branch directly above Burr’s head. The paralyzed Hamilton, who knew himself to have been mortally wounded, was ferried back to New York.[78] After final visits from his family and friends and considerable suffering, Hamilton died on the following afternoon, July 12, 1804.

Excerpted from and continued on: Wikipedia

Alexander Hamilton is considered to be one of our more controversial Founders. His policies and his disagreements with Jefferson and Madison are still discussed today. There is much more to learn about Hamilton, beginning with the informative Wikipedia article referenced above.

Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable shipping business from his uncle. Hancock began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men would later become estranged. As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s, Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause.

Hancock was one of Boston’s leaders during the crisis that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and as president of Congress was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. Hancock returned to Massachusetts and was elected as governor of the Commonwealth for most of his remaining years. He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.

Excerpted from and continued on: Wikipedia

As is true of many of our nation’s Founders, John Hancock’s contributions to the American Revolution spanned decades. There is much more to learn about Hancock, beginning with the informative Wikipedia article referenced above.

After the Revolution, Henry again served as governor of Virginia from 1784 to 1786, but declined to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787 saying that he “smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy.” An ardent supporter of state rights, Henry was an outspoken critic of the United States Constitution and led the Virginia opposition to its ratification arguing that it gave the federal government too much power and that the untested office of the presidency could devolve into a monarchy. As a leading Antifederalist, he was instrumental in forcing the adoption of the Bill of Rights to amend the new Constitution and became a leading opponent of James Madison. President George Washington offered him the post of Secretary of State in 1795, which he declined out of opposition to Washington’s Federalist policies. However, following the radicalism of the French Revolution Henry’s views changed as he began to fear a similar fate could befall America and by the late 1790s Henry was in support of the Federalist policies of Washington and Adams

Excerpted from and continued on: Wikipedia

At the age of 16, Monroe enrolled in the College of William and Mary. However in 1774, the atmosphere on the Williamsburg campus was not conducive to study, and the prospect of rebellion against King George charged most of the students, including Monroe, with patriotic fervor. In June 1775, after the battles of Lexington and Concord, Monroe joined 24 older men in raiding the arsenal at the Governor’s Palace. The 200 muskets and 300 swords they appropriated helped arm the Williamsburg militia. The following spring, Monroe dropped out of college and joined the Continental Army. He never returned to earn a degree. Between 1780 and 1783, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson.

Monroe fought in the War of Independence, serving with distinction at the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder. He spent three months in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, recuperating from his wound. He is depicted holding the flag in the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware.

Through it all, Monroe is probably best known for the Monroe Doctrine, which he delivered in his message to Congress on December 2, 1823. In it, he proclaimed the Americas should be free from future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries’ affairs. It further stated the United States’ intention to stay neutral in European wars and wars between European powers and their colonies, but to consider any new colonies or interference with independent countries in the Americas as hostile acts toward the United States. Although it is Monroe’s most famous contribution to society, it is important to note that the speech was written by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Monroe began to formally recognize the young sister republics (the former Spanish colonies) in 1822. He and John Quincy Adams had wished to avoid trouble with Spain until it had ceded the Floridas to the U.S., which was done in 1821.

Excerpted from and continued on: Wikipedia

Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution. As a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, he played a leading role in persuading Congress to adopt the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. As a representative of Congress in Europe, he was a major negotiator of the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and chiefly responsible for obtaining important loans from Amsterdam.

Adams’ revolutionary credentials secured him two terms as George Washington’s vice president and his own election as the second president of the United States. During his one term as president, he was frustrated by battles inside his own Federalist party (by a faction led by Alexander Hamilton) and the newly emergant bi-partisan disagreements with Jeffersonian Republicans. During his term he also signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts. The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the Quasi-War crisis with France in 1798.

After Adams was defeated for reelection by Thomas Jefferson (at the time, Adams’ vice-president), he retired to Massachusetts. He and his wife Abigail Adams founded an accomplished family line of politicians, diplomats, and historians now referred to as the Adams political family. Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. His achievements have received greater recognition in modern times, though his contributions were not initially as celebrated as those of other Founders.

Excerpted from and continued on: Wikipedia

Madison was the first President to have served in the United States Congress, drafted many basic laws and was responsible for the first ten amendments to the Constitution (said to be based on the Virginia Declaration of Rights), and thus is also known as the “Father of the Bill of Rights”. As a political theorist, Madison’s most distinctive belief was that the new republic needed checks and balances to protect individual rights from the tyranny of the majority.

As leader in the House of Representatives, Madison worked closely with President George Washington to organize the new federal government. Breaking with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in 1791, Madison and Thomas Jefferson organized what they called the Republican Party (later called the Democratic-Republican Party) in opposition to key policies of the Federalists, especially the national bank and the Jay Treaty. He secretly co-authored, along with Thomas Jefferson, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798 to protest the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Excerpted from: Wikipedia

Sherman was the only person to sign all four great state papers of the U.S.: the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson said of him: “That is Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, a man who never said a foolish thing in his life.”

Despite the fact that he had no formal legal training, Sherman was urged to read for the bar exam by a local lawyer and was admitted to the Bar of Litchfield, Connecticut in 1754, and chosen to represent New Milford in the Connecticut General Assembly. He was later elected to the Upper House of the Connecticut General Assembly, where he served until 1785.

He served as justice of the peace, judge of the court of common pleas, and justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut for 23 years, when he left to become a member of the United States Congress. He was also appointed treasurer of Yale College, and awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree. He was a professor of religion for many years, and engaged in lengthy correspondences with some of the greatest theologians of the time.

During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, summoned into existence to amend the Articles of Confederation, Sherman offered what came to be called the Great Compromise or Connecticut Compromise. In this plan, the people would be represented in the house by proportional representation in one branch of the legislature, called the House of Representatives (the Lower House). The states would be represented in another house called the Senate (the Upper House). In the lower house, each state had a representative for every 30,000 people. On the other hand, in the upper house each state was guaranteed two senators, no matter its size.

Sherman is also memorable for his stance against paper money and his authoring of Article I Section 10 of the United States Constitution.

Excerpted from: Wikipedia

While not known for extensive learning or brilliant speech, Huntington’s steady hard work and unfailing calm manner earned him the respect of his fellow delegates. As a result, when John Jay left to become minister to Spain, Huntington was elected to succeed him as President of the Continental Congress on September 28, 1779. The President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require Huntington to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. He spent his time as president urging the states and their legislatures to support the levies for men, supplies, and money needed to fight the Revolutionary War. The Articles of Confederation were finally ratified during his term.

Excerpted from: Wikipedia

Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress beginning in June 1775, soon after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. When Congress began considering a resolution of independence in June 1776, Jefferson was appointed to a five-man committee to prepare a declaration to accompany the resolution. The committee selected Jefferson to write the first draft probably because of his reputation as a writer. The assignment was considered routine; no one at the time thought that it was a major responsibility. Jefferson completed a draft in consultation with other committee members, drawing on his own proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George Mason’s draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and other sources.

Jefferson showed his draft to the committee, which made some final revisions, and then presented it to Congress on June 28, 1776. After voting in favor of the resolution of independence on July 2nd, Congress turned its attention to the declaration. Over several days of debate, Congress made a few changes in wording and deleted nearly a fourth of the text, most notably a passage critical of the slave trade, changes that Jefferson resented. On July 4, 1776, the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved. The Declaration would eventually become Jefferson’s major claim to fame, and his eloquent preamble became an enduring statement of human rights.

Excerpted from: Wikipedia