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Founders of America

I'm reading These Truths: A History Of The United States by Jill Lepore and am struck by reading a history that emphasizes the rebellion against slavery. There were parallels in not wanting taxation without representation and slavery that many pointed out. If we could have only abolished slavery at the beginning we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble. I'd say one trait of American history is that we give in to greed quite easily.

I thought about setting myself a course of learning about the founders:

John Adams  First vice president and second president.
Benjamin Franklin  Author, printer, political theorist, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
Alexander Hamilton Wrote most of the Federalist Papers. Inspired musical Hamilton.
John Jay Wrote 5 of the Federalist Papers. First chief justice of the USA.
Thomas Jefferson  He wrote the Declaration of Independence. Third president.
James Madison  He wrote in the religious freedom lines of the Constitution. Fourth president.
George Washington "Everyone" liked him, but his slaves kept running away.

Wives were founding mothers,

Abigail Adams She urged equality between the sexes to her husband who was pretty deaf to it.
Martha Washington The first First Lady. She had 4 children in a previous marriage, widowed at 25. Washington didn't have any children with her.
Dolly Madison She married James Madison in her second marriage after her first husband died. She also served as a kind of First Lady for Thomas Jefferson who was widowed while president.
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton Set up orphanages and helped support Hamilton's historical legacy.

and add to that list:

Phillis Wheatley First published African-American female poet in 1773, 12 years after Jupiter Hammon published his poem.

Deborah Sampson  Fought as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Friend of Paul Revere.

Mercy Otis Warren

Esther Reed

Jill Lepore also discusses Franklin's sister Jane Mecom.

Aside from all the possibilities studying the history of the Revolutionary War and early years, I have learned quite a lot.

I didn't know that George Washington ran unopposed in the first election in 1788.

In addition to Deborah Sampson, also Molly Pitcher, Anna Maria Lane, Sally St. Clair and Margaret Corbin fought in the Revolutionary War.

The first things brought to the Supreme Court were pleas to abolish slavery. It was sent to the legislature where they put it off until 1808.

Jill Lepore considers it a huge mistake for Washington to not free his slaves when he became president. He considered it. Everything he did as president was copied, and that would have been an interesting precedent.

Andrew Jackson founded the Democratic Party. There was an anti-Mason party, against secret societies, and they nominated a Mason. Free-Soil party was created when both parties nominated pro-slavery candidates.

Just past the founders:

Margaret Fuller: The tragic loss of her due to a shipwreck just off Fire Island as she was returning to America after being a foreign correspondent really got to me when I read about it.

Maria Stewart

Sojourner Truth

Frederick Douglass

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