Fade Resistance Performance
The first US Patriots (also known as Americans, Whigs, Congress-Men or Rebels) were colonists of British Thirteen Colonies who rebelled during the American Revolution and declared themselves an independent nation, the United States of America in July 1776. Their rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by pamphleteers such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine.
As a group, the first US Patriots comprised men and women representing the full array of social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. They included college students like Alexander Hamilton, to planters like Thomas Jefferson, and plain farmers like Daniel Shays and Joseph Plumb Martin. Their opponents among fellow colonists were the Loyalists, who remained loyal to the British Crown. (In addition many people remained neutral or said nothing.)
Many of the first US Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to this day by Americans as Founding Fathers of the United States.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the best-known Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. It was he, more than anyone else who invented the idea of an American nation, and as a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that helped to make independence possible. Find out more...
John Adams was a sponsor of the American Revolution in Massachusetts, and a driving force for independence in 1776. As a statesman and author, he helped define a set of core republican ideals that became central to America's political value system: the rejection of hereditary monarchy in favor of rule by the people, hatred of corruption, and devotion to civic duty. Find out more...
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. He idealized the independent farmer as exemplar of the republican virtue, distrusted cities and financiers, supported the separation of church and state, and favored a strictly limited federal government. Find out more...
James Madison, in designing the Constitution (1787), played a bigger role than anyone else. Later, he wrote over a third of the Federalist Papers, still the most influential commentary on the Constitution. As a political theorist, his most distinctive belief was that the new republic needed checks and balances to limit the powers of special interests and was deeply committed to mechanisms that would ensure Republicanism in the United States. Find out more...
Samuel Adams was the chief leader who garnered the support of the other colonies in rebelling against Great Britain, ultimately resulting in the American Revolution. His town meetings led to protests against Parliament's colonial tax measures and he mobilized the colonists to defend their rights and liberties. In later years, he organized the Boston Tea Party and other protests against the British. Find out more...
Thomas Paine, a radical intellectual, migrated to the American colonies just in time to take part in the American Revolution, mainly as the author of the powerful, widely-read pamphlet, Common Sense (1776), advocating independence for the American Colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britain. In his pamphlets he wrote now famous lines such as, "Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Find out more...
Alexander Hamilton was one of America's foremost constitutional lawyers, he was a leader in calling the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787 and one of the two leading authors of the Federalist Papers, the most important interpretation of the United States Constitution. Find out more...
Paul Revere was a prosperous and prominent Boston craftsman, an American silversmith, and a patriot in the American Revolution. He helped organize an intelligence and alarm system to keep watch on the British military and was immortalized after his death for his role as a messenger in the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revere's name and his "midnight ride" are well-known in the United States as a patriotic symbol. Find out more...
John Paul Jones remains the first genuine American Naval hero, and a highly regarded battle commander in the American Revolution. During a battle with the HMS Serapis, Jones uttered the legendary reply to a British officer's surrender request, "I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones' defeat of the frigate was a major embarrassment for the British. Find out more...
Patrick Henry is credited with having single-handedly convinced the Virginia General Assembly to pass a resolution delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War. This was the result of a speech he gave on March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond Virginia, which ended with the now famous quote, "Give me liberty or give me death". Find out more...
George Washington led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War. Due to his command experience during the French and Indian War, his leadership of the patriot cause in Virginia, and his political base in the largest colony, the Second Continental Congress chose him, in 1775, as their commander-in-chief of the American army. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians. Find out more...
Daniel Shays was a captain in the American Revolution and is mostly known for leading a small army of farmers in Shays' Rebellion, which was a revolt against the state government of Massachusetts from 1786-1787. Many historians see the Rebellion as a major factor in the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation, the adaptation of the United States Constitution, and the creation of the Federal government of the United States. Find out more...