Pennsylvania

John Dickinson

John Dickinson, c. 1782—83
Lawyer, politician, writer, militia officer, signer of the Declaration of Independence; 1732—1808.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, 1785
Philadelphia printer, writer, scientist, inventor, signer of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat to France; 1706—90.

Robert Morris

Robert Morris, c. 1782
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, “Financier of the Revolution”; 1734—1806.

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine, 1791
Author, revolutionary, political philosopher; 1737—1809.

Charles Willson Peale

Self-Portrait, 1795
American painter, soldier; created first American museum; 1741—1827.

Rembrandt Peale

Self-Portrait, 1828
American painter, son of Charles Willson Peale; 1778—1860.

Betsy Ross

The Birth of Old Glory, c. 1917
Philadelphia seamstress and upholsterer.

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Rush, c. 1818
Philadelphia doctor, signer of the Declaration of Independence; 1738—1820.

William Rush

Self-Portrait, 1822
American sculptor; 1756—1833.

Arthur St. Clair

Arthur St. Clair, 1782—84
Continental Army general, surrendered Fort Ticonderoga to the British; 1737—1818.

Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense (1775), urging the colonies to declare their independence, found 150,000 purchasers in a population of less than 3 million — the equivalent today of a sale of 14 million.

— Richard Brookhiser
Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution (2003)