Politicians

American

  • John AdamsSigner of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat, second President
  • John Quincy AdamsDiplomat, senator, sixth President, congressman
  • Samuel AdamsBoston revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Charles Carroll of CarrolltonSigner of the Declaration of Independence, senator
  • George ClintonSoldier, politician, NY governor, vice president
  • John DickinsonLawyer, politician, writer, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • William EllerySigner of the Declaration of Independence from RI
  • Benjamin FranklinPhiladelphia printer, writer, scientist, inventor, diplomat to France
  • William FranklinRoyal Governor of NJ, Loyalist, son of Benjamin Franklin
  • Elbridge GerrySigner of the Declaration of Independence, vice president under Madison
  • Alexander HamiltonWashington’s aide-de-camp, lawyer, Secretary of the Treasury
  • John HancockMerchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence, MA governor
  • Patrick HenryLawyer, orator, VA governor
  • Thomas HutchinsonLast Royal Governor of MA
  • Ralph IzardFinancier, Continental congressman, U.S. senator
  • John JayLawyer, diplomat, Continental congressman, first Chief Justice
  • Thomas JeffersonLawyer, polymath, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, third President
  • Henry LaurensMerchant, planter, slave trader, president of Continental Congress
  • Arthur LeeDiplomat to France, Continental congressman
  • Francis Lightfoot LeeVA politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Richard Henry LeeVA revolutionary, signer of the Declaration of Independence, senator
  • Philip LivingstonNY merchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Robert R. LivingstonNY lawyer, politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • James MadisonConstitutionalist, congressman, Secretary of State, fourth President
  • John MarshallSoldier, lawyer, politician, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
  • George MasonPolitician, author, political philosopher, Anti-Federalist
  • James MonroeSoldier, lawyer, VA governor, diplomat, fifth President
  • Gouverneur MorrisMerchant, financier; helped draft then stylized the Constitution
  • Robert MorrisSigner of the Declaration of Independence, “Financier of the Revolution”
  • James Otis, Jr.Lawyer, politician, Boston revolutionary
  • Charles PinckneySoldier, Constitutional Convention delegate, South Carolina governor
  • Charles Cotesworth PinckneyLawyer, soldier, delegate to the Constitutional Convention
  • Edmund RandolphLawyer, VA governor, Constitutional Convention delegate
  • Peyton RandolphLawyer, VA politician, first president of Continental Congress
  • George ReadLawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence, senator for DE
  • John RutledgeSC governor, second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
  • Roger ShermanLawyer and politician from CT; signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Richard StocktonLawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • James WilsonLawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Supreme Court justice
  • George WytheLawyer, teacher, scholar, signer of the Declaration of Independence

British

French

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)