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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803 (search)
ies was achieved he was a foremost leader of the patriot host. He suggested Samuel Adams. the Stamp Act Congress, and was a continual object of dread and hatred to the colonial governors. He proposed the first Committee of Correspondence in Massachusetts in 1772; and, when General Gage besought him to make his peace with the King, he replied, I trust I have made my peace with the King of kings. No personal considerations shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country. In 1774 he was the chief in maturing the plan for a Continental Congress; was a member of it; and served in that body most efficiently from that time until 1781. As early as 1769 Mr. Adams advocated the independence of the colonies, and was one of the warmest supporters of it in the Congress. When debating on the Declaration of Independence, Adams said: I should advise persisting in our struggle for liberty though it were revealed from heaven that 999 were to perish, and one of 1,000 were to surviv
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Allen, William, 1710-1780 (search)
eded as recorder of Philadelphia in 1741. He assisted Benjamin West, the painter, in his early struggles, and co-operated with Benjamin Franklin in establishing the College of Pennsylvania. Judge Allen was chief-justice of that State from 1750 to 1774. A strong loyalist, he withdrew to England in 1774. In London he published a pamphlet entitled The American crisis, containing a plan for restoring American dependence upon Great Britain. He died in England in September, 1780. educator and1774. In London he published a pamphlet entitled The American crisis, containing a plan for restoring American dependence upon Great Britain. He died in England in September, 1780. educator and author; born in Pittsville, Mass., Jan. 2, 1784: graduated at Harvard College in 1802. After entering the ministry and preaching for some time in western New York, he was elected a regent and assistant librarian of Harvard College. He was president of Dartmouth College in 1817-20, and of Bowdoin College in 1820-39. He was the author of Junius unmasked; a supplement to Webster's dictionary; Psalms and hymns; Memoirs of Dr. Eleazer Wheelock and of Dr. John Codmand: a discourse at the close of
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ames, Fisher, 1758-1808 (search)
Ames, Fisher, 1758-1808 Orator and statesman; born in Dedham, Mass., April 9, 1758; was graduated at Harvard College in 1774; taught school until 1781; then began the practice of law: and soon displayed rare oratorical powers. He wrote political essays for Boston newspapers, over the signatures of Brutus and Camillus. In Congress from 1789 until 1797 he was always distinguished for his great business talent, exalted patriotism, and brilliant oratory. Ardently devoted to Washington, personally and politically, he was chosen by his colleagues to write the address to the first President on his retiring Fisher Ames. from office in 1797. After leaving Congress he devoted himself to the practice of his profession; but finally, on account of declining health, gave it up to engage exclusively in agricultural pursuits. In 1804 he was chosen president of Harvard College, but declined the honor. He received the degree of Ll.D. from that institution. His orations, essays, and letter
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Andre, John, 1751- (search)
a, young Andre returned, and entered a mercantile house in London when he was eighteen years of age. He was a youth of great genius-painted well and wrote poetry with fluency. His literary tastes brought to him the acquaintance of literary people. Among these was the poetess, Anna Seward. of Lichfield, to whose cousin, Honora Sneyd, Andre became warmly attached. They were betrothed, but their youth caused a postponement of their nuptials, and Andre entered the army and came to America, in 1774, as lieutenant of the Royal Fusileers. With them, in Canada, he was taken prisoner by Montgomery, at St. Johns (Nov. 2, 1775), and was sent to Lancaster, Pa. In December, 1776, he was exchanged, and promoted to captain in the British army. He was appointed aide to General Grey in the summer of 1777, and on the departure of that officer he was placed on the staff of Sir Henry Clinton, by whom he was promoted (1780) to the rank of major, and appointed adjutant-general of the British forces in
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Bainbridge, William, 1774-1833 (search)
Bainbridge, William, 1774-1833 Naval officer; born in Princeton, N. J., May 7, 1774. At the age of sixteen years he went to sea, and at nineteen commanded a ship. On the reorganization of the navy in 1798 he was appointed a lieutenant. He and his vessel and crew were captured in the West Indies by a French cruiser in September of that year, but were released in December, when, returning home, he was promoted to the command of a brig. In May, 1800, he was commissioned a captain, and in the ship Washington be carried tribute from the United States to the Dey of Algiers, by whom he was treated with much insolence. By threats of capture and a declaration of war by the Algerine ruler, he was compelled to take an embassy to Constantinople for that petty despot. On his return, with power given him by the William Bainbridge. Sultan, Bainbridge frightened the insolent Dey, compelling him to release all Christian prisoners then in his possession. He returned to the United States i
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Blair, John, 1732-1800 (search)
Blair, John, 1732-1800 Jurist; born in Williamsburg, Va., in 1732; was educated at the College of William and Mary; studied law at the Temple, London; soon rose to the first rank as a lawyer; was a member of the House of Burgesses as early as 1765, and was one of the dissolved Virginia Assembly who met at the Raleigh Tavern, in the summer of 1774, and drafted the Virginia non-importation agreement. He was one of the committee who, in June, 1776, drew up the plan for the Virginia State government, and in 1777 was elected a judge of the Court of Appeals; then chief-justice, and, in 1780, a judge of the High Court of Chancery. he was one of the framers of the national Constitution; and, in 1789. Washington appointed him a judge of the United States Supreme Court. He resigned his seat on the bench of that court in 1796, and died in Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 31, 1800.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Bland, Richard, 1710-1776 (search)
Bland, Richard, 1710-1776 Statesman: born in Virginia. May 6, 1710; was educated at the College of William and Mary; became a fine classical scholar, and was an oracle touching the rights of the colonies. He was a member of the House of Burgesses from 1745 until his death — a period of thirty-one years; and he was one of the most active of its patriotic members. In 1774 he was a delegate in the Continental Congress, but declined to serve the next year. In 1766 he published one of the ablest tracts of the time, entitled An inquiry into the rights of the British colonies. He died in Williamsburg, Va., Oct. 26, 177
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Bollan, William, 1740-1776 (search)
America about 1740, and settled in Boston. He married a daughter of Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, and was appointed collector of customs at Salem and Marblehead. In 1745 he was sent to England to solicit the reimbursement of more than $800,000 advanced by Massachusetts for the expedition against Cape Breton. He was successful ; and became agent for Massachusetts in 1762, but was dismissed. Being in England in 1769, he obtained copies of thirty-three letters written by Governor Bernard and General Gage, calumniating the colonists, and sent then to Boston. For this act he was denounced in Parliament. He strongly recommended the British government to pursue conciliatory measures towards the colonists in 1775: and in various ways, in person and in writing, he showed his warm friendship for the Americans. Mr. Bollan wrote several political pamphlets relating to American affairs: and in 1774 he presented. as colonial agent, a petition to the King in council. He died in 1776.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Boone, Daniel, 1735-1820 (search)
Boone, Daniel, 1735-1820 Explorer; born in Bucks county, Pa., Feb. 11, 1735. From his youth he was a famous hunter, and, while yet a minor, he emigrated, with his father, to North Carolina, where he married. In May, 1759, Boone and five others went to explore the forests of Kentucky. There he was captured by some Indians, but escaped, and returned home in 1771. In 1773 he led a party of settlers to the wilds he had explored; and in 1774 conducted a party of surveyors to the Daniel Boone. falls of the Ohio (now Louisville). He had taken his family with the other families to Kentucky in 1773, where they were in perpetual danger from the barbarians of the forest. He had several fights with the Indians; and in 1775 he built a fort on the Kentucky River on the present site of Boonesboro. In 1777 several attacks were made on this fort by the Indians. They was repulsed, but in February, 1778. Boone was captured by them, and taken to Chillicothe, beyond the Ohio, and thence to D
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Boston, (search)
eld such a measure to be uncalled for under the circumstances, and the humiliating offer not worthy to be thought of. They nobly promised to join their suffering brethren in every measure of relief. Alarmed by warlike preparations everywhere in 1774, General Gage began to fortify Boston Neck, for the purpose of defence only, as he declared. The Neck was a narrow isthmus that connected the peninsula of Shawmut, on which Boston stood, with the mainland at Roxbury. He also removed the seat of l the ranks. On Jan. 1, 1776, the new army was organized, and consisted of about 10,000 men. The British troops in Boston numbered about 8,000, exclusive of marines on the ships-of-war. They were well View of Boston from Dorchester Heights in 1774. supplied with provisions, and, having been promised ample reinforcements in the spring, they were prepared to sit quietly in Boston and wait for them. They converted the Old South Meeting-house into a riding-school, and Faneuil Hall into a theat
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