Early Life The radical propagandist and voice of the common man, Thomas Paine, was born in Thetford in Norfolk on January 29, 1737. His father, Joseph, was a poor Quaker corset maker who tried to provide his son with an education at the local grammar school but eventually was forced to apprentice him to his…

Margaret Catherine “Kate” Moore was born in 1752 in Anson South Carolina to Charles and Mary Moore.  In 1767 at the age of fifteen she married Andrew Barry. The two settled in Spartanburg County across the Tyger River, about two miles from Walnut Grove. Kate Barry was an excellent horsewoman, and she was very familiar with…

Overview James Monroe, (1758-1831), 5th President of the United States. Monroe’s public career was shaped by three great influences: the American Revolution; the principles of the Republican party, which he helped found; and his diplomatic experiences. He worked to achieve the revolutionary ideal of a representative government based on free institutions, first through the battle…

Early Life James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, was born at Port Conway, in King George county, Virginia, on the 16th of March 1751. His first ancestor in America may possibly have been Captain Isaac Maddyson, a colonist of 1623 mentioned by John Smith as an excellent Indian fighter. His father, also…

Early Life Francis Lightfoot Lee, the fourth son of Thomas Lee, was born on the fourteenth day of October, 1734. His father for several years held the office of president of the king’s council of the provincial government of Virginia. He had several sons, all of whom were highly distinguished for their talents, and for…

Early Life Richard Henry Lee, a descendant from an ancient and distinguished family in Virginia, was born in Westmoreland county, of that province, on the twentieth of January, 1732. As the schools of the country for many years furnished but few advantages for an education, those who were able to meet the expense, were accustomed…

“…Our political machine, composed of thirteen independent sovereignties, have been perpetually operating against each other and against the federal head ever since the peace. The powers of Congress are totally inadequate to preserve the balance between the respective States, and oblige them to do those things which are essential for their own welfare or for…

Early Life John Paul (afterwards known as John Paul Jones) was born at Arbigland, in the Parish of Kirkbean, and in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, on 6 July 1747. Born John Paul, his father of the same name was a gardener; his mother’s name was Jean MacDuff, the daughter of a small farmer in…

Overview Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3d PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. As the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he is probably the most conspicuous champion of political and spiritual freedom in his country’s history. He voiced the aspirations of the new nation in matchless phrase, and one may…

“Let it be remembered that civil liberty consists, not in a right to every man to do just what he pleases, but it consists in an equal right to all citizens to have, enjoy, and do, in peace, security and without molestation, whatever the equal and constitutional laws of the country admit to be consistent…