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John Trumbill Sr.
One of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Revolutionary state. He was the only colonial governor at the start of the Revolution to take up the rebel cause. -
John Hancock
An American merchant, smuggler, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" has become, in the United States, a synonym for a signature. -
Charles Carroll
Known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III to distinguish him from his similarly named relatives,was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress and later as first United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic and the longest-lived signatory of the Declaration of Independence, dying 56 years after the document was first signed. -
Benjamin Rush
On returning to Philadelphia, Rush came into contact with some of the most prominent American physicians of the time. From 1761 to 1766, he apprenticed under John Redman and attended the first lectures of John Morgan and William Shippen, Jr. at the newly founded department of medicine in the College of Philadelphia. During these years, Rush also began his lifelong habit of regularly making entries in his Commonplace Book. -
John Peter Muhlenberg
A Representative and a Senator from Pennsylvania. Was born in Trappe, October 1, 1746. Pursued classical studies and attended the Academy of Philadelphia studied in the University of Halle, Germany, 1763-1766. Apprenticed to a grocer, absconded, and served in a German regiment of dragoons. Returned to Philadelphia in 1766. Studied theology and was ordained in 1768. Pastor of Lutheran churches in New Germantown and Bedminster. -
Declaration of Independence
On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following day 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence. The delegates then spent the next two days debating and revising the language of a statement drafted by Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and as a result the date is celebrated as Independence Day. -
U.S. Constitution
The Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended twenty-seven times.In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government.The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures. -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.The English constitutional settlement of 1689, confirming the deposition of James II and the accession of William and Mary, guaranteeing the Protestant succession, and laying down the principles of parliamentary supremacy. -
John Jay
Jay served as the President of the Continental Congress, an honorific position with little power. During and after the American Revolution, Jay was Minister to Spain, a negotiator of the Treaty of Paris by which Great Britain recognized American independence, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, helping to fashion United States foreign policy. His major diplomatic achievement was to negotiate favorable trade terms with Great Britain in the Jay Treaty in 1794. -
John Witherspoon
A Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and a Founding Father of the United States.Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish Common Sense Realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey, became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. -
Fifth Amendment
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger".