American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Richard Bassett (April 2, 1745-September 15, 1815) was an attorney, jurist and politician. He was a signer of the Constitution of the United States. He was instrumental in leading his state of Delaware to be the first to ratify the United States Constitution, 1787. He was a U.S. Senator, 1789- 93; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware, Captain in the Revolutionary War. He helped write the Constitution of the State of Delaware and was appointed by President John Adams as a U.S. Circuit Court Judge. Richard Bassett converted to Methodism during the Revolutionary War and became close personal friends...

Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1745-April 19, 1813) was a physician, educator and philanthropist. He was a member of the Continental Congress, 1776-77, and signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1774, he helped found and was president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. He helped found and was vice-president of the Philadelphia Bible Society; was a principal promoter of the American Sunday School Union; and a member of the Abolition Society. He also served as the Surgeon General of the Continental Army, 1777-78; helped to write the Pennsylvania Constitution, 1789-90; and was Treasurer of the U.S. Mint,...

Abigail Smith Adams (November 22, 1744-October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President. The daughter of Reverend William Smith, she married John Adams when she was 20 years old, and together they had five children. She strongly supported her husband's career. Her letters and memoirs are now considered major historical documents revealing life during the Revolutionary era. On October 16, 1774, as tensions with Great Britain increased, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams, from their home in Braintree: <I dare not...

Josiah Quincy (February 23, 1744-April 26, 1775) was an American Revolutionary patriot, lawyer, and orator of freedom. He wrote many patriotic articles and signed them, "An Independent" or, "An Old Man." His most notable work was Observations of the Act of Parliament Commonly called the Boston Port Bill with Thoughts on Civil Society and Standing Arms, 1774. Josiah Quincy was sent on a mission to England to argue the cause of the Colonists in 1774, and during his return trip, April 26, 1775, he died at sea. His son, Josiah Quincy, (1772-1864), was a U.S. Representative, 1805-18; and president of...

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743-July 4, 1826) was the 3rd President of the United States, 1801-09; approved the Louisiana Purchase and commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803; Vice- President under John Adams, 1797-1801; Rector of the University of Virginia, 1819; Secretary of State under George Washington, 1789-93; U.S. Minister to France, 1785-89; delegate to the Continental Congress, 1783-85; drafted the Virginia Constitution, 1783; Governor of Virginia, 1779-81; drafted the Declaration of Independence, 1776; alternate delegate to the Second Continental Congress, 1775-76; member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1768-79; married Martha Wayles Skelton, 1772; admitted to bar, 1767; graduated...