American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Samuel de Champlain (c.1580-December 25, 1635) was a French navigator, explorer and soldier who was referred to as the "Father of New France." He was the first European to explore and describe the Great Lakes. He founded Quebec City on July 3, 1608, and served as governor of New France till his death. Lake Champlain, which borders Canada and the United States, was named for him. Champlain's travels are documented in The Voyages and Explorations of Samuel de Champlain (1604-1616), narrated by himself, translated by Annie Nettleton Bourne, together with the Voyage of 1603, Reprinted from Purchas His Pilgrimes, edited...

John Robinson (c.1575-March 1, 1625) was the pastor of the Pilgrim fathers in England and Holland, before their departure to America. He wrote several tracts on the Separatist movement, for which he was persecuted. He had fled with the Separatists, or Nonconformists, to Amsterdam in 1608, then to Leiden, Holland in 1609. His congregation grew to 300 members, and he wrote many works, including: A Justification of Separation from the Church of England, 1610; Of Religious Communion, Public and Private, 1614; and On the Lawfulness of Hearing Ministers in the Church of England, 1634. He actively encouraged the Pilgrims to...

John Pory (1572-September 1635) was an author, geographer and the Secretary of State for the Virginia Colony, being appointed by the London Council. He arrived in Virginia on April 19, 1619, and served as member of the Governor's council. On July 30, 1619, when the first legislative assembly in the new world met at Jamestown, John Pory was elected as its Speaker. In the summer of 1622, he left aboard the Discovery and visited Plymouth. The ship was driven off course and wrecked on the Azores Islands. He was captured by the Spaniards and almost hanged, but was able to...

John Donne (1572-March 31, 1631) was one of England's greatest poets. He was the chaplain to King James I, 1615, and dean of St. Paul's, London. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, his works have inspired many writers. With imagery being drawn from Scholastic philosophy and 17th-century scientific thought, his most famous works include: Songs and Sonnets; Holy Sonnets; and Sermons and Devotions. Ernest Hemingway's novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940, was inspired by John Donne's line in Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 1624, "...send not to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee." John Donne wrote: <No...

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571-November 15, 1630) was the German founder of physical astronomy. An attack of smallpox when he was four-years-old left him with crippled hands and poor eyesight. Overcoming those handicaps, he studied Copernicus' works and at age 23 became a professor of astronomy. He discovered the laws governing planetary motion and pioneered the discipline of celestial mechanics, known as Kepler's Laws, which aided Newton in his formulation of the theory of gravitation. He advanced Copernicus' heliocentric theory of the solar system, with the planets revolving around the sun instead of the earth. His publishing of the ephemeris...