History

A Virginian with a mighty pen, Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution for his role in advocating for and writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Madison followed his friend and fellow Democratic Republican Thomas Jefferson to the presidency, serving from 1809 to 1817. He was president for the entirety of the War of 1812, which lasted to 1815.

Born in 1732, the peak of the colonial Americas, George Washington came from a wealthy planter family that could trace its roots back through English royalty to Charlamagne.

The last of America’s Founding Fathers to rise to the presidency, Monroe was the third straight Democratic Republican to serve two terms. Another affluent Virginian – John Adams was the only one of America’s first five presidents who didn’t fit that description – Monroe served in the Continental Army, being wounded at the Battle of Trenton.

From Rebellion Revolution

The Road to the Rebellion Part I

A courtier in the early days of King Louis XVI’s court, the Marquis de Lafayette sought to win glory as a soldier. He paid his own way to America, arriving in Philadelphia in July of 1777. A 20 year old with no combat experience, Lafayette was named a Major General in the Continental Army and struck up a lasting friendship with the commanding General George Washington. Lafayette was one of several European soldiers who made a name for themselves in the conflict. He served with distinction at the Battle of Brandywine and led his troops out of a British trap at the Battle of Barren Hill. In 1779 he returned to France to help Ben Franklin and John Adams to influence King Louis XVI on the Americans behalf. He returned to the Americas in 1780 he carried the word that Gen. Rochambeau would be arriving with 6,000 troops and that six ships of the French Navy were on their way. Washington gave Lafayette command of an Army in Virginia, fighting forces led by former American Gen. Benedict Arnold. With the aid of Gen. Mad Anthony Wayne and militia forces commanded by the Prussian Freiherr von Steuben, Lafayette helped trap Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown. After tour of the United States in 1784, Lafayette returned to his native France where he became a leader of the liberal aristocrats, supporting religious freedom and the abolition of the slave trade. A supporter of the Royal family, he found himself between worlds, supporting revolutionary ideas but working to maintain the idea of a constitutional monarchy.

The wife of Founding Father and future President John Adams, Abigail was famously his advisor and an early advocate for women’s rights. She sternly opposed slavery and supported the education of women. She was a strong voice supporting her husband and the Revolution while caring for their family and farm and businesses while John Adams was serving in the Continental Congress and as a diplomat abroad. After the war, she spend five years in Europe with Adams and she remained his closest advisor.

British rule.

A British born officer in the Continental Army, Lee was one of several Army officers who openly doubted and worked against George Washington.