Historical Research Library

Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era. 

Singers and dancers focused on Chris Jackson playing George Washington

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Gouverneur Morris, engraving by J. Rogers (Wikimedia Commons)

Gouverneur Morris

Constitutional Convention delegate who advocated a strong central government, abolition, and freedom of religion

Person
Thomas Paine, by Romney Illman & Sons (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Thomas Paine

Author of “Common Sense” and “The Rights of Man” who was influential in the American and French Revolutions

Person
Paul Revere, 1887 (Library of Congress)

Paul Revere

Boston patriot, famed for his “midnight ride,” whose art turned a local skirmish into a “Massacre”

Person
George Washington, by Rembrandt Peale, ca. 1852 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

George Washington

The first President of the United States and a symbol of American independence and integrity

Person
Frontispiece, "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral," 1773, by Phillis Wheatley, 1773 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Phillis Wheatley

First published African American female author and supporter of American independence

Person