John Adams: 1735-1826

John Adams was the 1

st
vice president of the United States while George
Washington was the first president. Following Washington, Adams became our
nd
president from 1!"!#1$%1. &f the first ' presidents, Adams was the onl( one )&*
from +irginia, he was born in -uinc(, .assachusetts. John Adams had alwa(s
been against slaver(. /n his entire life, he never bought a single slave. 0efore his
time as president, John Adams was as1ed to represent the 0ritish soldiers that
1illed five American2s during the 0oston .assacre. /t was during this time that
Adams gained much respect from ever(one due to his passion for fairness and
peace. Adams was 1nown for assisting *homas Jefferson in the writing of the
3eclaration of /ndependence. &ne ver( important part of John Adams presidenc(
was that we gained the two part( s(stem 4hint.. republicans and democrats5. &n
Jul( 6, 1$7, John Adams passed awa( five hours before the death of *homas
Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826
*homas Jefferson is 1nown as one of our nation2s founding fathers. 8e was 1nown
for being the main author of the 3eclaration of /ndependence. /n 1$%1, he became
the 9
rd
president of the United States. 3uring the westward e:pansion, *homas
Jefferson purchase land from France 4the ;ouisiana <urchase5. *his doubled the
si=e of the United States. 8e passed awa( on Jul( 6, 1$7 in his home, .onticello,
five hours after the death of John Adams.
Meriwether Lewis: 1774-1809
.eriwether ;ewis was <resident *homas Jefferson2s personal assistant. ;ewis was
an e:plorer and soldier with a lot of e:perience. /n 1$%9, *homas Jefferson as1ed
.eriwether ;ewis to e:plore the land west of the .ississippi >iver, which he
purchased from France. ;ewis was to collect information on the plants, animals,
and people of the region. ;ewis chose an old friend, William ?lar1 to @oin him on
this mission. *ogether the( traveled over $,%%% miles. Following his mission,
;ewis became governor of the ;ouisiana *erritor(, however he commonl(
e:perienced bad moods and was an alcoholic, so he did not have a successful time
as governor. &n &ctober 1, 1$%", ;ewis died on his wa( to Washington, 3.?.
Some believe he 1illed himself, while some believe he was murdered.
i!!iam "!ar#: 1770-1838
William ?lar1 was a soldier who fought alongside .eriwether ;ewis. /n 1$%9,
;ewis as1ed ?lar1 to @oin him on *homas Jefferson2s mission to e:plore the
;ouisiana <urchase be(ond the .ississippi >iver. ?lar1 was an e:perienced
mapma1er and was able to discover routes to travel. 3uring their @ourne(, ?lar1
invited Sacagawea, a Shoshone /ndian, to @oin them. After e:ploring this new land,
?lar1 was appointed as the agent for /ndian affairs. 8e was married to Julia
8ancoc1 in 1$%$, and cared for his own famil( as well as the children of
Sacagawea after she passed awa( in 1$1. ?lar1 was 1nown for his fair treatment
of )ative Americans. &n September 1, 1$9$, William ?lar1 passed awa(.
$a%a&awea: 1788-1812
Sacagawea was the daughter of a Shoshone chief, but at the age of 1, she was
captured b( an enem( tribe and sold to a French#?anadian trapper 4a person who
captures animals for their fur5, who made her his wife. /n 1$%6, Sacagawea was
invited to @oin the e:ploration of the ;ouisiana *erritor( with .eriwether ;ewis
and William ?lar1. *he( believed that her 1nowledge of the area would be helpful
to them during this dangerous mission. Sacagawea was the onl( woman on this
mission, and was ver( helpful. She was able to identif( edible plants, and was even
able to save some of the goods that were on a boat she was on when it san1. &n
this mission, she gave birth to her first son. /n 1$1, she gave birth to her daughter,
and Sacagawea passed awa( the same (ear. William ?lar1 was ver( close to
Sacagawea and too1 care of her children after she passed awa(.
'!i hitne(: 1765-1825
Ali Whitne( grew up on a farm, but was great with machine wor1 and technolog(.
3uring the >evolutionar( War, he was able to ma1e nails from something he
invented. Whitne( attended Bale ?ollege from 1!$"#1!". 8e had studied law, but
was hired as a tutor after school. 8e found out that the( famil( decided to pa( him
half of what he was told, and he turned the @ob down. 8e too1 a @ob reading law at
.ulberr( Grove plantation for ?atherine Greene. *here he met Greene2s fiancC
and discovered that the state of South ?arolina lac1ed a cash crop. Ali Whitne(
decided to create a machine that was capable of Duic1l( cleaning cotton, which
normall( too1 humans hours. *his new cotton gin could produce as much cotton in
an hour that too1 multiple wor1ers a da( to complete. 8e was also 1nown for
increasing weapons production b( influencing modern assembl( lines. Whitne( is
1nown as Ethe father of American technolog(F. Ali Whitne( passed awa( on
Januar( $, 1$'.
Jo Anderson: 1808- %) 1888
Jo Anderson was a slave whom helped ?(rus .c?ormic1 design and ma1e a
wor1ing reaper. A reaper is a machine that cuts and gathers crops at harvest. ;ittle
information is 1nown about Anderson, but it was 1nown that he was more li1e a
brother to ?(rus .c?ormic1 than he was a slave. Jo Anderson was freed b(
.c?ormic1 during the ?ivil War, but he was unable to live in +irginia at the time.
.c?ormic1 bought a cabin for Anderson where he lived with his son. 8is e:act
death (ear is un1nown.
"(r*s M%"ormi%#: 1809-1884
?(rus .c?ormic1 is 1nown as the inventor of the reaper. *he reaper is a farm tool
pulled b( horses that gathers crops at harvest time. .c?ormic12s father began
inventing the reaper, but did not have much success with this. After ?(rus was
born, he helped his father and too1 over this pro@ect. Jo Anderson, one of his slaves
assisted him in this process. .c?ormic1 and Anderson got along well and their
relationship was not li1e the average slave and master relationship. .c?ormic1
struggled to create a reaper that could function in all conditions, and advertised his
machine, but sold ver( few. After wor1ing on the machine for 19 (ears, he moved
to ?hicago to establish a factor( where the( could mass produce their machines.
When tr(ing to renew his patent, someone else had received a patent for a similar
machine even though he had designed it. 8is patent was denied and he had to go to
court. 8is patent was not renewed, but the( continued the production of the
machine. *he last four (ears of his life, .c?ormic1 was paral(=ed due to a stro1e,
and passed awa( on .a( 19, 1$$6.
+o,ert -*!ton: 1765-1815

/n >obert Fulton2s earl( life, he wor1ed in a shop ma1ing miniature paintings to fit
into loc1ets. .an( believed that he was a wonderful artist. 8owever, in 1!"6, he
changed his interest to canal engineering. A canal is a man#made bod( of water
that connects two main bodies of water. *his allows boats and ships to travel to
other bodies of water where there used to be land. /n 1!"!, he traveled to <aris
where he shared the idea of a submarine that the French could use during their war
with 0ritain. *he submarine would creep under 0ritish ships and would attach an
e:plosive. *he French denied his ideas. /n 1$%1, Fulton wor1ed with >obert >.
;ivingston to improve steamboat navigation. After much wor1, their steamboats
started to replace other boats that traveled large rivers and he assisted in the
planning for the Arie ?anal. 8e passed awa( in 1$1' on his wa( to his home in
)ew Bor1.