THOMAS JEFFERSON, the Silent Member of Congress

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Directions: For each person or group of people below, read the description and fill in the box with the necessary information.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, The Silent Member of Congress

Jefferson was elected the delegate of Virginia for the Continental Congress. When the congress assembled, he wrote his protests, for he was no public speaker. He was known as the "silent member of Congress."

After much time of protest and anguish between Britain and the Colonies, it was time for something to be done. So, Thomas Jefferson was called upon, regardless of his protests, to draft the Declaration of Independence. It was in this that he, for the first time, perfectly put to word the feelings of anguish, sorrow, suffering, anger, and other offenses the colonies had against the king who was deaf to their pleas.

The Declaration of Independence had to go through many drafts and editing sessions, and during that time he spent many days and nights with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, who helped him choose with precision the language that best gave the feeling and message he wished to portray. John Adams and Ben Franklin were the two that were most supportive of this young 33-year-old while under the great pressure of writing this monumental document.

Through all the late nights they stayed up editing copies, through all the picky words and slight adjustments of sentences, through the agonies of handwritten rewrite after rewrite, a friendship was born that would never die. Benjamin became like a father to Jefferson, and John like a brother. The three of them came very close through it all, and none ever regretted those days they spent modifying this country's most important document.

Shortly after, war broke out, and Jefferson was back in Congress. The war brought great devastation for many; they were greatly outnumbered, but they knew there was no turning back. After they had spat in the face of their king, they could not go and just crawl back under his cruel hand. The tyranny and injustice was too much for them to bear, and each knew that they must prevail, and they must do it together.

JOHN ADAMS, Congressman and Diplomat

When John Adams was chosen as a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress. He was asked to head the Board of War for the burgeoning revolution, become a member of the Committee of Five, and was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence.

Adams is credited with nominating the Virginian George Washington as Commander-in-Chief. He was instrumental in arguing to get the Declaration of Independence passed. He debated for hours and hours in congress until he got it passed.

As well as recognizing the authority figure in the quiet George Washington, Adams claimed he was key in choosing Thomas Jefferson as the perfect author of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, he thought that Jefferson had done such a good job of it, that he fought hard to keep it in its original form and have no changes made to it. He was mistaken as its author for a while because he loved it so much that he copied it word for word into a letter home for his wife Abigail.

In 1777, Congress named Adams as a commissioner to work with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee in negotiating a French alliance. Adams had trouble getting along with Franklin. Perhaps it was simply that Franklin was aging, but Adams found him lazy and fond of fancy and expensive things. Arthur Lee outright disliked Franklin and Adams found himself playing mediator between the two of them.

Adams worked hard to negotiate the French alliance and get them to agree to use their navy to help in the war, but he found that the French court was especially fond of Franklin and, feeling underappreciated by Congress, he left for home.

Barely a week after his return, he was chosen as a delegate to the state constitutional convention, where he was selected to write the Massachusetts constitution.

When negotiations with France became tense and the minister agreed to only work with Franklin, who had remained in France, Adams left for Holland in hopes of stirring sympathy there and getting a loan for America, which he did eventually do, for $10 million.

SAMUEL ADAMS, Fighting for Freedom

After young Samuel Adams’ failure at business, his father gave him a job at a family owned Massachusetts brewery, where he worked as a maltster. In 1748, Samuel and some friends, angered by the British impositions, launched their own newspaper. There they wrote political essays for the public to read. He urged people to resist any encroachments on their personal lives or liberties.

In 1747, Samuel Adams was elected to his first political office as a clerk to the Boston market. He became a tax collector in 1756, he often did not collect taxes from people, and while this made him very popular among the town's citizens, he shorted his own paycheck a lot. Later, after the French and Indian War, Samuel had become a prominent figurehead in his political group for the struggle against Great Britain.

When Britain started taxing America, Samuel Adams was one of the leading public opposers of the taxes. Samuel, as one of the Sons of Liberty, took a leading role in starting the Boston Tea Party of 1773, although his exact involvement is still disputed. Upon the ship's arrival in the Boston harbor, he passed notes around to invite the townspeople to a secret gathering. Hundreds of people showed, and Samuel fired up the room with a spirit of revolution, urging the people to send the ship back without paying. This spirit of revolution led only to the Boston Tea Party, causing the British great monetary loss.

During the Revolutionary War, Adams was a member of the first and second Continental Congress. Samuel fought tirelessly to push congress toward independence. In 1776, Samuel Adams was a proud signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. After the signing of the Declaration, he worked in the military committees and even joined the war briefly in 1777.

JOHN HANCOCK, Businessman Patriot

John Hancock was a very wealthy man in 1763, largely due to his partnership in his uncle’s successful business in Massachusetts. As tension grew between Britain and the colonies after the French and Indian War, John Hancock was not yet a political activist, but disliked the taxes, not because of his personal rights, but because he believed it bad for the American economy. However, just as the tension with Britain reached its peak, John Hancock emerged as a leading activist.

In 1765 he was elected one of Boston's select men, which was the post his uncle had previously held. Right after the Stamp Act was passed, he temporarily became a loyalist. Even though he thought Parliament was out of line, he wished the colonists would submit to their king. However, shortly after he changed his mind on the matter, but still disapproved of the violence.

In May 1766, Hancock was elected Massachusetts House of Representatives. Hancock's political popularity benefitted greatly from the support of Samuel Adams, who had a lot of popularity with the citizens. Hancock and Adams were an unlikely pairing and had almost nothing in common, however they were good friends none the less and both were members of the Sons of Liberty.

In 1767, the British imposed the Townshend Acts, and soon after in 1768 arrived the Boston Massacre followed by the Boston Tea Party, which Samuel Adams had a hand in starting. It was only a few short years after when the tension had reached its climax and the Revolution had begun. In 1774, Hancock was elected as president of the provincial congress, and was an important member of the committee of safety. During his time there, he helped institute the idea for the first minutemen: militia that were on hand and ready to go into battle at a minute's notice.

In late 1775, Hancock was elected president of the Continental Congress. On the fourth of July in 1776, John Hancock was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hancock's signature is the largest signature of the Declaration as well; this is because when he signed it he said he “did not want the King to have to put on his spectacles to read it.”

PATRICK HENRY, Speech that launched the Revolution

As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry introduced the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions. This was considered an extreme display of rebellion at the time. The Resolutions were in response to the Stamp Act by King George III.

Henry knew that it would be a very controversial subject, so he waited to vote until there was a day when most of his opposition wouldn't be there. As a result, his proposal passed. This was considered the most anti-British action to this point. It was one of the first catalysts of war.

Patrick Henry was a member of both the first and second Continental Congress. He is now famous for fueling the vigor in the fight with his passionate words; "Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God! I know not what course others take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Patrick Henry was a great and energetic patriot. All through the revolution he fought the battles of the Congress to support the American cause, and many call him one of the early leaders of the Revolution.

THOMAS PAINE, Father of the Revolution

With a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine emigrated to Philadelphia from London. When he arrived, he got a job as the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine.

Thomas Paine's most popular and famous work is Common Sense: a pamphlet that won him the title "The Father of the American Revolution." It was published anonymously in January 1776 under the mysterious title "An Englishman". It was a smash, spreading 500,000 copies all over the colonies.

Contrary to popular belief, Paine did not write any novel or original ideas down. Rather, he broke down the complicated idea of liberty and presented it in an easy to understand format. He played on the growing frustration of the people and drove them to look to their own futures. Common Sense has been called "utopian," written with the idea that once liberty came, the rest would follow and everything would be better.

It scared the loyalists and even some of the members of congress, but the positive influence was much more lasting. The idea that common folk could, and did, have opinions that mattered and made sense was sensational.

"These are times that try men's souls" is perhaps his most famous quote and came from his second pamphlet. The American Crisis was meant to be an inspirational writing and General George Washington had it read aloud to his soldiers.

The year after his pamphlets were published, Thomas Paine was offered a position as secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs. Two years later, in 1779, following some conflicts, he made statements regarding negotiations with France got him fired in 1779.