The American Revolution: Fun Facts

Ordinary Americans from every walk of life achieved independence from Britain and won the American Revolutionary War – and many of them were younger than you might’ve expected. The below list includes historical figures’ ages in early 1776, the year the American colonies declared their independence. This list includes a variety of people who experienced and contributed to the American cause–including Signers of the Declaration of Independence, government figures, military officers and ordinary soldiers, spies, fundraisers, women who kept the homefront running, and more. Many of these names might sound familiar from my novels, but if a name is unfamiliar to you, look it up and learn more! (I *might* get around to hyperlinking but I can’t promise! *wink*)

Patsy Jefferson Randolph, 3

Sally Hemings, 3

Dolley Payne Madison, 8

President John Quincy Adams, 8

James Forten, 9

James Armistead Lafayette, 15

Deborah Sampson, 15

Margaret Corbin, 15

Sybil Ludington, 15

Joseph Plumb Martin, 15

Julia Stockton Rush, 15

Peggy Shippen Arnold, 15

Albert Pawling, 16

Timothy Chase, 16

Peter Bowman, 17

William Short, 17

Kate Moore Berry, 17

Agrippa Hull, 17

Marquis de Lafayette, 18 (pictured above)

President James Monroe, 18

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, 18

George Lewis, 19

Lucy Flucker Knox, 19

Elizabeth Burgin, 19

Sarah Livingston Jay, 19

John Trumbull, 20

John Marshall, 20

Angelica Schuyler Church, 20

Vice President Aaron Burr, 20

Nathan Hale, 21

Alexander Hamilton, 21

John Laurens, 21

Mary Ludwig Hays, 21

Benjamin Tallmadge, 22

Robert Townsend, 22

James McHenry, 23

Lucy Littlebury Holcomb, 23

Phillis Wheatley, 23

George Rodgers Clark, 23

Sarah Osbourn Benjamin, 23

Edmund Randolph, 23

George Baylor, 23

Richard Varick, 23

Samuel Blachley Webb, 23

Betsy Ross, 24

Jane McCrea, 24

Gouverneur Morris, 24

William Washington, 24

Ann Bailey, 24

President James Madison, 25

Henry Knox, 25

Prince Estabrook, 25

Peter Salem, 25

Abraham Woodhull, 25

Edward Rutledge, 26

Anna Smith Strong, 26

Thomas Lynch, Jr., 26

John Paul Jones, 28

Caleb Brewster, 28

Esther de Berdt Reed, 29

Salem Poor, 29

Benjamin Rush, 30

John Jay, 30

Abigail Adams, 31

Tench Tilghman, 32

Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman, 32

Sarah Franklin Bache, 32

President Thomas Jefferson, 33

Nathanael Greene, 33

Mercy Scollay, 34

William Paca, 35

Benedict Arnold, 35

Sarah Bradlee Fulton, 36

Hercules Mulligan, 36

Prudence Wright, 36

Anna Smith Strong, 36

Two Kettles Together (Tyonajanegan), 36-38

Mary Katherine Goddard, 38

Thomas Paine, 38

Nancy Ward (Nanyehi), 38

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 39

John Hancock, 39

Daniel Morgan, 39

President John Adams, 40

Patrick Henry, 40

Annis Boudinot Stockton, 40

Paul Revere, 41

Daniel Boone, 41

Nancy Hart, 41

Hannah Ogden Caldwell, 42

John Dickinson, 43

Francis Marion, 44

President George Washington, 44

Martha Washington, 45

Mercy Otis Warren, 47

Crispus Attucks, 47 (d. 1770)

Lydia Barrington Darragh, 48

Penelope Barker, 48

Samuel Adams, 54

Hannah Till, 55

Benjamin Franklin, 70 (oldest Signer)

One of the things for which Abigail Adams is most remembered is her March 1776 letter to her husband, John Adams, in which she admonished him to “remember the ladies” in creating the laws of the new nation. Indeed, that was the most moderate part of that particular letter, as she went on to say to him: “Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not be bound to any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” She also regularly advocated for women’s education, women in office, voting rights, and more.

But she wasn’t alone in doing so.

Indeed, even the men knew it. British General Cornwallis wrote, “We may destroy all the men in America and we shall still have all we can do to defeat the women.” While Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote, “The women of America have at last become principals in the glorious American controversy.”

Here are other women from the Revolutionary Era who also argued for rights for all:

Susanna Wright, Poet (1697-1784)

• Letter to Eliza Norris, 1770
  • “But womankind call reason to their aid, / And question when or where that law was made, / That law divine (a plausible pretence) / Oft urg’d with none, & oft with little sense.”

Phyllis Wheatley, Poet (1753-1784)

• Letter to Samson Occom, 1774
  • “…. in every breast, God has implanted a principle, which we call love of freedom; it is impatient of oppression.”

Martha Washington, First Lady (1731-1802)

• Quote attributed to her recorded in the diary of an aide to Baron Von Steuben, c. 1778
  • “We must become independent by our determination to do without what we cannot make
  • ourselves. Whilst our husbands and brothers are examples of patriotism, we must be patterns of
  • industry.”

Esther de Berdt Reed, First Lady of Pennsylvania, Wife of a Signer (1746-1780)

• “The Sentiments of an American Woman,” 1780
  • “Our ambition is kindled by the same of those heroines of antiquity, who have rendered their sex illustrious, and have proved to the universe, that, if the weakness of our Constitution, if opinion and manners did not forbid us to march to glory by the same paths as the Men, we should at least equal, and sometimes surpass them in our love for the public good.”

Annis Boudinot Stockton, Wife of a Signer (1736-1801)

• Letter to Elias Boudinot, 1781
  • “Though a female, I was born a patriot.”
• Poem enclosed with a letter to George Washington, 1789
  • “The freeborn mind will feel the force
  • That Justice is the only Source
  • Of Laws Concise and clear
  • Their native rights they will resign
  • To men who can those rights define
  • And every burden bear.”

Mercy Otis Warren, Poet, Historian, Playwright, “The Conscience of the Revolution” (1728-1814)

• “The Squabble of the Sea Nymphs,” Poem written at the request of John Adams, 1774
  • “For females have their influence over kings, nor wives nor mistresses were useless things. Even to the gods of ancient Homer’s page, then sure in this polite and polished age, none will neglect the sex’s sage advice when they engage in any point so nice as to forbid the choice nectars sip and offer buoy to the rosy lip.”  
• Letter to Abigail Adams, 1777
  • “But why should not the same Heroic Virtue, the same Fortitude, patience and Resolution, that Crowns the memory of the ancient Matron, Adorn the Character of Each modern Fair who Adopts the signature of Portia. Surely Rome had not severer tryals than America, nor was Cesar in the senate with his Flatterers, and his Legions about him, more to be Dreaded than George the 3d with his parasites in parliment, and his murdering Mercenaries in the Field.”
• “Observations on the New Constitution,” 1788
  • “The rights of individuals ought to be the primary object of all government, and cannot be too securely guarded by the most explicit declarations in their favor.”

Eliza Harriot O’Connor, Educator (1749-1811)

• Public Lectures, University of Pennsylvania, 1787
  • Eliza was the first woman in the U.S. to give public lectures. Speaking at the University of Pennsylvania in the summer of 1787 when the Constitutional Convention was underway, some of the delegates attended, including George Washington, which brought viral newspaper attention to her. Some attribute her influence to the fact that the Constitution is gender neutral, permitting the interpretation that women could participate as voters and office holders.
• Founder, Female Academies
  • A vocal advocate for women’s education and equal intellectual abilities, she opened all-female academies in New York City, Alexandria, VA, Georgetown (DC), and Charleston and Columbia, SC, which featured rigorous academic curricula.

Judith Sargent Murray, Intellectual (1751-1820)

• “On the Equality of the Sexes,” 1790 (drafted as early as 1779)
  • “They rob us of the power t’improve,
    And then declare we only trifles love;
    Yet haste the era, when the world shall know,
    That such distinctions only dwell below;
    The soul unfetter’d, to no sex confin’d,
    Was for the abodes of cloudless day design’d.
       Mean time we emulate their manly fires,
    Though erudition all their thoughts inspires,
    Yet nature with equality imparts
    And noble passions, swell e’en female hearts.”
  • She goes on in this essay to say: “Are we deficient in reason? we can only reason from what we know, and if an opportunity of acquiring knowledge hath been denied us, the inferiority of our sex cannot fairly be deduced from thence.”

Women served in the Revolutionary War in a variety of ways–as soldiers (sometimes disguised), as spies, and as replacements for fallen husbands. Here are a few examples of women taking up arms:

• Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man using the alias of her dead brother’s name, Robert Shurtliff, and enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment in 1782. She fought in combat, tended to her own battlefield wounds, was honorably discharged in 1783, and later became the first woman to receive a military pension, leaving us an extensive record of her service.
• Mary Ludwig Hays is the primary figure behind the legend of Molly Pitcher, although several other women contributed to that legend as well. Mary carried pitchers of water to cool cannons and quench the thirst of soldiers at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. When her husband collapsed, she took his place firing the artillery.
• Margaret Corbin accompanied her husband to the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776. When he was killed, she stepped in to load and fire the cannon before she was severely wounded. She became the first woman to receive a lifelong U.S. military disability pension.
• Two Kettles Together (Tyonajanegen) was an Oneida warrior who fought alongside the American revolutionary forces as early as 1777 when she rode into combat at the Battle of Oriskany alongside her husband. When he was shot, she continued to fight. She also served as a messenger between backcountry forts, transported messages during the Battle of Saratoga, and helped defend Fort Timmerman against a larger force of Loyalists and British-allied Indians.
• Kate Moore Barry operated as a scout and guide for General Daniel Morgan. In 1781, she rode through the backcountry rallying militias and volunteers to defend against General Cornwallis’s impending attack, significantly increasing the personnel on the American side and becoming known as the “heroine of Cowpens.”
• Prudence Cummings Wright organized an armed militia of women in Pepperell, Massachusetts, when the town’s men marched off to battle. When she discovered Tories, including her brother, were smuggling information from Canada to Boston across the town bridge, she captured and imprisoned them, preventing the British in Boston from learning about American troop movements.
• Anna Marie Lane dressed as a man and accompanied her husband when he enlisted in the Continental Army in Virginia. The two fought side-by-side through numerous battles between 1776 and 1781. Anna was awarded a pension for her heroism during the Battle of Germantown.
• Anne Bailey was a scout and messenger on the Virginia (now West Virginia) frontier who fought in both the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. When her husband died in battle, she donned breeches and joined the militia, where she worked as a scout and a courier and was engaged in campaigns particularly against the British-allied Shawnee Indians, who called her “Mad Anne” for her bravery and daring in stealing back her horse from a Shawnee raiding camp. She was known as a sharpshooter and an expert horsewoman.
• Ann Bailey dressed as a man and enlisted in Massachusetts in August 1777 as Samuel Gay. She served in the Boston Regiment under General John Patterson and had been promoted to corporal before being discovered, at which time she was arrested and sentenced to two months in jail.

July 4, 1776, is the date that the Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, which is why that date became celebrated as Independence Day. But there are some other dates that could’ve been just as good–or maybe even better–candidates for that honor, including:

July 2, 1776 (The Actual Vote) – This was the date that the Continental Congress officially voted in favor of the resolution for independence. In fact, delegate John Adams predicted “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America.”

August 2, 1776 (The Mass Signing) – It took a few weeks for the delegates to officially sign the Declaration of Independence, so the signing day was another date that could’ve legitimately been celebrated as Independence Day.

September 3, 1783 (The Treaty of Paris) – Unlike the other dates, this one has little to do with the Declaration of Independence. This date represents when the Americans received Britain’s actual recognition of American independence with the signing of the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. So get ready for another 250th celebration in 2033!

Paul Revere was the most famous of all the midnight riders who made long, heroic horseback rides to warn their fellow citizens of the impending arrival of hostile British forces–but he wasn’t the only one. Indeed, Revere wasn’t even the only one on his own ride on April 18, 1775; instead, he was part of a large, pre-arranged network of messengers. So let’s remember the others who helped spread the word:

Key Riders on the Night of April 18, 1775:

• William Dawes – Left Boston with Revere but took a different route to Lexington
• Dr. Samuel Prescott – Joined Revere and Dawes on the road and successfully evaded a group of British to become the only rider to complete the full journey to Concord
• Robert Newman – The sexton at the Old North Church in Boston (who hung the famous signal lanterns in the steeple)
• Isaac Hull, Solomon Brown, and others – Local militia captains who spread the word

Other Famous Revolutionary War Riders:

• Sybil Ludington – At just 16, Sybil rode 40 miles through a storm to rouse her father’s militia after the British attacked Danbury, Connecticut on April 26, 1777
• Israel Bissell – Rode 345 miles from Watertown, Massachusetts, to Philadelphia in April 1775 to spread news of the battles of Lexington and Concord, shouting, “To arms, to arms, the war has begun!”
• Tench Tilghman – One of Washington’s trusted aides-de-camp, Tilghman rode nearly 200 miles from Yorktown, Virginia, to Philadelphia in October 1781, to deliver the news of British Lord Cornwallis’s surrender to the Continental Congress

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About 230,000 Americans served in the American Revolutionary War, with another 50,000 British troops occupying the colonies at the height of the war. Yet, the leading cause of death during the war was…disease. Here’s the estimated breakdown:

• 17,000 are estimated to have died from diseases like typhus, typhoid, dysentery, and influenza
• 6,800 Americans were killed in action
• 24,000 British soldiers were casualties from the war, including all those who were killed in action, lost or died from disease, or otherwise went missing
• 100,000 people died during the war from a smallpox epidemic that raged through the States, leading Washington to issue a mandate for smallpox innoculation for the Army in early 1777

The American colonies had no chance of winning their independence alone; they had to get the other European powers involved. That effort–along with colonial rivalries leading other nations to take advantage of Britain’s crisis and over-extended military personnel and resources–quickly expanded the Revolutionary War from its initial conflicts in Lexington and Concord in 1775 to a world war that was fought on land and sea in North America, the Caribbean, India, the coast of West Africa, and in the English Channel.

The stage for this global conflict was set during the Seven Years’ War (1754-1763), which itself was a global conflict wherein France was forced to give up its territorial claims in North America to Britain and Spain. Unsurprisingly, they were eager for revenge.

How it Escalated into a World War:

• 1775-1778 – Primarily a colonial rebellion within the British Empire and a civil war between Patriot and Loyalist American colonists
• 1775 – Spain secretly sends money, materiel, and medical supplies to the United States; the governor of Spanish Louisiana closes the port of New Orleans to British ships while allowing American ships
• 1776-1781 – More than 250,000 Native Americans lived east of the Mississippi in 1776, representing 80 different nations. They immediately understood that the war threatened their own peace and independence, especially as both sides requested their assistance. Some attempted to remain neutral, many sided with the British, and a smaller number allied with the Americans–but the net effect was drawing the entire backcountry into the war
• 1776-1783 – The British hired 30,000 Hessian (German) soldiers to fight on their behalf because its own standing army was small. The first units arrived in August 1776.
• 1777 – Great Britain requests Russian assistance; Russia says no
• 1778 – Following the signing of the Franco-American Treaty of Alliance, France entered the war on the side of the United States, providing troops, money, materiel, and their powerful navy
• 1779 – Spain entered the war on the side of the United States in the hopes of reclaiming territories like Gibraltar and Florida
• 1780 – The Netherlands provided the U.S. government with critical financial aid and official recognition, triggering the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
• 1780 – Russia creates the First League of Armed Neutrality, a significant diplomatic policy that demanded that all European nations adhere to certain rules of neutrality around shipping and commerce; most European nations agreed
• 1781 – Russia’s Catherine the Great attempted to mediate a ceasefire between America and Britain, but the latter’s loss at Yorktown made it irrelevant
• 1783 – The Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War transformed the global order in a number of significant ways:
  • Fractured the British Empire–Britain lost its main North American colonies, forcing London to change its imperial focus toward India and Asia
  • Bankrupted a number of European monarchies, laying the groundwork in particular for the French Revolution
  • Inspired other peoples to work for/demand the establishment of republican nation-states based on written constitutions, natural rights, and self-determination, particularly in France, Haiti (San Domingue), and Latin America (Spanish colonies)
  • Catastrophic losses for Native Americans–the British betrayed their Indian allies by excluding them from any consideration in the treaty negotiations, resulting in native peoples’ loss of territory, tribal autonomy, and governmental protections

Right now you might be thinking, “Huh?” But, yes, the Russians were exploring and colonizing North America before, during, and after the American Revolution.

Russia’s first expeditions to the west coast of North America occurred in the 17th century, but it was two expeditions in 1729 and 1741 that finally had them make it ashore in Alaska. Lured by the valuable fur trade, Russian traders established trading posts by the 1760s, although their relations with the local Aleut Indians were always tense.

When news of the Declaration of Independence reached Russian officials, their reaction was generally supportive of the colonists. The Russian ambassador in London praised the colonists’ leadership, bravery, and virtue, and Catherine the Great blamed the British Crown’s policies towards the colonies. Slyly, she also noted “that the separation of the colonies from the mother country did not conflict with the interests of Russia and might even be advantageous to her.”

In 1775, Britain sought a military alliance with Russia and formally requested that Catherine send 20,000 troops to North America. However, Catherine viewed King George III with contempt, leading her to reject both requests. When Spain entered the war in 1777, Britain requested support from Russia’s navy, but Catherine rejected that appeal as well.

In 1780, Catherine created the First League of Armed Neutrality, a significant diplomatic policy and declaration that demanded that all European nations agree to the following terms (among others): 1) that neutral ships be allowed to visit the ports of fighting nations, and 2) that if neutral ships carry goods from fighting countries, other countries will permit them to pass without hindrance. Most of Europe agreed, but not the British because it conflicted with parts of their wartime strategy in North America.

In 1781, Catherine attempted to act as a mediator between the Americans and Britains by submitting a ceasefire plan. However, the American victory at Yorktown in 1781 made her effort irrelevant as the British surrendered. Still, Catherine’s efforts for mediation served to legitimize the American cause, creating a slow swell of support for American independence among other European countries.

By 1783, merchants from Russia and the new U.S. were freely trading with each other. In 1807, Russia provided full diplomatic recognition of the new American republic.

• Long before the Revolutionary War, Franklin was a voice for American unity. At the Albany Congress in 1754, he circulated the famous “Join or Die” cartoon in an attempt to rally the Americans against the French. He also proposed the Albany Plan–a plan of union for the colonies that later inspired the Articles of Confederation.
• Helped secure the repeal of the hated Stamp Act of 1765 by lobbying against it in London
• As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1775, he helped organize the war effort and worked on the Olive Branch Petition to the king.
• In 1776, he served on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of the three most influential members in shaping its language.
• 1776-1778 – Franklin became an immediate pop culture icon after arriving in Paris. He deliberately cultivated a rustic image with his plain coat, spectacles, and fur cap–and the French loved it so much that fashionable Parisian women copied his style, launching a craze known as “la coiffure a la Franklin”. His likeness appeared on goods of every sort–rings, medallions, watches, and homegoods. And Franklin used his popularity and celebrite to win popular support for America and political support for the military treaty America so desperately needed.
• In 1777, Franklin recruited Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian military officer with an expertise in military training. At Valley Forge, Major General von Steuben implemented a training regimen that greatly improved the Continental Army’s effectiveness. He also wrote a training manual for the Army known as the Blue Book, which the Army used for the next four decades.
• As ambassador to France from 1776-1785, he secured the Franco-American Alliance in 1778 that was responsible in total for sending 40,000 men and the equivalent of between $37 and $90 billion in financial aid, equipment, arms, and ammunition, turning the tide of the war to the Americans.
• In 1787, he served as the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention and signed the U.S. Constitution.
• He is the only Founder to have signed four of the major foundational documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Franco-American Alliance Treaty, the Treaty of Paris, and the U.S. Constitution.

And, of course, all of this was in addition to his extensive scientific, intellectual, educational, philanthropic, and inventor activities and achievements.

John Adams could be hilariously snarky, grumpy, and sarcastic, as well as thin-skinned and self-righteous. He even drafted ranting letters that he then put away in a drawer, never to be sent. Here are some of my favorite John Adams rants, insults, and funny turns of phrases:

To James Warren, 1783: Ben Franklin’s “whole life has been one continued insult to good manners and to decency.” Clearly, Adams was not a fan!

To Abigail Adams, 1796: “I hate Speeches, Messages Addresses & answers, Proclamations and such Affected, studied constrained Things— I hate Levees & Drawing Rooms— I hate to Speak to a 1000 People to whom I have nothing to Say.” LOL this seems like introvert-core to me so I can’t blame him…

To Abigail Adams, 1797: “Hamilton I know to be a proud, spirited, conceited, aspiring mortal, always pretending to morality, but with as debauched morals as old Franklin, who is more his model than anyone I know.” A double swipe at two of his least favorite people!

To Benjamin Rush, 1806: He called Alexander Hamilton “that bastard brat of a Scotch Pedler …. This Creature was in a delirium of Ambition; he had been blown up with Vanity by the Tories, had fixed his Eye on the highest station in America, and he hated every Man young or old, who stood in his Way, or could in any manner eclipse his laurells or rival his Pretentions.” Some of his best insults were against Hamilton!

To Thomas Jefferson, 1815: “The essence of the whole [history of the Revolution] will be that Dr Franklin’s electric rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington. Then Franklin electrified him, and thence forward those two conducted all the Policy, Negotiations, Legislations, and War.” This is so funny, just old Adams and old Jefferson grousing about how people will remember the Revolution and worrying they wouldn’t get enough credit. I mean, relatable…

To James Lloyd, 1815: “…news came that my grandson was in prison at Caraccas, with many of his companions, waiting for trial and execution. Yrujo [the Spanish ambassador to the U.S.]… came forward with an offer to interpose for a pardon for my grandson. No! He should share the fate of his colleagues, comrades and fellow prisoners.” He was so embarrassed by his son-in-law and grandson’s actions in trying to liberate Venezuela, and I love that he was just like, let him rot! (The grandson was fine)

To Thomas Jefferson, 1819: “What a poor ignorant, malicious, short-sighted, Crapulous Mass, is Tom Pains [Paine] Common Sense.” Crapulous needs to be brought back and used more today!

Look, I don’t make the rules. These figures were just the worst! Read on and tell me I’m wrong! *wink*

Major General Horatio Gates – This guy is one of the Revolutionary War’s most controversial figures for a reason (actually, for many reasons). He was one of the conspirators behind two of the political plots against George Washington (the Conway Cabal and the Newburgh Conspiracy). As if that wasn’t bad enough, a glory-hungry Gates had a bad habit of taking credit for the military achievements of others (including taking credit for the Brits’ surrender at the Battle of Saratoga despite the fact that General Philip Schuyler had planned and organized pretty much everything before Gates schemed to get him removed from command) and on more than one occasion made excuses for why he couldn’t follow orders to attack that missed important opportunities to harm the British cause. In August 1780, he was responsible for the routing of the Army of the Southern Department at the Battle of Camden, losing nearly 1,000 men plus the army’s baggage train and artillery. Just the worst!

Major General Benedict Arnold – We all know that Arnold was a traitor to the Patriot cause, which is more than enough to earn him a spot on this list. His history is a bit complicated though, because he had some legitimate reasons to be disgruntled. Despite his distinguished service in several key battles, he was passed over for promotion several times and was publicly criticized for his leadership style in a way that he believed harmed his reputation, and all of this happened while he was grieving the death of his first wife and battling the pain of a leg injury he’d received at Saratoga (the above statue at Saratoga commemorates just that part of him!). Still, he betrayed a lot of good men’s trust (including two of my favorites, Washington and General Philip Schuyler). Had his plot to surrender the strategically significant fort at West Point to the British (for cash, no less!) been successful, it would’ve seriously damaged the Americans’ military prospects in the war–and his actions led to the capture and execution of the charming British spymaster, John Andre. Just all around the worst!

Vice President Aaron Burr – You were waiting for his name to show up, weren’t you? I mean, just look how long this entry is! Part of me wants to acknowledge that this guy once had potential–he dropped out of college in 1775 to fight in the war, becoming one of Washington’s aides-de-camp. But then you find out that his own men hatched an assassination plot against him in 1777 because of his harsh discipline and leadership style, and, well, here we are, right back on this list. Especially since, having been warned of the plot, he secretly emptied his men’s guns of ammunition, and when one man later brandished one of those guns at him, Burr raised his sword and hacked off the man’s arm–despite knowing the gun wasn’t loaded! After resigning from the military due to his declining health, Burr met Theodosia Bartow Prevost in 1778 and fell in love–despite her being married. When her husband died abroad several years, their open secret of an affair became official and they married. He had a respectable twenty-year career as a lawyer and politician before running for the presidency in 1796 and 1800. During those decades, he often worked with Alexander Hamilton, though their relationship became ever more contentious as they found themselves on opposite sides of the developing partisanship of the 1790s. In the Election of 1800, the two men campaigned for their respective parties. The election resulted in a tie, one that took the Electoral College 70+ votes to resolve–which they did after Hamilton spoke in favor of Jefferson as the best man for the presidency. Hamilton’s influence was enough to swing it, making Jefferson the new president and Burr his vice president (only for Jefferson’s first term, because TJ didn’t trust him). Burr was furious at Hamilton. Then he was furious at being ousted from the vice presidency. When he’d learned that Jefferson wasn’t keeping him on, he ran instead for the New York governorship–and lost that, too. Now he was even madder. Into that moment, Alexander just had to act like Alexander (i.e., stir the pot and make trouble), leading to a correspondence war that resulted in a challenge to a duel–where Burr shot and killed America’s $10 Founding Father and future Broadway star. Charged with multiple crimes in NY and NJ, including murder, Burr fled, served out the rest of his vice presidency, then headed west where he cooked up a scheme that created an international incident and landed him under arrest for treason in 1807, though he was later acquitted (this time Jefferson was the furious one). His reputation ruined, Burr exiled himself to Europe, and later returned and married New York’s wealthy widow, Eliza Jumel. It wasn’t long before Eliza realized he was blowing through her money with his land speculation losses, and she separated from him four months later, using Alexander Hamilton, Jr., as her divorce lawyer (isn’t that delicious?). Burr died of a stroke the following year. I’m not sure he could’ve been worse!

General Sir Banastre Tarleton – Since they were our enemy in this war, it’s not surprising that the British were the worst, but this guy took that to another level. In charge of the British Legion in the southern theater of the American Revolution, Tarleton became known for his brutality towards Continental soldiers and American civilians alike, particularly refusing to offer quarter to surrendering or injured troops and arbitrarily confiscating citizens’ property for his own use. Ugh, the worst!

There are some (many?!) interesting, important, and heroic figures of the American Revolution who haven’t gotten the recognition and attention they deserve. Here are some of my favorite lesser-known and underrated people whose names and stories you should know:

Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) – I’ll admit to a bias here: Rush was one of the founders of my college alma mater, Dickinson College, located in Carlisle, PA! But he still deserves his place on this list. While he was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration, he’s better known for his work as the most celebrated physician and scientist in the early Republic. Rush was the center of the American Enlightenment and campaigned for reforms in almost every aspect of life, calling for a national university, churches for Black people, temperance, healthy diets, the emancipation of slaves, prison reform, enlightened treatment of the mentally ill, the education of women, animal rights, and the abolition of dueling, corporal, and capital punishment. He encouraged Nabby Adams to consider surgery for the lump in her breast and played a central role in bringing the two estranged former friends, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, back together during their retirement years.

Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) – First of all, he had a cool first name, amirite? More importantly, he became known as the “Penman of the Revolution” for being the primary and final drafter of the U.S. Constitution. Notably, as a believer in the new country, he changed the opening line of the Preamble from “We, the People of the States” to “We, the People of the United States” to emphasize the new national identity. But even before the Constitution, he was already proving why he deserves to be remembered when he cast the deciding vote for George Washington’s continuing command of the Army when conspirators tried to have him removed (the Conway Cabal) and he was one of the few vocal critics of domestic slavery in the Continental Congress, something even John Adams noted and praised. Later in life, he was a main force behind the construction of the Erie Canal. His biggest oopsie was in supporting the Hartford Convention during the War of 1812, which was a political blunder by the remainder of the Federalist Party to separate New England from the rest of the states in part because of the influence of slavery.

James Armistead Lafayette (1748/1760 —1830/1832) – Lafayette served as a double agent (spy) for the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. Despite the Royal Governor’s promise to free slaves who fought for the British, he volunteered for the Continental Army under General Marquis de Lafayette (our favorite fighting Frenchman!) and worked as a courier, laborer, and spy. His most important intelligence contributions occurred during the lead-up to the Siege of Yorktown that ended the war. Posing as a sympathetic runaway slave, he worked in British Lord Cornwallis’s camp where he could overhear officers speak about strategies and plans. Lafayette fed the British false information while giving the Patriots accurate and detailed information about British troop movements, including the activities of defector Benedict Arnold. The intelligence he gathered was instrumental to the American/French victory at Yorktown that led to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis’s army and the cessation of official military conflict in the war. After the war, the Marquis de Lafayette personally campaigned for James’s manumission, which occurred in 1787, after which James took the Marquis’s surname to honor the French general.

Robert Morris (no relation to Gouverneur) (1734-1806) – He might’ve been born in Britain, but he was on the Americans’ side as early as 1765 when Britain imposed the Stamp Act on the colonies. As a moderate and a merchant, he didn’t think independence was the right choice, but he still signed the Declaration of Independence, and later the Articles of Confederate and the U.S. Constitution (3 of the 4 founding documents). Most importantly, Morris became known as the “Financier of the American Revolution” when, as the Superintendent of Finance (basically, the Secretary of the Treasury before there was a Secretary of the Treasury), he single-handedly raised the money the Continental Army needed to operate–or used his own money when funding couldn’t be secured. After the war, he served in various political positions and sadly fell on hard times when failed land speculation deals and the Panic of 1796-97 landed him deeply in debt–and in debtors’ prison. After prison, he lived a quiet life until he died in a modest home in Philadelphia.

James Forten (1766-1842) – A staunch supporter of American independence, Forten was arguably the most important black leader of the revolutionary era. The free-born Forten worked as a sailmaker during the Revolutionary War and rapidly rose to foreman then business owner and inventor, using his wealth to work towards black civil rights in Philadelphia and the country as a whole. During the War of 1812, he helped mobilize black troops in Philadelphia; afterwards, he was an influential figure in the growing anti-slavery movement.

General Philip Schuyler (1733-1804) – The father of the Schuyler sisters! A veteran of the French and Indian War, a successful merchant, a negotiator with the Indians, and the first person to construct a flax mill in the U.S., Schuyler is best known for serving as the General of the Northern Department of the Continental Army and planning the strategy that would lead to victory at the crucial Battle of Saratoga before being stabbed in the back by General Horatio Gates (hate that guy), removed from his position, and accused of dereliction of duty–after which he demanded a courtmartial to clear his name (he was acquitted). He served in various political offices after the war and, despite being a slaveowner, was a founder of the New York Manumission Society which advocated for gradual emancipation, which he seems to have at least partially enacted on his own estate, going from 27 slaves in 1790 to none by his death in 1804 (although he may have sold some instead of manumitting them).

Lemuel Haynes (1753-1833) – Haynes was not only one of the first anti-slavery activists, he was also the first Black person to be ordained as a minister in the U.S. Born free to a white mom and Black dad, Haynes enlisted in the Massachusetts militia and served in the Continental Army during the war. When he read the Declaration of Independence, the phrase “all men are created equal” was so meaningful to him that he used it to open an essay he’d recently drafted called “Liberty Further Extended”–one of the world’s first anti-slavery pamphlets. In an era when many intellectuals focused on the Declaration’s championing of states’ rights, Haynes was among the first activists to emphasize the Declaration as a document promoting personal freedom and human rights (basically, the way most view the document’s importance today). After the war, he studied theology, was licensed to preach, and was ultimately ordained in 1785. He was one of the first anti-slavery activists to argue that slavery was wrong purely on theological grounds and one of the first Black people to be published in the U.S.

355 is believed to have been the code name of a female spy who was part of the Culper Ring, a spy network that operated in and around New York City from 1778 to 1783. Organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge, the ring proved to be an effective intelligence-gathering operation, thwarting British plans to circulate counterfeit Continental currency, protecting French ships from a surprise British assault, and uncovering the plot by Benedict Arnold to surrender the fort at West Point to the British. If you’ve seen the historical drama, Turn: Washington’s Spies, you’ll be familiar with cabbage farmer Abraham Woodhull and his network of spies.

Women have served as highly effective spies in many wars. They are notably more apt to keep secrets, get less lonely in the field, and perhaps most significantly, are often overlooked and dismissed by men as posing no threat, enabling their freer movement during wars. 355 is said to have been an effective operator, gathering valuable intelligence on troop movements, supply routes, and military plans. But if 355 truly existed, who might she have been?

Here are details about 355 that most agree on, based on the records:

• She was recruited by Abraham Woodhull
• She may have had some degree of social prominence
• She likely lived in New York City
• At some point she had contact with Major John Andre and Benedict Arnold

Possible candidates:

• Anna Strong – Anna was Woodhull’s neighbor and was known to help the ring, communicating with another member using her hanging laundry as a signal system
• Betty Floyd – Betty was the 20-year-old cousin of Robert Townsend, a known member of the ring; she was also the niece of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• Sarah Townsend – Sister of Robert Townsend, a known member of the ring. She lived at the Townsend estate, Raynham Hall, in Oyster Bay, New York, which British office John Graves Simcoe of the Queen’s Rangers requisitioned as his residence for a time. Simcoe ultimately proposed to Sarah, though she declined. Legend says that Sarah is the one who overheard Arnold’s plans to surrender West Point from the officers at Raynham Hall and passed on the word to others in the network.
• Lydia Barrington Darragh – Lydia, her teacher husband, and their five children lived in Philadelphia in 1777 when the British occupied the city. General William Howe moved into the home across the street from theirs and wished to expand his headquarters into the Darragh home as well. The couple was able to persuade Howe to allow them to stay in exchange for allowing the British to use their parlor as a meeting space. Because the couple were pacifists, the British did not see them as a threat. But once her oldest son joined the Continental Army, Lydia gathered overheard intelligence and passed it on to her son, preventing a planned attack.
• Liss – Liss, or Elizabeth, was a woman enslaved by the Townsend family at Raynham Hall. In May 1779, she escaped but was subsequently enslaved again in New York City, possibly in the home of a British officer, allowing her to become a mole in his household and pass intelligence to Townsend.

During the Revolutionary War, the British weren’t the only threat to General George Washington. He faced at least one assassination plot and several political plots to have him removed from command. These included:

The Hickey Plot, 1776: This Loyalist conspiracy was orchestrated by New York Royal Governor William Tryon and New York City Mayor David Mathews, who aimed to assassinate or kidnap Washington to incapacitate the Continental Army. The conspirators aimed to turn members of Washington’s bodyguard unit, most notably Private Thomas Hickey, who was arrested, confessed, and court-martialed then hanged for mutiny and treason on June 28, 1776.

The Conway Cabal, 1777-1778: Disgruntled by military setbacks, Continental Army officers like Brigadier General Thomas Conway and Major General Horatio Gates plotted with members of Congress to have Washington replaced as commander-in-chief. The plot collapsed when intercepted letters rallied widespread public support for Washington.

The Newburgh Conspiracy, 1782-1783: Unpaid Continental Army officers at Newburgh, New York, began to plot a pressure campaign to force payment, but Washington was able to defuse the situation with a moving speech and a congressional compromise that offered at least some pay.

Boston’s Tea Party on December 16, 1773, might’ve been the most famous protest against the 1773 Tea Act, but it was far from the only one. Americans in these cities also held protests:

December 3, 1773: Charleston, South Carolina

December 13, 1773: Lexington, Massachusetts

December 25-27, 1773: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

December 31, 1773: Provincetown, Massachusetts

January 1774: Princeton, New Jersey

April 10th 774: New York City, New York

October 1774: Edenton, North Carolina

October 19, 1774: Annapolis, Maryland

November 7, 1774: Yorktown, Virginia

December 22, 1774: Greenwich, New Jersey

March 2, 1775: Providence, Rhode Island