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Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and he wrote the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution. He also inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. When he died, he was ostracized for his unpopular opinions, but currently, he is thought to be a progressive Enlightened thinker. -
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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was a public official, historian, philosopher and a plantation owner. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. He was the third president of the United States, and founded the University of Virginia. He articulated the ambitions for a new America as no other individual of his time and served his country for over five decades. -
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William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was an incredibly religious English member of Parliament, an advocate for the abolishment of the slave trade and eventually slavery itself in the British empire. Wilberforce was persuaded to campaign for the abolishment of the slave trade and for 18 years he often introduced anti-slavery motions in Parliament. The campaign was supported by other abolitionists who raised public awareness of their cause with pamphlets, books, rallies and petitions. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was created to offically declare that the thirteen colonies were independent and no longer under the British rule. America was a newly freed nation that was created by people that genuinely believed in equal rights and freedom from an unfair and cruel rule. America's leaders were given the importance of supporting these people by providing individual rights. -
United States Constitution
The United States Constitution was made up of articles that provided structure for the order of the new federal government which created executive, legislative, and judiciary branches in the government. If the Constitution had never been approved, the Anti-Federalists would not have proposed creating amendments for individual rights. -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution were ratified to protect individual rights. The amendments that compromise the Bill of Rights protect many personal freedoms (ex. freedom of religion-1st amend.) and limit the power of the government so as to prevent it from becoming corrupt, dominating, or tyrannical. These additions to the Constitution were proposed by Anti-Federalists like Patrick Henry because they were afraid that their new government would become like Britain's. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln because the nation was in the midst of a bloody civil war. The proclamation announced "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." The Emancipation Proclamation was limited in several ways because it was applied only to states that had broken away from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the border states. It also explicitly exempted parts of the Confederacy that -
The 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment in the United States Constitution abolished slavery. Though the amendment officially abolished slavery throughout the United States, Black Codes (which presented unobtainable prerequisites for African-Americans to live, work, or function in society) white chauvinistic violence, and selective enforcement of statutes continued to subject some black Americans to involuntary labor, especially in the South.
