I have to do a 5,000 word biography on somebody from Colonial times. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Abigal Adams the distaff side of John Adams and the woman who first metioned equal rights for women in the United States.

Answer 2

Miles Standish (also spelled Myles) is kind of a fun figure. He wasn't a Puritan, but a military man. The pilgrims-to-be hired him to give them military training before they left to America because they knew they might well have to defend themselves against Indian attacks. He went with them, too, to act as a kind of protector. He helped them fend off their first attack and he later did a ton of work negotiating peace agreements and cooperation agreements with various tribes around Plymouth Colony. When many of the pilgrims were sick and dying, Standish was one of the few remaining healthy members of the group who stuck with them in rooms full of sh** and vomit, trying to nurse them back to health by feeding and washing them. William Bradford talks about all this in his journal. It really makes you wonder what motive Standish had for going on this trip, what he hoped to find for himself in America and what his life before then was like that he walked away from it.

There was a documentary on the History Channel not long ago called "Desperate Crossing" about the Mayflower crossing that covered him a bit. You might be able to order it somehow.

Oh, wait, I just remembered someone else: Molly Bannaky. She's got a really cool story. She was a milkmaid in England who was imprisoned for--get this!--spilling the milk twice. It was either jail or be shipped to America as an indentured servant. So she went to America. After she'd earned her freedom, she built up her own farm and hired and later married a freed slave (imagine the taboo on a mixed marriage at that stage of our history). If I remember correctly, he was a first-generation slave and didn't speak much English. Anyway, they had kids and seem to have built a wonderful life together.

Answer 3

Anne Hutchison.
Hutchinson was an unsanctioned preacher of a dissident religious group who pioneered women’s missionary work.

Anne Marbury was born in 1591, at Alford, Lincolnshire, the daughter of an Anglican clergyman. She was educated at home, having access to her father’s substantial library, whose volumes comprised chiefly theological works. In 1612, aged twenty-one, she married William Hutchison, a merchant and an outspoken critic of the Anglican Church.

After she married, Hutchison and her husband became adherents of the Puritan preacher, John Cotton, who condemned the hierarchy of the Church of England, with its attendant concern for material matters and its neglect of the congregations. Hutchison went further stating that the church was in profound error in its doctrine. She stated that ‘He who has God’s grace in his heart, cannot go wrong”, and that God had chosen his elect, and that many of the Anglican clergy were not amongst its number. It is not surprising that Hutchison roused the anger of the established church.

In 1634, the Hutchisons, fearing retribution, immigrated to the American Colonies with their eight children, following Cotton, who had left the year before. Upon arrival at Massachusetts, Hutchison established a bible class, mainly for women of the vicinity. She progressed from bible teaching to commentary and from there to interpretation and then to preaching. This aroused the ire of the governor, John Winthrop, who described her tutorials as ‘ a thing not tolerable nor comely in the sight of God, nor fitting for your sex.” Hutchison responded that authority to preach comes from ‘inner spiritual truth’ and was not the prerogative of men alone.

Hutchison was arraigned before the governor, accused of blasphemy, heresy and lewd conduct. In her defence, she testified that God had directed her efforts by personal communication. She was convicted probably on account of her defiance of authority rather than her alleged heresy. She was banished from Massachusetts’s colony and relocated to Rhode Island and from there to Long Island.

In 1643, Hutchison and her children were captured by the Siwanoy tribe. The family, with the exception of one child, were scalped by the Siwanoy and their bodies never recovered. The surviving child was returned to the colonists, four years later, on payment of a ransom. The Hutchison River in New York State is named in her honour.

Answer 4

Crispus Attucks. A free black man who died in the so-called Boston Massacre.

Answer 5

The independence war.

Answer 6

Google it!

Answer 7

Go to wikipedia. Try this, no one else will use it:

September 18, 1733 – September 21, 1798) was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of Delaware, and a member of the Federalist Party, who served as U.S. Senator from Delaware.

Early life and family

Read was born September 18, 1733 in Cecil County, Maryland, near North East, the son of John and Mary Howell Read. John Read was a wealthy English resident of Dublin, Ireland who came to Maryland as a young man and was one of the founders of Charlestown, Maryland in Cecil County. When George Read was an infant the family moved to New Castle County, Delaware, settling near the village of Christiana. As he grew up, Read attended the Rev. Francis Alison's Academy with Thomas McKean at New London, Pennsylvania and studied law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with John Moland. He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1753 and a year later he returned home to establish a practice at New Castle, Delaware.

In 1763 he married Gertrude Ross Till, daughter of the Rev. George Ross, the Anglican rector of Immanuel Church in New Castle, and widowed sister of George Ross, also a future signer of the Declaration of Independence. They had five children, John, George Jr., William, John, and Mary, who married Gunning Bedford, Sr., a future Governor of Delaware. They lived on The Strand in New Castle. Their house was in what is the garden of the present Read House and Gardens, owned by the Delaware Historical Society. They were members of Immanuel Episcopal Church.

In 1763 John Penn, the Proprietary Governor appointed Read Crown Attorney General for the three Delaware counties and he served in that position until leaving for the Continental Congress in 1774. He also served in the Colonial Assembly of the Lower Counties for twelve sessions, from 1764/65 through 1775/76.

American Revolution
The presentation of the Declaration of Independence to Congress. [1]
The presentation of the Declaration of Independence to Congress. [1]

Eighteenth century Delaware was politically divided into loose factions known as the "Court Party" and the "Country Party." The majority Court Party was generally Anglican, strongest in Kent County and Sussex County, worked well with the colonial Proprietary government, and was in favor of reconciliation with the British government. The minority Country Party was largely Ulster-Scot, centered in New Castle County, and quickly advocated independence from the British. Read was the epitome of the Court party politician and was, as much as anyone, their leader. As such he generally worked in partnership with John Dickinson from Kent County, and in opposition to their friends and respective neighbors, Thomas McKean and Caesar Rodney.

Read, therefore, like most people in Delaware, was very much in favor of trying to reconcile differences with Great Britain. He opposed the Stamp Act and similar measures of Parliament, and supported anti-importation measures and dignified protests, but was quite reluctant to pursue the option of outright independence. Nevertheless, from 1764 he led the Delaware Committee of Correspondence and was elected to serve along with the more radical Thomas McKean and Caesar Rodney in the First and Second Continental Congress from 1774 through 1777. He was irregular in his attendance though, and when the Congress voted on American Independence on July 2, 1776, Read surprised many by voting against it. This meant Caesar Rodney had to ride overnight to Philadelphia to break the deadlock in Delaware's delegation in favor of independence. However, when the Declaration of Independence was finally adopted, Read signed it, joining the cause in spite of his natural caution.

[edit] Government of Delaware

Anticipating the Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly of the Lower Counties declared its separation from the British government on June 15, 1776. Once the Declaration of Independence was actually adopted, the General Assembly called for elections to a Delaware constitutional convention to draft a constitution for the new state. Read was elected to this convention, became its President, and guided the passage of the Thomas McKean drafted document, which became the Delaware Constitution of 1776.

Read was then elected to the first Legislative Council of the Delaware General Assembly and was selected as the Speaker in both the 1776/77 and 1777/78 sessions. Following the capture of President John McKinly and the brief tenure of President Thomas McKean, Read became President himself on October 20, 1777, serving until March 31, 1778. These were months of crises in Delaware with the British occupying Philadelphia and in control of the Delaware River. Read and his family narrowly escaped capture themselves while fleeing Philadelphia ahead of the British Army. As President he tried, mostly in vain, to recruit additional soldiers and protect the state from raiders from Philadelphia and off ships in the Delaware River. The Delaware General Assembly session of 1777/78 had to be moved to Dover, Delaware for safety and the Sussex County General Assembly delegation was never seated because disruptions at the polls had negated the election results.

After Caesar Rodney was elected to replace him as President, Read continued to serve in the Legislative Council or State Senate through the 1778/79 session. After a one year rest nursing ill health, he was elected to the House of Assembly for the 1780/81 and 1781/82 sessions. He returned to the Legislative Council in the 1782/83 session and served two terms, through the 1787/88 session. In 1782 he was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeals in admiralty cases.

[edit] U.S. Constitutional Convention

Read was again called to national service in 1786 when he represented Delaware at the Annapolis Convention. Because so few states were represented, this meeting only produced a report calling for a broader convention to be held in Philadelphia the next year.

At what became the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Read again represented Delaware. Quoting from Wright & Morris in their Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution,

"Read immediately argued for a new national government under a new Constitution, saying 'to amend the Articles was simply putting old cloth on a new garment.' He was a leader in the fight for a strong central government, advocating, at one time, the abolition of the states altogether and the consolidation of the country under one powerful national government. 'Let no one fear the states, the people are with us;' he declared to a Convention shocked by this radical proposal. With no one to support his motion, he settled for protecting the rights of the small states against the infringements of their larger, more populous neighbors who, he feared, would 'probably combine to swallow up the smaller ones by addition, division or impoverishment.' He warned that Delaware 'would become at once a cipher in the union' if the principle of equal representation embodied in the New Jersey (small-state) Plan was not adopted and if the method of amendment in the Articles was not retained. He favored giving Congress the right to vote state laws, making the federal legislature immune to popular whims by having senators hold office for nine years or during good behavior, and granting the U.S. President broad appointive powers. Outspoken, he threatened to lead the Delaware delegation out of the Convention if the rights of the small states were not specifically guaranteed in the new Constitution."

Once those rights were assured, he led the ratification movement in Delaware which, partly as a result of his efforts, became the first state to ratify.
[edit] United States Senator

Following the adoption of the Federal Constitution of 1787, the Delaware General Assembly elected Read as one of the two U.S. Senators from Delaware. His term began March 4, 1789, he was reelected in 1790, and resigned September 18, 1793. Read served with the Federalist majority in the 1st and 2nd Congress, during the administration of U.S. President George Washington. As Senator he supported the assumption of state debts, establishment of a national bank, and the imposition of excise taxes. He resigned as Senator to accept an appointment as Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court and served in that capacity until his death.

Read's resignation from the U.S. Senate was before the first session of the 3rd Congress assembled, but it was not until February 7, 1795, 4 weeks before it adjourned, that Henry Latimer was elected to replace him. One of Delaware's U.S. Senate seats was, therefore, vacant from September 18, 1793 until February 7, 1795.

[edit] Death and legacy

Read died September 21, 1798 at New Castle, Delaware and was buried there, at the Immanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery.

William T. Reid in his Life and Correspondence described Read as

"tall, slightly and gracefully formed, with pleasing features and lustrous brown eyes. His manners were dignified, bordering upon austerity, but courteous, and at times captivating. He commanded entire confidence, not only from his profound legal knowledge, sound judgment, and impartial decisions, but from his severe integrity and the purity of his private character."

However, a fellow delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 noted that

"his legal abilities are said to be very great, but his powers of oratory are fatiguing and tiresome to the last degree; his voice is feeble and his articulation so bad that few can have patience to attend him."

Historians like John Munroe have generally recognized that all in all, Read was the dominating figure in Delaware politics during his career, directly or indirectly providing consistent and reliable leadership to the new state in its most difficult times. [1]

On The Strand in New Castle, Delaware is the house built by his son, George Read, II. It is owned by the Delaware Historical Society, restored and opens to the public. New Castle also has a school named for him.

Continental Congressman
President of Delaware
U.S. Senator from Delaware
Chief Justice of Delaware
Born September 18, 1733
Cecil County, Maryland
Died September 21, 1798
New Castle, Delaware
Residence New Castle, Delaware
Political party Federalist
Religion Episcopalian
Spouse Gertrude Ross Till

Public offices

Elections were held October 1st, and members of the General Assembly took office on October 20th, or the following weekday. Assemblymen had a one year term. After 1776, the Legislative Council was created and Legislative Councilmen had a three year term. The General Assembly chose the Continental Congressmen for a term of one year and the State President for a term of three years. They also chose the U.S. Senators, who took office March 4, and had a six year term. However, Read's first term was only two years to establish a rotation.
Office Type Location Elected Took Office Left Office notes
Attorney General Judiciary New Castle October 20, 1763 October 20, 1774
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1764 October 20, 1764 October 21, 1765
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1765 October 21, 1765 October 20, 1766
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1766 October 20, 1766 October 20, 1767
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1767 October 20, 1767 October 20, 1768
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1768 October 20, 1768 October 20, 1769
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1769 October 20, 1769 October 20, 1770
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1770 October 20, 1770 October 21, 1771
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1771 October 21, 1771 October 20, 1772
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1772 October 20, 1772 October 20, 1773
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1773 October 20, 1773 October 20, 1774
Delegate Legislature Philadelphia September 5, 1774 October 26, 1774 Continental Congress
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1774 October 20, 1774 October 20, 1775
Delegate Legislature Philadelphia May 10, 1775 October 21, 1775 Continental Congress
Assemblyman Legislature New Castle 1775 October 20, 1775 June 15, 1776
Delegate Legislature Philadelphia October 21, 1775 November 7, 1776 Continental Congress
Delegate Convention New Castle August 27, 1776 September 21, 1776 State Constitution
Councilman Legislature New Castle 1776 October 28, 1776 October 20, 1777 Speaker
Delegate Legislature Philadelphia December 12, 1776 December 17, 1777 Continental Congress
Delegate Legislature Baltimore December 20, 1776 February 22, 1777 Continental Congress
State President Executive Dover October 20, 1777 March 31, 1778 Acting
Councilman Legislature Dover 1776 March 31, 1778 October 20, 1779
Assemblyman Legislature Dover 1780 October 20, 1780 October 20, 1781
Assemblyman Legislature Dover 1781 October 20, 1781 October 20, 1782
Councilman Legislature Dover 1782 October 20, 1782 October 20, 1785
Councilman Legislature Dover 1785 October 20, 1785 October 20, 1788
Delegate Convention Philadelphia May 14, 1787 September 17, 1787 U.S. Constitution
U.S. Senator Legislature New York March 4, 1789 March 3, 1791
U.S. Senator Legislature Philadelphia March 4, 1791 September 18, 1793