I need an interesting person from the 1800's?

Question

I have to write a school report on someone from the 1800's, do you have any suggestions? I was thinking maybe Charles Darwin.

Answer 1

I like Beatrix Potter. She wrote the Peter Rabbit stories. I wrote a report on her in High School.

Answer 2

Charles Darwin is a very good choice. Another 'Charles' who is interesting is Charles Dickens, the celebrated author. Lots of material available on both so you should be able to write an interesting report.

Answer 3

Zachariah Chandler - Republican senator and Radical from the Civil War era. Among other things he:

--- Was adviser to Lincoln (though he hated him) and was single-handedly responsible for Lincoln being re-elected.

--- Was a contributo to the Underground Railroad.

--- On at least two occasions saved the country from financial ruin.

--- Was present when the first Civil War prisoners were captured, and was present at the battle of Bull Run, even taking part in some of the fighting.

--- Was Senator for 18 years, Michigan's first millionaire, and Secretary of the Interior under Grant. Many said he was the best Secretary of the Interior the country ever had.

--- He called for enlisting African Americans years before anyone else would consider the idea.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. if you would like to know a little more I will send you my booklet on his life - you might decide he is worth writing about.

[e-mail]

Answer 4

Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed) the most famous leader of Tammany Hall, the corrupt city hall of New York in the 1800's. Its a very interesting story of how he pulled influence to establish nomenclature and graft into a democratic city.

Answer 5

I really like the story of Ignaz Semmelweis. He was a doctor who discovered that just by having his clinic's doctors wash their hands, countless lives could be saved in his hospital. He noticed that doctors would go right from handling a dead person to delivering a baby. So he advocated something as simple as handwashing to his doctors, and he was told that he didn't have enough scientific evidence to support his claim that handwashing would save lives. He eventually had a nervous breakdown and died. However, he contributed a great service to humanity (and the germ theory) and saved countless lives. He has been called the "saviour of mothers". Read more about him here as a starting point...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis

Answer 6

Consider your original choice Charles Darwin. He changed how we see the world more than any man of his century.

Answer 7

Lord Byron, an English romanticist poet and revolutionary. Besides writing, he fought in Italy against the Austrians and in the Greek war of independence against the Ottoman Empire.

Answer 8

Darwin might be an excellent choice. Many people today demonize him and distort or misunderstand his scientific work. You'd probably enjoy exploring the truth of who Darwin was and what he accomplished in his own time.

Answer 9

Robert E. Lee. He was Commandant of West Point at the beginning of the Civil War and left to command the Confederate forces. Abraham Lincoln actually offered him command of the Union forces before he left.

Answer 10

How about Davey Crockett the frontier scout or Andrew Jackson a former president???? They were both very popular figures during the 1800s....