Key People Flashcards
Plato
427-347 BC Greek philosopher and author of “The Republic,” which extolled civic virtue and the necessity of “arete”
Christopher Columbus
1451-1506 Genoese mariner who discovered the Americas while searching for a new trade route to India
John Rolfe
1585-1622 Virgina colonist who pioneered the cultivation of tobacco as a profitable agricultural enterprise.
Robert Brown
1550?-1630 Writer and proponent of the separatist movement that demanded separation from thChurch of England. His writings inspired groups such as the Pilgrims to emigrate to America for religous freedom
John Calvin
1509-1564 A french theologian during the Protestant Reformation who greatly influenced Puritan beliefs. He taught that the Bible was the final authority and that salvation came through grace only. He also taught doctrine of predestination
John Winthrop
1587-1649 An elected governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony before their departure from England, and re-elected many times. Known for his sermon “A model of Christian Charity,” in which he stated that the puritan colony would be “a city upon a hill”
John Locke
1632-1704 English philosopher whose “Treatises of Government” espousing natural rights, consent of the governed, and social compacts greatly influenced the founding fathers.
Adam Smith
1723-1790 Scottish philosopher and economist who wrote “The Wealth of Nations.” He is considered the father of modern economics.
Patrick Henry
Best known for his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in the Virgina House of Burgesses; an Anti-Federalist who pushed for a bill of rights to be added to the Constitution after its ratification
Thomas Jefferson
Third President of the United States, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and an influential Founding Father. A political philosopher who promoted classical liberalism, republicanism, and the separation of church and state, author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.
Thomas Paine
An English intellectual scholar; revolutionary deist and idealist, who spent much of his time in America and France. A radical pamphleteer; Paine helped format the American Revolution through his powerful writings: most notably “Common Sense”
George Washington
Led America’s Continental Army to victory over Britain in the Revolutionary War and was the first President of the United States, from 1789 to 1797. because of this central role in the founding of the U.S., Washington is often called the “Father of his Country”
