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Founding era
Born 1700-1779 — the Revolution, the Constitution and the first federal government.
–1699
Colonial era
7
1700–1779
Founding era
34
1780–1819
Early Republic
64
1820–1864
Antebellum & Civil War era
110
1865–1899
Industrial & Progressive era
125
1900–1929
Early 20th century
238
1930–1949
Mid-20th century
204
1950–1969
Late 20th century
113
1970–
Contemporary era
46
34 people, oldest first
The people
Jonathan Edwards 1703–1758Ideas & MediaTheologian and preacher whose role in the Great Awakening shaped American evangelical religion.Benjamin Franklin 1706–1790Government & PoliticsPolymath who invented the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among many other creations.Samuel Adams 1722–1803Government & PoliticsRevolutionary organizer who helped mobilize resistance to British rule and build support for independence.George Mason 1725–1792Government & PoliticsFounding-era statesman whose Virginia Declaration of Rights helped inspire the Bill of Rights.George Washington 1732–1799Government & PoliticsFirst President of the United States and commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.Daniel Boone 1734–1820Frontier & SportFrontiersman who blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.John Adams 1735–1826Government & PoliticsSecond President and key Founding Father who helped secure independence and shaped early American diplomacy.Paul Revere 1735–1818Ideas & MediaSilversmith and engraver whose Boston Massacre print and 1775 ride carried Revolutionary messaging.Patrick Henry 1736–1799Government & PoliticsRevolutionary orator and Virginia leader remembered for mobilizing resistance and opposing centralized federal power.Thomas Paine 1737–1809Ideas & MediaPamphleteer whose Common Sense and Crisis essays mobilized American public opinion for independence.Nathanael Greene 1742–1786Government & PoliticsContinental Army general whose Southern Campaign strategy helped exhaust British forces and secure American independence.Thomas Jefferson 1743–1826Government & PoliticsPrincipal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President who oversaw the Louisiana Purchase.Abigail Adams 1744–1818Reform & RightsCorrespondent and presidential spouse whose letters urged legal consideration for women in the new republic.John Jay 1745–1829Government & PoliticsFounding Father, diplomat, Federalist Papers co-author, and first chief justice who helped construct the early republic.John Paul Jones 1747–1792Government & PoliticsContinental Navy captain whose Revolutionary War victories established early American naval tradition.James Madison 1751–1836Government & PoliticsFourth President and Father of the Constitution who co-authored the Federalist Papers.Betsy Ross 1752–1836Reform & RightsPhiladelphia upholsterer traditionally credited with sewing the first American flag.Alexander Hamilton 1755–1804Government & PoliticsFounding Father who established the nation's financial system and co-authored the Federalist Papers.John Marshall 1755–1835Government & PoliticsChief justice who established judicial review and strengthened the Supreme Court and federal government.James Monroe 1758–1831Government & PoliticsFifth president associated with the Monroe Doctrine and an era of territorial expansion and one-party dominance.Noah Webster 1758–1843Ideas & MediaLexicographer whose spellers and American dictionary standardized United States spelling and schoolroom instruction.Robert Fulton 1765–1815Technology & BuildingEngineer and inventor whose steamboat Clermont revolutionized American river transportation.James Smithson 1765–1829Science & MedicineBritish scientist whose bequest founded the Smithsonian Institution, America's museum complex.Eli Whitney 1765–1825Technology & BuildingInventor of the cotton gin, which revolutionized Southern agriculture and had profound economic impacts.John Quincy Adams 1767–1848Government & PoliticsDiplomat, sixth president, and later congressman who opposed slavery’s expansion and shaped early American foreign policy.Black Hawk 1767–1838Reform & RightsSauk leader whose 1832 resistance to removal from Illinois lands became the Black Hawk War.Andrew Jackson 1767–1845Government & PoliticsSeventh President whose populist policies and Indian Removal Act left a deeply contested legacy.Denmark Vesey 1767–1822Reform & RightsFree Black carpenter executed for organizing a large planned slave revolt in Charleston.Tecumseh 1768–1813Reform & RightsShawnee leader who sought a broad Indigenous confederacy to resist U.S. territorial expansion.William Clark 1770–1838Frontier & SportCo-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and later Superintendent of Indian Affairs.Sequoyah 1770–1843Reform & RightsCherokee scholar who created the Cherokee syllabary, enabling mass literacy and strengthening Cherokee political and cultural life.William Henry Harrison 1773–1841Government & PoliticsWhig general elected ninth president who died one month into his term.Meriwether Lewis 1774–1809Frontier & SportCo-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which mapped the American West to the Pacific Ocean.Joseph Story 1779–1845Government & PoliticsEarly Supreme Court justice and legal scholar whose treatises and opinions strengthened federal judicial authority.