This book will carry the reader back to first principles, and point plainly and clearly to the land marks of 1776, as fixed by the signers of the declaration of our independence, and to rouse the patriot to a just sense of our blood-bought privileges and the necessity of preserving them pure and undefiled, has been the constant aim of the author. It presents biographies of fifty-eight individuals, all engaged in the accomplishment of a single object, the independence of the United State. The author has labored to be concise without being obscure, to inform the understanding without burdening the memory. He has introduced many apothegms, intending to improve the mind and mend the heart. The causes that led to the revolution, it's interesting progress, its happy termination and the formation of our federal government, are all amply delineated. Table of Content: Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson John Hancock Benjamin Franklin Roger Sherman Edward Rutledge Thomas M'Kean Philip Livingston George Wythe Abraham Clark Francis Lewis Richard Stockton Samuel Adams Dr. Benjamin Rush Oliver Wolcott George Read Thomas Heyward Robert Morris John Witherspoon Thomas Lynch, Jr. Matthew Thornton William Floyd William Whipple Francis Hopkinson, Esq. Josiah Bartlett Arthur Middleton James Wilson Charles Carroll, of Carrollton William Williams Samuel Huntington George Walton George Clymer Carter Braxton John Morton Richard Henry Lee Stephen Hopkins Robert Treat Paine George Taylor Francis Lightfoot Lee Thomas Stone Lewis Morris John Hart Button Gwinnett William Ellery Lyman Hall John Penn Elbridge Gerry William Paca George Ross B. Harrison C. Rodney S. Chase W. Hooper T. Nelson J. Smith J. Hewes J. Adams George Washington Patrick Henry Washington's Farewell Address A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North America Articles of Confederation Constitution of the United States The Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson