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 IndependenceThomas JeffersonJohn HancockBenjamin FranklinRoger ShermanEdward RutledgeThomas M'KeanPhilip LivingstonGeorge WytheAbraham ClarkFrancis LewisRichard StocktonSamuel AdamsDr. Benjamin RushOliver WolcottGeorge ReadThomas HeywardRobert MorrisJohn WitherspoonThomas Lynch, Jr.Matthew ThorntonWilliam FloydWilliam WhippleFrancis Hopkinson, Esq.Josiah BartlettArthur MiddletonJames WilsonCharles Carroll, of CarrolltonWilliam WilliamsSamuel HuntingtonGeorge WaltonGeorge ClymerCarter BraxtonJohn MortonRichard Henry LeeStephen HopkinsRobert Treat PaineGeorge TaylorFrancis Lightfoot LeeThomas StoneLewis MorrisJohn HartButton GwinnettWilliam ElleryLyman HallJohn PennElbridge GerryWilliam PacaGeorge RossB. HarrisonC. RodneyS. ChaseW. HooperT. NelsonJ. SmithJ. HewesJ. AdamsGeorge WashingtonPatrick HenryWashington's Farewell Address A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North AmericaArticles of ConfederationConstitution of the United StatesThe Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson