Benedict Arnold

General Benedict Arnold was a hero in the early years of the American Revolution (1775-1783). He later became the most famous traitor in United States history. How did this happen?

EARLY LIFE

Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut. At age 14 he began working for a druggist (someone who sells medicines). But he liked adventure.

He ran away and fought with British forces in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). After his father died in 1761, he returned home and became a druggist. His business prospered.

BRAVERY IN BATTLE

After the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, Arnold became a colonel in the Continental Army. He helped seize Fort Ticonderoga in New York from the British. He then led a daring winter attack on British forces in Canada. Although Arnold was forced to retreat to New York, he was able to block a British attack. The British hoped to cut New England off from New York and other colonies south of New England. Arnold cleverly stopped the British advance in 1776.

Arnold was promoted to brigadier general because of his bravery. He later became a major general. In 1777, he led troops in a major American victory at Saratoga, New York.

MARRIAGE AND TROUBLE

In 1778, Arnold was made commander of Philadelphia. He married a woman from a family loyal to the British. The Arnolds spent lots of money to keep up a busy social life. Soon they were in debt.

Arnold began to quarrel with people in authority. He felt he had been treated badly by Congress and the Continental Army. In exchange for money, the Arnolds provided the British with information about American military plans. In 1780, Arnold was commander of West Point, an important American fort near New York City. He planned to turn it over to the enemy for money and a high rank in the British army. However, the plot was discovered, and Arnold went over to the British side.

A BRITISH GENERAL

As a British brigadier general in 1780 and 1781, Arnold led raids in Virginia and Connecticut. After the British surrendered in 1781, Arnold and his family sailed to England. His life in England was not successful, and he had little money. Arnold died in London, England, on June 14, 1801.

(MS. Encarta)
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Andrew Jackson

“Old Hickory” was the nickname of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. Men under Jackson’s military command called him that. They meant that Jackson was as tough as a hickory tree.

Jackson had a temper and was quick to fight. He fought several duels and once killed his opponent. But he was also known as a champion of the common people.

HIS EARLY LIFE

Andrew Jackson was the first American president not born to wealth. His parents were farmers on the South Carolina frontier. Jackson was born there in 1767.
Andrew Jackson was 13 when the American Revolution reached South Carolina. He became a messenger for the military, and he took part in several battles.

After America won independence in 1783, Jackson studied law. Then he went west to become a lawyer in the frontier town of Nashville in 1788. There he met and married his landlady’s daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards.

In 1796, Nashville became the capital of the new state of Tennessee. Jackson became Tennessee’s first representative in the United States Congress. In 1797 Jackson was elected to the U.S. Senate. He later served as a judge. In 1804, Jackson retired to breed racehorses on his plantation near Nashville.

GENERAL JACKSON

Jackson didn’t stay retired after the War of 1812 broke out against Britain. In 1814, he won an important battle against Native Americans who fought on the side of the British. As a general in the U.S. Army, Jackson triumphed over the British at the Battle of New Orleans.

Jackson’s victories made him a national hero. Jackson later fought the Seminole Indians in Florida. The Seminole were raiding settlements of white people.

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

Jackson’s friends urged him to run for president. In 1824, he was one of four candidates. Jackson won more votes than any other candidate, but he didn’t have enough electoral votes for victory.

The House of Representatives decided the election. Henry Clay of Kentucky had finished in fourth place. The states that had supported Clay switched their support to John Quincy Adams, who had finished second. The House named Adams president. Adams then named Clay to be his secretary of state. Jackson accused the two men of having made a “corrupt bargain.”

In 1828 Jackson ran against Adams. Jackson claimed that Adams had become president in 1824 against the will of the people. Jackson stood for the common people against people with money, like Adams. This time, he won by many votes. Jackson was reelected president in 1832.

PRESIDENT JACKSON

As president, Jackson favored a greater role in government for the people. He wanted the people to elect the president directly, without the electoral college.
Jackson, unlike earlier presidents, did not let Congress lead in making national policy. He thought the president should lead.

Jackson opposed the national bank, the Bank of the United States. He said it had too much political power and helped make rich men richer. He thought it was a threat to democracy. The bank fought him. But Jackson rallied popular opinion to his side. In 1836, the bank shut down.

Jackson supported Georgia when it wanted Cherokee land. The Cherokees were forced to move from their home in Georgia to Indian Territory, (now Oklahoma). About 4,000 Cherokees died on the way of cold, hunger, and disease. The Cherokee journey from Georgia to Oklahoma is known as the Trail of Tears.

AFTER THE WHITE HOUSE

Jackson retired in 1837, after two terms as president. He was 70 years old and ill. He died in 1845.

(MS. Encarta)
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Amelia Earhart

In the 1930s, American pilot Amelia Earhart set speed and distance records for airplane flight. Today, Earhart is remembered as an adventurous pioneer during the early days of long-distance aviation.

EARLY YEARS

Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897. She worked as a military nurse in Canada during World War I (1914-1918). In 1920, Earhart moved to California and began taking flying lessons. She bought her first airplane at the age of 24.

In 1928, two American pilots invited Earhart to join them as a passenger on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip made Earhart famous. She was the first woman in history to cross the Atlantic by air! Earhart tasted the thrill of long-distance flight, and she wanted more.

EARHART'S FLIGHT ACHIEVEMENTS

In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo (alone) across the Atlantic Ocean. She made the trip in 13 hours and 30 minutes, setting a new speed record for the flight. For her achievement, Earhart won special honors from the American and French governments.

Then, in 1935, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo over the Pacific Ocean. She took off from Honolulu, Hawaii, and landed in Oakland, California.
Earhart set another record in 1935 by flying from Mexico City, Mexico, to New York City in a record time of 14 hours and 19 minutes.

HOW DID EARHART PREPARE FOR A FLIGHT?

Earhart spent months preparing for each flight. All of her airplane’s mechanical parts were tested. She carefully calculated how much gasoline and oil she would need for a trip. She mapped out different navigational charts in case foul weather forced her off course.

WHAT WAS A FLIGHT LIKE?

Earhart wore warm clothes on her flights since the cockpit of her airplane grew cold at high altitudes. The hardest part was battling exhaustion on the long, lonely flights. Earhart admitted to being so tired in a flight’s final hours that she was “likely to see illusions of land.”

EARHART'S LAST FLIGHT

In June 1937, Earhart began what she hoped would be her greatest achievement: a flight around the world. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Miami, Florida, flying east. On July 2, with over half of the trip behind them, their airplane left New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and headed for the Howland Islands.

But somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Earhart’s airplane disappeared. Navy airplanes and ships searched for Earhart and Noonan, but they found no trace of their airplane. To this day, the fate of America’s golden girl of flight remains a mystery.

(MS. Encarta)
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Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton set the newly created United States on solid financial footing, after the American Revolution (1775-1783) left it broke. He also pushed for a strong national government for the United States, when others favored giving strong powers to the states.

Hamilton expressed his views in famous political writings known as The Federalist papers.

EARLY YEARS

Hamilton was born in 1757 on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean Sea. When he was 12, he went to work as a clerk in a countinghouse. His mother had died. His father had lost all his money. He learned about money and finance while keeping accounts in the countinghouse.

In 1773, Hamilton entered King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York City.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Hamilton joined the Continental Army when the American Revolution began in 1775. He impressed others with his bravery and leadership. In 1777, George Washington, the head of the army, named Hamilton as his personal secretary.

LAWYER AND STATESMAN

After the Revolution, Hamilton trained to become a lawyer. He believed that the country’s plan of government was too weak. He pushed for a meeting in 1787 to write a new constitution (plan of government).

After the U.S. Constitution was prepared, Hamilton wrote The Federalist papers along with John Jay and James Madison. These essays defended the new U.S. Constitution. They explained why the new nation needed a strong national government.

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

Washington, who became the country’s first president, appointed Hamilton secretary of the treasury in 1789. The country was in debt after years of war. Hamilton made the dollar the official U.S. currency (money). He proposed that the national government pay the war debts of the states. Congress approved this proposal. It also approved his plans for a national bank and for aiding American manufacturing.

LAST YEARS

Hamilton returned to his law practice in New York City in 1795. He worked to defeat the election of Aaron Burr as U.S. president and later as governor of New York. In 1804, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel (fight). Burr shot Hamilton in the duel on July 11, 1804. Hamilton died the next day.

(MS. Encarta)
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Abraham Lincoln

He was born in a log cabin and went to school for less than one year. But despite his humble background, Abraham Lincoln became one of the great presidents of the United States. As the 16th president, Lincoln ended slavery and held the nation together during the Civil War, America’s biggest and bloodiest crisis.

People often remarked on Lincoln’s striking looks. He was tall and thin with long arms and large hands. Lincoln wore a type of tall hat that looked like a stove pipe. Sometimes, he carried important papers under his hat. When Lincoln was running for president, he grew a beard after a young girl suggested it.

FRONTIER CHILD

Abraham Lincoln was born on the Kentucky frontier in 1809. Lincoln shared a one-room log cabin with his sister and parents. It had one door, one window, and a dirt floor. In 1816, the family moved to nearby Indiana. Lincoln’s mother died soon after.

Lincoln helped his father with the hard work on his family’s homestead. He dug wells, built pigpens, chopped down trees, and split fence rails. By the age of 19, he had grown tall and lean. He was a good wrestler and a fast runner.

There were few schools on the frontier. With so much work to do at home, there was little time for schooling. Lincoln mostly educated himself by reading borrowed books and newspapers.

POLITICIAN, LAWYER, FATHER

Lincoln’s family moved to Illinois in 1830. He found a job in the town of New Salem as a store clerk. In 1834, Lincoln won election to the Illinois State Legislature. It was the beginning of his political career.

Lincoln moved to Springfield, the state capital, and began to study law. He soon became a licensed attorney. In 1846, Lincoln won election to the U.S. House of Representatives. After his term in Congress ended, he became a respected lawyer in Illinois.

In Springfield, Lincoln met and married Mary Todd. She was born to a Kentucky slaveholding family. The couple had four boys. Three of the boys died before they reached adulthood. The children’s deaths brought the Lincolns much sorrow.

OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY

In Congress, Lincoln had opposed the spread of slavery beyond the Southern states. Then, in 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It said the new territories could decide for themselves if they wanted slavery. This outraged Lincoln, and he began to speak out often against slavery.

In 1858, Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate. His opponent was Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In a series of famous debates, the two men argued over whether slavery should be allowed in Kansas and Nebraska. Douglas argued for slavery and Lincoln argued against it.

Lincoln lost that election to Douglas. But the debates earned him a national reputation. The Republican Party, which opposed slavery, chose Lincoln as its presidential candidate in the election of 1860.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN

Lincoln campaigned against the spread of slavery. But he also said he would not outlaw slavery in the South. In 1860, Lincoln was elected president of the United States.

After Lincoln’s victory became clear, Southern states began to secede, or leave, the Union. Many people in these states owned slaves. They believed Lincoln was attacking their way of life. The states that seceded formed the Confederacy. The states that did not secede—generally Northern states—became known as the Union.

THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS

Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy as separate from the rest of the country. Tensions between the Confederacy and the Union grew. The crisis exploded in April 1861. Confederate soldiers attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War had begun.

Most people in the North believed the war would be brief. But the South raised a good army and won the first battles. The Union Army soon had to draft men to fight. The war became unpopular in the North. Riots against the army broke out in several cities.

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

In January 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all the slaves in the rebellious states.

The Emancipation Proclamation hurt the Confederacy. It deprived the South of the slave labor it needed to grow food for the Confederate Army. It helped prevent the South from winning allies in Europe, where slavery was seen as wrong. Many freed slaves joined the Union Army.

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

In November 1863, Lincoln spoke at the dedication of a national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles had been fought at Gettysburg.

The main speaker at the dedication spoke for two hours. Lincoln spoke afterward. It took him just two minutes to give the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s famous speech begins with the words “Four score and seven years ago ….” In the speech, Lincoln tied the Union war effort to the principles of American democracy.

LINCOLN APPOINTS GENERAL GRANT

Despite Lincoln’s efforts, the Civil War continued. None of Lincoln’s generals seemed able to defeat the South.

In early 1864, Lincoln put General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of Union forces. “At last,” Lincoln said, “a general who will fight.” Grant’s victories on the battlefield helped Lincoln win reelection later that year.

Under Grant, the Union Army finally defeated the rebellious South. The most powerful Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, surrendered his army to Grant in Virginia in April 1865. The Civil War was over.

ASSASSINATION

Five days after the Civil War ended, Abraham and Mary Lincoln attended a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. During the play, an actor and Southern sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth crept up behind the president and shot him. Lincoln died the following morning.

Lincoln’s coffin was put on a special train and sent back to Springfield, Illinois, for burial. Thousands of people lined the route to view Lincoln’s coffin and mourn his death.

(MS. Encarta)
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