Edward Bancroft was born on January 9, 1744 in Westfield Massachusetts. When Bancroft was only two years old his father past away from an Epileptic Seizure leaving only his mother to care for the family. When her mother remarried in May of 1781, Edward Bancroft’s stepfather held a meeting between George Washington and General Jean Batiste de Vimeur of France. This was the first event that sparked Bancroft’s interest in politics. Years later Bancroft graduated from Yale at the age of 16 and became an apprentice physician. He later left his job as an apprentice physician and moved to Surinam where he later started a book. After moving around country to country Edward Bancroft arrived at England and published his book called, “Natural History of Guiana”. Publishing his new book drew attention towards Bancroft and he was contacted by Paul Wentworth which at the time was a colonial agent for New Hampshire in London. Bancroft was hired to figure out a way to increase Paul Wentworth’s profits from the land. Soon after Edward Bancroft traveled back to London and met one of Americas Four Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin served as a colonial agent for numerous states over in America. While in London, Franklin depended on Edward Bancroft to be his spy. Edward Bancroft then promised his friendship to the American Colonies and continued to represent them. However Bancroft’s teacher Silas Deane contacted Bancroft on June 7, 1776 requesting that he come to Paris with him.
During the Revolutionary War while Bancroft and Deane lived together in France Edward Bancroft acted as a double agent (p. xxvi) for the United States and England. Deane, who was living with Bancroft at the time (p. xxv), could have easily known about Bancroft’s dealings. In order to clean his own reputation with the United States, Deane would have had to gain back their trust somehow. If he used his hypothetical knowledge of Bancroft’s double-crossing for his own purposes it would have surely put him back into the United States’ favor. If Deane went back to the United States, Bancroft would have a possibility of being publically ousted as a traitor. Killing Deane would have prevented any opportunity of the sort from arising. With the motive to kill Deane, Bancroft becomes a suspect for his possible
One of the most important Americans in history was not born in America, and almost no one has heard of him. His name is Hercules Mulligan, and he was born in the year 1740 in County Antrim, Ireland. Mulligan moved to the colony of New York in 1746, when he was only 6 years old. Hercules went to college at Kings College, the precursor to Columbia University. Upon graduation he went to went as a clerk at his father’s accounting business. After years of working for his father, Hercules went to start his own business as a tailor. He accumulated many customers who were wealthy British businessman and high ranking British officers. In 1765, Hercules decided to join in the fight against the British, so he joined the Sons of Liberty. Then in 1772,
Franklin was influenced by several public figures and events which affected his life and writings. While in France as the U.S. Ambassador, he met King Louis XVI. When he returned to America he took part in electing George Washington as the first President of the United States. Later,
Later, we found out that Silas Deane’s long time friend Edward Bancroft was double-dealing of sorts, Bancroft was a known spy to the Americas but no one knew that he was also a spy for the British as well until British documents from that time were released to the public library; we then learned that Edward Bancroft was on the payroll as a spy for the British. Then several wondered if Deane knew that his long time friend was a double spy, many believed so. After learning more into the friendship of these
Bancroft believed that Anglo-Saxons were racially destined to lead and spread freedom across the globe. With the establishment of John Hopkins University, college education became more common among middle-class Americans, however only wealthy white men still only had access to that kind of education. This new wave of historians insisted that knowledge of history and physics were of equal importance.
He was born on April 19, 1721 and was an early american politician and a lawyer. He was a Supreme Court Judge and came up with the idea to have a two-chambered congress. This eventually made the House of representatives. He also served in many other different things which includes serving as the first New Haven's mayor, and he served on the Five Committee which was responsible for writing the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the two founding fathers to sign all four of the major papers in the United States which were the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation and the Articles of
Having been born in the first month of the year 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin has been regarded an iconic figure not only in the history of America but as well as the world.1 Although he had a deep passion for reading, he could only manage to attend school for two years. He then joined his brother at the age of 12 in apprenticeship at a shop. At the age of 15 people were reading his very first newspaper in Boston. It is after his letters had become a hit that he declared to be the writer. His brother, James, got furious about his writing so he had to run away to Philadelphia at the age of 17. His love for experiments could be seen at an early age for he carried out an experiment on kites during a lighting storm. This one was in regards to lighting and power. Franklin was a famous politician as well as a civil activist during the Enlightenment Era that took place in North America. He was widely known as he played his role as the Ambassador to France and the effort he made to acquire French military assistance when the American Revolution was ongoing. Among other achievements, Benjamin was among the Founding Fathers that put their signatures for the Declaration of Independence besides helping in the drafting of the United States Constitution. Besides being approachable and self-effacing, Benjamin Franklin was an extremely brilliant person.2 he was first a businessman as well as a scientist although he later got involved in civics and politics.
In direct contrast to the story of Washington and the Cherry Tree, the first President of the United States had once served as a spy himself when he fought in the French and Indian War. At the age of twenty-one, he volunteered to engage with French soldiers and learn whatever he could about their intentions and fortifications through leading conversations (Kilmeade and Yaeger, 2013). The experience he gained on that mission would serve him well in his career as a revolutionary. Moreover, having been acquainted with British colonial officials, generals and colonels in his formative years, he
Martin Van Buren was born December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York to Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen ("Martin Van Buren." 1). Martin did not learn English until he started schooling at Kinderhook Academy due to his Dutch ancestry ("Martin Van Buren." 1, Maurer 1). His father’s tavern was always bustling with respectable lawyers and politicians, introducing him to men like Alexander
With Benjamin Franklin’s ambition to see one day the glorious English Empire shifted to North America, specifically in Pennsylvania and to get rid of the proprietors, he envisages a single community that will embody Englishmen only. For that reason, Franklin is against massive immigration of Germans and the presence of African slaves which will fade the identity of a perfect English Empire. He becomes more optimistic of his vision when the Crown appoints him in 1753 as a postmaster at Williamsburg. Despite all the failures that he encounters from not passing solutions such as colonial union and the Albany Plan, Franklin still maintains his degree of confidence and loyalty to the mother country. Closer to his dream, he has been selected in
I was born on Sept. 24, 1755 in Germantown, Virginia. My parents, Thomas Marshall and Mary Randolph Keith, had 15 children of which I was the oldest. While growing up, my parents homeschooled my 14 siblings and me, and later I was sent to one year of boarding school at the Campbell Academy, where I was classmates with James Monroe. While growing up in a politically connected family, my parents brought great influence into the household, knowledge and character wise. My father was a sheriff and a land surveyor, and my mother was the daughter of a clergyman and her bloodline could be drawn back to the Lees and Randolphs. As I was growing up, my main influence was George Washington, who was a friend of my father. Because of him, at the age of
Washington desperately needed to gain intelligence of General William Howe’s next plan of attack, however there were few who wanted to risk partaking in such a dishonorable task as spying. Hale was the first, and most well known, of the many spies to scout
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin, who was a tallow chandler, had seventeen children; Benjamin was the fifteenth child and the tenth son. His mother, Abiah Folger, was his father’s second wife. After he went to grammar school from age eight to ten, Benjamin started working at his father’s business. He didn’t like the work very much, however, and so he began to work for a cutler. When he was just thirteen, he became an apprentice to his brother James, who had just returned from England with a new printing press. Benjamin learned the printing trade, but in his spare time he tried to improve his education. In 1721 his brother
It was the year 1706 in Boston, MA when Benjamin Franklin entered the world. Birthed after fourteen other siblings, Franklin's family structure is only one deciding factor in the way that this legendary tale pans out. A hero of American Revolution, this novel depicts 18th century realism accurately while logging Franklin's personal conception on human nature and social community. Many look at Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography as your typical rags to riches tale yet, the truth and falsehood throughout the pages is unknown, raising many questions and concerns. As this book was written in segments over a stretched period of time, we must analyze this account of his life, the struggles and successes which took place, and the outcome of such
In spite of the fact that Franklin was hardly a puritan, he was nevertheless very much a child of the Puritans. This is not displayed merely in his promotion of the virtues, but in his abstaining from excessiveness in eating, drinking, conversation, or whatever. Franklin is strongly influenced with self-governance In numerous ways, this is, to someone coming to it for the first time, a very amazing book. Franklin is, of course, one of the most celebrated Americans who ever lived, and his credentials in a wide arrangement of endeavors are a part of American knowledge and popular history. A great deal of this knowledge and numerous of his accomplishments are missing from this account of his life. He never finished the autobiography, earlier in his life on account of the fact that he was too engaged with what he terms public employment’s, and later in life by virtue of the opium he was taking for kidney stones left him incapable to concentrate adequately. Had Franklin been able to write about every period of his life and all of his achievements, his autobiography would have been one of the most exceptional and outstanding documents every produced. It is astonishingly imperious. However, his record as an office-holder is stained by the use he made of his position to advance his relatives. He was one of the most important statesmen in the new America and was a historical figure who shaped our nations history. He was a very