People:
(Disjoiner: None of the information on this page originates
from me. However, the links provided may not be the source for the information
that precedes it. Please come speak with me if you want more bibliographic
information)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) whose original profession
and calling was as a Unitarian minister, left the ministry to pursue a
career in writing and public speaking. Emerson became one of America's
best known and best loved 19th century figures. (41)
http://www.transcendentalists.com/1emerson.html
Jim Crow Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice popularized the
black-faced minstrel on the American stage with his 1828 caricature of
a crippled plantation slave, dancing and singing the words:
"Weel about and turn about and do jus' so,
Eb'ry time I weel about, I jump Jim Crow." (155)
http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/menu.htm
Peter Wheatstraw (1902-1941) emphasized a relationship
with the Prince of Darkness as a means to attract an audience. An enormously
popular musician during the 1930s, he often publicized himself as the "The
Devil's Son-In-Law" or the "High Sheriff of Hell." Eventually, like
Robert Johnson before him, if he had indeed sold his soul, his time came
due, leaving this world at a much too early age and at the height of his
career. (176)
http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/PeetieWheatstraw.htm
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Born a slave and deprived of
any early education, Booker Taliaferro Washington went on to become America's
foremost black educator of the early 20th Century. He was the first principal
at the Tuskegee Institute, where he championed vocational training as a
means for black self-reliance. A well-known orator, Washington also wrote
a best-selling autobiography and advised Presidents Theodore Roosevelt
and William Taft on race relations. His rather flaccid nickname of "The
Great Accomodator" provides a clue as to why he was later criticized by
W. E. B. Du Bois and the N.A.A.C.P. (305)
http://www.answers.com/topic/booker-t-washington
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Biographer James Parton said Thomas
Jefferson could "calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery,
plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play the
violin." Not to mention serving as U.S. president (1801-1809), vice-president,
secretary of state, minister to France, congressman, governor of Virginia,
founder of the University of Virginia, and president of the American Philosophical
Society. For all that, Jefferson is best remembered as a champion of human
rights and the lead draftsman of the Declaration of Independence. (307)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tj3.html
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) More nearly than any of his
predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President
he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html
The Indian Removal Act, 1830: Passed into law during Jackson's
second year as President, this Act set the tone for his administration's
handling of all Indian affairs. Nearly all relocation was carried
out under duress, whether by military escort, or when no other option remained
after tribal decimation by broken treaties, fraudulent land deals and the
wars these often caused. (307)
http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/jackson.htm
Casimir Pulaski (1747-1779) belongs to that select group of heroes,
including the Marquis de Lafayefte, Thomas Paine, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and
Pulaski's fellow countryman, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who opposed tyranny not
only in their homelands, but wherever they found it. We especially honor
Pulaski because he paid the ultimate price, having sustained a mortal wound
while fighting for American independence at the battle of Savannah in 1779.
Today he remains a symbol of the ideal of valiant resistance to oppression
everywhere in the world. (307)
http://www.chipublib.org/003cpl/pulaskibiog.html
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was an Italian patriot and military
leader who helped free the Italians from foreign rule and unify the country.
He was a master of guerrilla warfare and raised volunteers beginning in
1848 to conduct daring military campaigns to overcome the rule of Austria.
(307)
http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html
Sun Yat-Sen (1866- 1925) was a Chinese Revolutionary leader who
fought to establish the republic of china. Generally he is call "The Father
Of The Revolution. "Sun was too idealistic to be an effective political
leader. Sun Yat-Sen's three principles--nationalism, democracy, and socialism--were
established in 1912. (307)
http://mclane.fresno.k12.ca.us/wilson98/MWHI/1998/jerry1.html
Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) The name of every other Irish orator—perhaps
that of any orator of whatever people or age—pales before that of Daniel
O’Connell ["the Liberator"]. There is little if any exaggeration in this
statement, albeit exaggeration was his element.
http://www.bartleby.com/224/0277.html
The British Government feared a rising and granted Catholic emancipation
in April 1829. O’Connell now decided to concentrate on winning repeal of
the act of union and getting an Irish parliament for the Irish people.
British political leaders feared repeal as they did not fear emancipation.
They saw repeal of the Act of Union as the first step in the break-up of
the act of union, as the spirit of the repeal movement was revived when
the young Ireland writers wrote about it in the Nation. (307)
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/daniel.htm
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) The stories really are true: Abe
Lincoln grew up on the American frontier, educated himself by reading borrowed
books, and worked as a general store clerk long before he became the 16th
president of the United States. His claims to fame are too numerous to
list here; he is most often remembered for leading the Union through the
Civil War and freeing Confederate slaves with the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation;
for delivering the Gettysburg Address, the most famous oration in American
history; and for his tragic assassination by John Wilkes Booth. (307)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) Born and raised in Jamaica, Marcus
Garvey travelled in Central and South America, then moved to England to
continue his education. In 1914 he started the Universal Negro Improvement
Association and advocated worldwide black unity and an end to colonialism.
In 1916 he moved to the United States and started a steamship company,
the Black Star Line, a business venture as well as part of his "back to
Africa" plan for Americans of African descent. Through his skill as an
orator and his newspaper Negro World, Garvey became the most influential
black leader of his time. (367)
http://www.swagga.com/marcus.htm