Cheers!

As a group, Patriots comprised men and women representing the full array of social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. They included college students like Alexander Hamilton, planters like Thomas Jefferson, and plain farmers like Daniel Shays and Joseph Plumb Martin. Their opponents among fellow colonists were the Loyalists or “Tories”, who remained loyal to the British Crown. (In addition many people remained neutral or said nothing.)

Many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers of the United States.

The most prominent Patriots:

Statesmen and office holders

* Benjamin Franklin

* John Hancock

* John Adams

* Thomas Jefferson

* James Madison

* John Dickinson

* Patrick Henry

Pamphleteers and activists

* Samuel Adams

* William Molineux

* Thomas Paine

* Alexander Hamilton

* Paul Revere

Military officers

* George Washington

* Nathanael Greene

* Francis Marion

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