Using the unique approach that he has employed in his previous books, author, columnist, and television commentator James Burke shows us our connections to the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Over the two hundred-plus years that separate us, these connections are often surprising and always fascinating. Burke turns the signers from historical icons into flesh-and-blood people: Some were shady financial manipulators, most were masterful political operators, a few were good human beings, and some were great men. The network that links them to us is also peopled by all sorts, from spies and assassins to lovers and adulterers, inventors and artists. The ties may be more direct for some of us than others, but we are all linked in some way to these founders of our nation.
If you enjoyed Martin Sheen as the president on television's The West Wing, then you're connected to founder Josiah Bartlett. The connection from signer Bartlett to Sheen includes John Paul Jones; Judge William Cooper, father of James Fenimore; Sir Thomas Brisbane, governor of New South Wales; an incestuous astronomer; an itinerant math teacher; early inventors of television; and pioneering TV personality Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the inspiration for Ramon Estevez's screen name, Martin Sheen.
Autorentext
James Burke
Inhalt
CONTENTS
PREFACE
AUGUST 2, 1776
1. JOHN HANCOCK (MA)
2. JOSIAH BARTLETT (NH)
3. WILLIAM WHIPPLE (NH)
4. SAM ADAMS (MA)
5. JOHN ADAMS (MA)
6. ROBERT TREAT PAINE (MA)
7. STEPHEN HOPKINS (RI)
8. WILLIAM ELLERY (RI)
9. ROGER SHERMAN (CT)
10. SAMUEL HUNTINGTON (CT)
11. WILLIAM WILLIAMS (CT)
12. WILLIAM FLOYD (NY)
13. PHILIP LIVINGSTON (NY)
14. FRANCIS LEWIS (NY)
15. LEWIS MORRIS (NY)
16. RICHARD STOCKTON (NJ)
17. JOHN WITHERSPOON (NJ)
18. FRANCIS HOPKINSON (NJ)
19. JOHN HART (NJ)
20. ABRAHAM CLARK (NJ)
21. ROBERT MORRIS (PA)
22. BENJAMIN RUSH (PA)
23. BEN FRANKLIN (PA)
24. JOHN MORTON (PA)
25. GEORGE CLYMER (PA)
26. JAMES SMITH (PA)
27. GEORGE TAYLOR (PA)
28. JAMES WILSON (PA)
29. GEORGE ROSS (PA)
30. CAESAR RODNEY (DE)
31. GEORGE READ (DE)
32. SAMUEL CHASE (MD)
33 . WILLIAM PACA (MD)
34. THOMAS STONE (MD)
35. CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON (MD)
36. THOMAS JEFFERSON (VA)
37. BENJAMIN HARRISON (VA)
38. THOMAS NELSON (VA)
39. FRANK LEE (VA)
40. CARTER BRAXTON (VA)
41. WILLIAM HOOPER (NC)
42. JOSEPH HEWES (NC)
43. JOHN PENN (NC)
44. EDWARD RUTLEDGE (SC)
45. THOMAS HEYWARD, J R . (SC)
46. THOMAS LYNCH, J R . (SC)
47. ARTHUR MIDDLETON (SC)
48. BUTTON GWINNETT (GA)
49. LYMAN HALL (GA)
50. GEORGE WALTON (GA)
FALL 1776 AND LATER
51. GEORGE WYTHE (VA)
52. ELBRIDGE GERRY (MA)
53. RICHARD HENRY LEE (VA)
54. OLIVER WOLCOTT (CT)
55. MATTHEW THORNTON (MA)
56. THOMAS MCKEAN (DE)
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX