Top 10 Most Significant People in American History
Without these people, America wouldn't be the same.
George Washington (February 22, 1732– December 14, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as the president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government. Washington has been called the "Father of the Nation" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the country. Not only did George Washington fight in the American revolutionary war, won the revolutionary war, was the first president in the U.S.A ever, and is the second greatest president of all time (Abraham Lincoln is number 1 obviously) but he is the reason that America is a thing at all. Sure, there was a lot of stuff that was questionable and wrong like him owning slaves or maybe marrying Martha Washington because she was rich but his role in America is the most important in anyone ever.
Guided America through much of its early years. He had an immense devotion to his country and did everything he could to help his country.
Good guy, likes wood too much, but overall decent I think he cannot tell a lie or maybe that's his friend either way cool guy as long as your not black. RIP georgie
Washington is the reason America stands.
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War and succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.
He married Mary Todd and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860. Stopped the civil war.
He had to keep the Union together during a very rocky time in America's history
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an African American minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. The zenith of what it means to be an American. Beaten, maligned, misjudged and jailed yet through it all, and with grace few will ever match, he turned a mirror on the deficiencies of our democracy while holding aloft a picture of how great we can be as a healed and whole nation.
Uncommon bravery amidst the reality that his dream would cost him his life. A wonderful American for whom we can all be proud.
A great figure and significant to be sure, deserving of the top 10. However, not the top 5, certainly not ahead of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Eisenhower, etc.
Should be number one! There are too many politicians on this list. Like we all know, politicians are all corrupted one way or another.
He helped everyone have the same rights!
Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and served as the 3rd President of the United States from 1801-1809. He was born on April 13, 1743, and died on July 4, 1826, on the same day 2nd United States President John Adams died. Yes, do read some books different than those required by left-leaning commie college instructors, comrade.
Jefferson did a lot on the constitution. Saying Neil Armstrong and Martin Luther are higher is bullcrap. Neil Armstrong is a dumbo who was just physically fit enough to get on the the moon. READ A BOOK SIMPLETONS
Benjamin Franklin (January 6, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first United States Postmaster General. An innovator and founding father that helped reshape America.
A key founding father he was very intelligent and always knew what to do
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and dominated his party for many years as a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. Started social security, many welfare programs, and pushed America further toward socialism. He was a bad president, but important.
He should be higher up he dealt with the great depression and world war II. Probably the most deadly war of all time.
Who saved us from The Great Depression? Who served for 4 terms? Only one. FDR.
Susan Brownell Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement.
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Not just one of the best Americans, Neil Armstrong's name and achievements will be remembered for thousands of years after everyone else from our time is long gone.
So sad that American schools no longer talk much about this great human being, who holds such significance to the entire human species.
First human being to leave the planet and walk on another world.
In 10,000 years, this will be the ONLY thing from our time that is remembered.
The first man to step on the Moon he led the way and pioneered what was humanly possible. Now we may look to do the same in the future with Mars
Theodore Roosevelt was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. Perhaps the single most influential president in American history. At a time when other nations turned away from freedom and democracy, he reformed the system in a way to save it and directly led to US superpower status.
He helped us by fighting in the Spanish War with Spain and then created the Panama Canal so yeah
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29th, 1917 - November 22, 1963) commonly referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination. The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the establishment of the Peace Corps, developments in the Space Race, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Trade Expansion Act to lower tariffs, the Civil Rights Movement, the "New Frontier" domestic program, and abolition of the federal death penalty in the District of Columbia all took place during his presidency. His presidency was very short, only about a thousand days. He had some good ideas, made some great and inspiring speeches, and was tragically cut down while still relatively young.
However, the truth is that he was killed before he could actually act on many of those ideas, and we will never really know what his plans were for America's continuing role in Viet Nam, though Lyndon Johnson may have thought he was carrying out that plan.
Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. I really admire Harriet Tubman and her courage to free her people from the evils of slavery . I also admire her bravery for conducting the underground Railroad ! I also admire her determination just like Moses .
John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. Adams served as the president of the United States from March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1801. He died on July 4, 1826 at the age of 90.
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman, who has been described as America's greatest inventor. The greatest inventor, truly "a man who created the 20th century". It is a pity that modern youth is so greedy for the cheap mystic images of different Teslas, and does not respect the REAL knowledges and the REAL heroes of science and industrialization.
He may not have completely invented the light bulb, but he did have a total of 1,092 other inventions. That's definitely saying something.
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African-American president of the United States.
A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. I think history will be very kind to this man. We're already starting to appreciate how good he was, and he's only been gone two months.
Amazing guy. If you were able to be president for as long as you like Barack Obama would be president until the day he died.
He is the first African-American president of the United States.
Never really seemed to like America very much.
Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an amazing person. He helped america get some money. (Which is probably why on the ten dollar bill he is on it.) He had 2 guardians. His mom, who had smallpox or something, didn't live to see him grow up. Alex had smallpox too, but survived. His 2nd guardian was his cousin, who commited suicide. He fought in the war, made lines for the Declaration Of Independence, and basically help find america. He died because of a duel with Aaron Burr. But don't hate on him too much. He said the moment that bullet came out, he regretted it. He deserves to be on the top 5 or 10.
A man with an extraordinary life, only for it to be ruined by that abomination.
For a guy to have a hit play after him, he would be an amazing contender.
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Just because he was anti-Semetic doesn't mean he's just nothing. If it wasn't for him, Detroit would be 100% ghetto (instead of... 75% ghetto) and horse travel would still be acceptable.
Introduced the automobile and the assembly line a true revolutionary titan at his time
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African American civil rights activist, whom the United States Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". I definitely admire Rosa Parks and she started the civil rights movement from the back of a bus and it made history . Me and my father used to play the bus boycott of Rosa Parks, it was so much fun playing with my father .
Never thought someone could help change the minds of others by sitting on the bus.
Sitting Bull, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotȟake in Standard Lakota Orthography, also nicknamed Húŋkešni or "Slow" (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota holy man who led his people during years of resistance to United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the ...read more.
Andrew Jackson was an American statesman who served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837 . He was born near the end of the colonial era, somewhere near the then-unmarked border between North and South Carolina, into a recently immigrated Scots-Irish farming family of relatively ...read more.
Ulysses S. Grant was an American soldier and statesman who served as Commanding General of the Army and the 18th President of the United States, the highest positions in the military and the government of the United States. Later elected President, but his most significant contribution was as the victorious Commanding General of the Union Army during the Civil War.
Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned ...read more.
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system, X rays, Radio, Remote Control, Laser, and Electric motors. Tesla developed and used ...read more. In my opinion he should be in the top ten. sure he wasn't AS important as Abraham or Washington but still if it weren't for him we would not be the powerful industrial nation we are today. Tomas Edison was important if he hadn't lied to Tesla, Tesla wouldn't have been as driven. Edison did not invent anything.
Tesla is a real inspiration. Edison was a big fat fraud and tore this pore man down. World would be much better if we followed Tesla's way of thinking.
Tesla the greatest genius of all time.
Edison was the fraud.
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, author, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He was a major entrepreneur of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. I feel that he is more important than steve jobs because of how much money he has donated to charity
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and a co-founder of Apple Inc., chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar, a member of The Walt Disney Company's board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar, and the founder, chairman, and CEO of NeXT. Jobs is widely recognized as a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. He is pretty cool. I'm glad that he was a person. Love iOS and my iPhone which would not be there if he was not.
Steve Jobs the only reason the iPhone was invented.