Patriot (American Revolution)

This article concerns Patriots in the American Revolution. For other uses of the word "patriot", see the disambiguation page.

Patriots (also knows as Whigs) were British North American colonists who rebelled against the Crown during the American Revolution and established the independent states that became the United States of America. They were also called Whigs or Rebels. Influenced by John Locke and the American Enlightenment, they comprised a wide array of political points of view, from conservative aristocrats like Alexander Hamilton to lower-class radicals like Daniel Shays. Their opponents among fellow colonists were the Loyalists, who remained loyal to the British Crown.

Many Patriots were active before the American Revolutionary War, such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are revered to this day by Americans as Founding Fathers of the United States.

List of prominent Patriots

Note: most of the individuals listed below served the Revolution in multiple capacities. The classifications below are in suggestion of those for which they have most been remembered.

Statesmen and office holders

• Benjamin Franklin
• John Hancock
• Patrick Henry
• Thomas Jefferson
• Richard Henry Lee
• James Madison

Pamphleteers and activists

• Samuel Adams
• William Molineux
• Thomas Paine
• Richard Price (active from abroad)
• Paul Revere

Military officers

See also List of important people in the era of the American Revolution.

• Nathanael Greene
• Gilbert Motier de Lafayette
• Friedrich von Steuben
• George Washington