10 Greatest Americans

Redneck · Jun 30, 2005

Robert Fulton. He turned the steamboat into a commercial success.

John Erickson. The rotating turret, and the screwpropellor. 'Nuff said.

William Stanley Jr. Built the first practical alternating current device.

George Westinghouse. Built the first practical altnernating current electrical network.

Harriet Beecher Stowe. Writer of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Henry Ford. He made automobiles affordable for the average people, eventually.

Clara Barton. She was instrumental in establishing the Red Cross.

John D. Rockefeller. He made lots of money and then gave it away.

John James Audubon. A great naturalist.

Frank Herbert. Dune is a great book.

iichestnutii · Jul 1, 2005

1. George Washington
2. James K. Polk
3. Ben Franklin

mickd7 · Jul 1, 2005

1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Robert E. Lee
4. Douglas MacArther
5. Franklin Roosevelt
6. Audie Murphy
7. Billy Graham
8. Mickey Mantle
9. Abraham Lincoln
10.My Mother and my Wife
No particular order........ .

kurabrhm · Jul 1, 2005

The greatest American?

Surely, the greatest American was the last real AMERICAN, who stood up to the barbaric and totally vicious European invasion of North America - - his name? SITTING BULL.

Roman Soldier · Jul 2, 2005

There are probably several people I should list but they simply haven't come to mind.

1. Albert Einstein -- arrived in 1933, and a citizen for the last 15 years of his life.
2. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins
3. Thomas Edison -- arrogant yet extremely important.
4. Wright Brothers
5. Benjamin Franklin
6. Henry Ford
7. Those who died at Kent State, for dying to end war.
8. Margaret Sanger -- advocate for the freedom to use contraception.
9. Andrew Carnegie -- robber-baron who established the American value of giving everything away, once you die.
10.George Washington Carver

Roman Soldier · Jul 2, 2005

mickd7 said:
1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Robert E. Lee
4. Douglas MacArther
5. Franklin Roosevelt
6. Audie Murphy
7. Billy Graham
8. Mickey Mantle
9. Abraham Lincoln
10.My Mother and my Wife
No particular order........ .

I'll let GoSeminoles! remind you of the rules of this thread, especially since you're proving his very point, but it's ever interesting that you have both Lincoln and Lee in the same list. Don't you consider them a little mutually exclusive?

GoSeminoles! · Jul 3, 2005

mickd7 said:
1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Robert E. Lee
4. Douglas MacArther
5. Franklin Roosevelt
6. Audie Murphy
7. Billy Graham
8. Mickey Mantle
9. Abraham Lincoln
10.My Mother and my Wife
No particular order........ .

The good news: Your mother and wife (hopefully not the same person) are eligible for the list. The bad news: presidents and military heros are not.

pimorton · Jul 3, 2005

In no particular order

1. Thomas Jefferson - He was great even discounting the fact that he was president - a fact he did not even want mentioned in his epitaph.
2. Thomas Edison
3. Charles Martin Hall - inventor of the electrolytic process of extracting aluminum from bauxite and founder of the Alcoa Co.
4. Walt Disney
5. Andrew Carnegie
6. Ben Franklin
7. Squanto and Massosoit - Native Americans of the Pohatan tribe, who befriended the Pilgrims
8. Robert Goddard - father of modern rocketry
9. Frank-oops, I meant Jackie Robinson - broke the color barrier as the first African American to play in Major League Baseball
10. Dr. Joseph Giordano - head of the trauma team that saved President Ronald Reagan's life after an assassination attempt by John Hinkley Jr.

Also ran: Charles Martin Hall - inventor of the electrolytic process to extract aluminum from bauxite and founder of the Alcoa Co.; Hale Boggs - congressman from Louisiana, original sponsor of the bill that funded the Interstate Highway System.; John Marshall - chief justice of the United States, author of the Marbury v. Madison decision, establishing the doctrine of judicial review; Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King Jr.

Black_Ivy · Jul 4, 2005

Great thread!

Albert Einstein
Henry David Thoreau
The Wright Brothers
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jane Addams
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Thomas Paine
William Faulkner
Llewellyn George

stubby42 · Jul 4, 2005

Albert Einstein was austrian/german I'm not sure anyway he came to America. He's not american, Your the second person to say this.

mickd7 · Jul 4, 2005

GoSeminoles! said:
The good news: Your mother and wife (hopefully not the same person) are eligible for the list. The bad news: presidents and military heros are not.

Oops. I failed to read the details. I will try again.

!. My wife and my dear mother.
2. Audie Murphy Actor
3. Mickey Mantle
4. Babe Ruth
5. Roger Maris
6. Whitey Ford
7. Yogi Berra
8. Bobby Richardson
9. John Blanchard

Roman Soldier · Jul 4, 2005

stubby42 said:
Albert Einstein was austrian/german I'm not sure anyway he came to America. He's not american, Your the second person to say this.

American citizenship doesn't make someone an American?

He came here because he was Jewish and the Nazis had taken control over Germany. Luckily for him he had the skill sets needed to get into the country, a lot of other Jews didn't.

stubby42 · Jul 4, 2005

Um no it doesnt, having the citzenship of a country you werent born in just means your entitled to live there and the rights that come with it, it still doesnt change your nationality. If I live in america I'm still british.

To stay on topic, isnt it interesting that there are hardly any women on the greatest american list?

Roman Soldier · Jul 4, 2005

stubby42 said:
Um no it doesnt, having the citzenship of a country you werent born in just means your entitled to live there and the rights that come with it, it still doesnt change your nationality. If I live in america I'm still british.

To stay on topic, isnt it interesting that there are hardly any women on the greatest american list?

I don't know how you do things in the UK, but in America.

American Citizenship = American

End of story. You would call the pilgrims and other immigrants Americans, wouldn't you? You could call him a German-American to be more accurate, if that's what you please.

Some women have been mentioned. I mentioned Sanger and two women who were killed at Kent State, and several other women have been mentioned, especially ones involved with voting. Several women authors have also been mentioned.

zilch · Jul 5, 2005

1. Harriet Tubman
2. Nat Turner
3. Gabriel Prosser
4. Frederick Douglass
5. Martin Luther King Jr.
6. Daniel Shays
7. John Brown
8. Susan B. Anthony
9. W.E.B. Du Bois
10. Henry David Thoreau

Honorable Mentions - Clara Barton, Thurgood Marshall, David Walker, William Lloyd Garrison

mickd7 · Jul 5, 2005

zilch said:
1. Harriet Tubman
2. Nat Turner
3. Gabriel Prosser
4. Frederick Douglass
5. Martin Luther King Jr.
6. Daniel Shays
7. John Brown
8. Susan B. Anthony
9. W.E.B. Du Bois
10. Henry David Thoreau

Honorable Mentions - Clara Barton, Thurgood Marshall, David Walker, William Lloyd Garrison[/QUOT

Are u telling us that you think cold blooded murderers Nat Turner and John Brown are your idea of great men or Americans? Nat Turner deserved exactly what he got a noose and Brown deserved what he got. You need to rethink these two for they arent heros.

zilch · Jul 6, 2005

mickd7 said:
Are u telling us that you think cold blooded murderers Nat Turner and John Brown are your idea of great men or Americans? Nat Turner deserved exactly what he got a noose and Brown deserved what he got. You need to rethink these two for they arent heros.

People who fought slavery and other forms of oppression should be considered great. Nat Turner and John Brown, did this and were martyred as a result.

There is nothing to rethink they were heros.

The slave masters who died during Turner's rebellion deserved what they got.

mickd7 · Jul 6, 2005

zilch said:
1. Harriet Tubman
2. Nat Turner
3. Gabriel Prosser
4. Frederick Douglass
5. Martin Luther King Jr.
6. Daniel Shays
7. John Brown
8. Susan B. Anthony
9. W.E.B. Du Bois
10. Henry David Thoreau

Honorable Mentions - Clara Barton, Thurgood Marshall, David Walker, William Lloyd Garrison

Your logic is twisted and it shows me you know nothing of the history of these horrible people.

Nat Turner not only rebelled but he led his group of blood thirsty renegades through the country side killing men women and children. He bashed children against walls and other horrible deeds. He and his men were cowards in the first degree. Rebelling is one thing and fighting against those that enslave you also is another thing but they did not have the guts to stand up and fight masters and slave owners. John Brown was of the same ilk. He rebelled against the United States of America and killed innocent people and Federal troops were called to quell this murderous outrage. No you are wrong, Turner was no hero but a murderer unequalled in our history.

zilch · Jul 7, 2005

mickd7 said:
Your logic is twisted and it shows me you know nothing of the history of these horrible people.

Nat Turner not only rebelled but he led his group of blood thirsty renegades through the country side killing men women and children. He bashed children against walls and other horrible deeds. He and his men were cowards in the first degree. Rebelling is one thing and fighting against those that enslave you also is another thing but they did not have the guts to stand up and fight masters and slave owners. John Brown was of the same ilk. He rebelled against the United States of America and killed innocent people and Federal troops were called to quell this murderous outrage. No you are wrong, Turner was no hero but a murderer unequalled in our history.

Turner was justified in the actions he took. It seems that you have bought the rhetoric of the past.

"The patriotic Nathaniel Turner was goaded to desperation by wrong and injustice. By Despotism, his name has been recorded on the list of infamy, but future generations will number him upon the noble and brave." - Henry H. Garnet

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASturner.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner

Saying Turner is "a murderer unequalled in our history" is beyond hyperbole." Even if you think his actions weren't justified I could think of a few murderers that surpass turner by miles.

And as for Brown rightly rebelled against the United States for allowing and benefiting from an evil practice. Osawatomie Brown valiantly fought in Kansas and led the Raid on Harper's Ferry.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASbrown.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)

Milla · Jul 7, 2005

I don't think it's actually possible to rank people by "greatness", but I'll list, in no particular order, ten of the US Americans I've studied who I think are quite great and are not, as per the op, presidents or military heroes.

Eugene V. Debs
Frederick Douglass
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Benjamin Franklin
Samuel Clemens
Ida Tarbell
Sojourner Truth
Chief Joseph
Lewis and Clark (they count as one person )
Thomas Paine

I can think of quite a few other people I'd like on the list, but I'll just stop here.

10 Greatest Americans

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