Greatest Americans

     Who are or were the greatest Americans?  To receive such a title, a person should have accomplished something tangible or had a significant influence over other people.  I cannot call a person great simply because that person has some talent or is considered interesting or entertaining.

     Here’s my top-10 list:

1.  Benjamin Franklin

This renaissance man invented, discovered, wrote, printed, and did so many things it could give us normal people an inferiority complex.  He was instrumental in the founding of our country.

2 and 3.  Orville and Wilbur Wright

They got aviation off the ground, and thus got us all off the ground.  Had it not been for them, we would lack huge amounts of the technology that we use and enjoy so much.

4.  Rosa Parks

Her simple act of defiance helped propel the Civil Rights movement.  Not intending to do anything great, she helped transform a nation morally.

5.  Thomas Edison

We still use his ingenious inventions as well as other handy devices on which his inventions are based.

6.  Lucy Stone

She campaigned for equal rights for women and for black Americans.  Influenced others to join or support those causes with her passionate speeches.

7.  Daniel Boone

Tales of his adventures inspired Americans to be rugged and brave.  He became the archtype of American individualism and enterprise.

8.  Roger Williams

Founded a colony based on freedom of religion and inspired, among other people, the First Amendment to the Constitution.  His dealings with Native Americans were far more humane and just than many of his contemporaries’.

9.  Clara Barton

From nursing patients during the Civil War to organizing the American Red Cross, this woman was the quintessential humanitarian.

10.  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Who knows how things would have turned out had such a man not risen at the time that he did?  I believe that he helped America avoid violence at a time when we were ripe for it.  His use of nonviolent resistance helped the cause of Civil Rights immensely.