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Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

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Author

The Resume

    (August 1, 1815-January 16, 1882)
    Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Attorney, politician, and author
    Best known for his memoir ‘Two Years Before the Mast’ (1840)
    Descendant of Anne Bradstreet

Why he might be annoying:

    During his freshman year at Harvard, he was suspended for six months for supporting a student protest.
    He ran for Congress and lost (1868).
    The Senate refused to confirm him when Ulysses S. Grant nominated him as minister to Great Britain (1876).

Why he might not be annoying:

    Herman Melville described ‘Two Years Before the Mast’ as ‘unmatchable.’
    His ‘The Seaman’s Friend’ became an authoritative guide on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors.
    He was a founder of the anti-slavery Free Soil Party (1848)
    He was assaulted in the streets of Boston while providing legal aid to Anthony Burns, an escaped slave arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law (May, 1854).
    During the Civil War, he established before the Supreme Court the Constitutional grounds for the Union naval blockade of Confederate ports (1863)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying