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Founding Fathers of the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Declaration of Independence, a painting by John Trumbull depicting the Committee of Five presenting
their draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Congress on June 28, 1776. Trumbull's painting
appears on the reverse of the United States two-dollar bill.[1]
The term Founding Fathers of the United States of America refers broadly to the individuals of the
Thirteen British Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of the
British Crown and established the United States of America. It is also used more narrowly, referring
specifically to those who either signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 or who were delegates
to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and took part in drafting the proposed Constitution of the United
States. A further subset includes those who signed the Articles of Confederation.[2] During much of the
19th century, they were referred to as either the "Founders" or the "Fathers".
Some historians define the "Founding Fathers" to mean a larger group, including not only the Signers
and the Framers but also all those who, whether as politicians, jurists, statesmen, soldiers, diplomats, or
ordinary citizens, took part in winning American independence and creating the United States of
America.[3] Historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding
Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison, and George Washington.[4] Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin worked on the committee to draft
the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, Madison and Jay, were authors of the The Federalist Papers,
advocating ratification of the Constitution. Washington commanded the revolutionary army. All served
in important positions in the early government of the United States.
Contents
1 Background
2 Collective biography of the Framers of the Constitution
o 2.1 Political experience
o 2.2 Occupations and finances
o 2.3 Family and finances
o 2.4 Demographics
o 2.5 Longevity and family life
o 2.6 Religion
o 2.7 Post-convention careers
o 2.8 Slaves and slavery
3 Legacy
4 Lists of Founding Fathers
o 4.1 Signatories to key historical documents
o 4.2 Other founders
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Background
The Albany Congress of 1754 was a conference attended by seven colonies, which presaged later efforts
at cooperation. The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 included representatives from nine colonies.
The First Continental Congress met briefly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1774 and consisted of fifty-six
delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that would become the United States of America. The
delegates, who included George Washington, soon to command the army, Patrick Henry, and John
Adams, were elected by their respective colonial assemblies. Other notable delegates included Samuel
Adams from Massachusetts, John Dickinson from Pennsylvania and New York's John Jay. This congress in
addition to formulating appeals to the British crown, established the Continental Association to
administer boycott actions against Britain. When the Second Continental Congress came together on
May 10, 1775, it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who
attended the first meeting participated in the second.[5] Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin
and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, John Hancock of Massachusetts, and John Witherspoon of New
Jersey. Hancock was elected Congress President two weeks into the session when Peyton Randolph was
summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses. Thomas Jefferson replaced
Randolph in the Virginia congressional delegation.[6] The second Congress adopted the Declaration of
Independence. Witherspoon was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration. He also signed the
Articles of Confederation and attended the New Jersey (1787) convention that ratified the Federal
Constitution.[7]
The newly founded country of the United States had to create a new government to replace the British
Parliament. The Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation, a declaration that established a
national government which was made up of a one-house legislature. Its ratification by all thirteen
colonies gave the second Congress a new name: the Congress of the Confederation, which met from
1781 to 1789.[8] Later, the Constitutional Convention took place during the summer of 1787, in
Philadelphia.[9] Although the Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention
from the outset of many–chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton–was to create a
new frame of government rather than to fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington
to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution.
Collective biography of the Framers of the Constitution
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy
In the winter and spring of 1786–1787, twelve of the thirteen states chose a total of 74 delegates to
attend what is now known as the Federal Convention in Philadelphia. Nineteen delegates chose not to
accept election or attend the debates; for example, Patrick Henry of Virginia thought that state politics
were far more interesting and important than national politics, though during the ratification
controversy of 1787–1788 he claimed, "I smelled a rat." Rhode Island did not send delegates because of
its politicians' suspicions of the Convention delegates' motivations. As a sanctuary for Baptists, Rhode
Island's absence at the Convention in part explains the absence of Baptist affiliation among those who
did attend. Of the 55 who did attend at some point, no more than 38 delegates showed up at one
time.[10]
These delegates represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership. Almost all of them
were well-educated men of means who were leaders in their communities. Many were also prominent
in national affairs. Virtually every one had taken part in the American Revolution; at least 29 had served
in the Continental Army, most of them in positions of command. Several of the latter were instrumental
in establishing the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783. Scholars have examined the collective biography of
them as well as the signers of the Declaration and the Constitution.[11]
Political experience
The Framers of the Constitution had extensive political experience. By 1787, four-fifths (41 individuals),
were or had been members of the Continental Congress. Nearly all of the 55 delegates had experience
in colonial and state government, and the majority had held county and local offices.[12]
Thomas Mifflin and Nathaniel Gorham had served as President of the Continental Congress.
The ones who lacked congressional experience were Bassett, Blair, Brearly, Broom, Davie,
Dayton, Alexander Martin, Luther Martin, Mason, McClurg, Paterson, Charles Pinckney, Strong,
Washington and Yates.
Eight men (Clymer, Franklin, Gerry, Robert Morris, Read, Roger Sherman, Wilson, and Wythe)
had signed the Declaration of Independence.
Six (Carroll, Dickinson, Gerry, Gouverneur Morris, Robert Morris, and Roger Sherman) had
signed the Articles of Confederation.
Two, Sherman and Robert Morris, signed all three of the nation's basic documents.
Dickinson, Franklin, Langdon, and Rutledge had been governors.
Occupations and finances
The 1787 delegates practiced a wide range of high and middle-status occupations, and many pursued
more than one career simultaneously. They did not differ dramatically from the Loyalists, except they
were generally younger and less senior in their professions.[13]
Thirty-five had legal training, though not all of them practiced law. Some had also been local
judges.[14]
At the time of the convention, 13 men were merchants: Blount, Broom, Clymer, Dayton,
Fitzsimons, Shields, Gilman, Gorham, Langdon, Robert Morris, Pierce, Sherman, and Wilson.
Seven were major land speculators: Blount, Dayton, Fitzsimmons, Gorham, Robert Morris,
Washington, and Wilson.
Eleven speculated in securities on a large scale: Bedford, Blair, Clymer, Dayton, Fitzsimons,
Franklin, King, Langdon, Robert Morris, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Sherman.
Fourteen owned or managed slave-operated plantations or large farms: Bassett, Blair, Blount,
Johnson, Butler, Carroll, Jenifer, Jefferson, Madison, Mason, Charles Pinckney, Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney, Rutledge, Spaight, and Washington.
Many wealthy Northerners owned domestic slaves: Franklin later freed his slaves and was a key
founder of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Jay founded the New York Manumission Society
in 1785, for which Hamilton became an officer. They and other members of the Society founded
the African Free School in New York City, to educate the children of free blacks and slaves. When
Jay was governor of New York in 1798, he signed into law a gradual abolition law; fully ending
slavery as of 1827. He freed his own slaves in 1798.
Broom and Few were small farmers.
Eight of the men received a substantial part of their income from public office: Baldwin, Blair,
Brearly, Gilman, Livingston, Madison, and Rutledge.
Three had retired from active economic endeavors: Franklin, McHenry, and Mifflin.
Franklin and Williamson were scientists, in addition to their other activities.
McClurg, McHenry, Rush, and Williamson were physicians, and Johnson was a college president.
Family and finances
A few of the 1787 delegates were wealthy, but many of the country's top wealth-holders were Loyalists
who went to Britain. Most of the others had financial resources that ranged from good to excellent, but
there are other founders who were less than wealthy. On the whole they were less wealthy than the
Loyalists.[15]
Demographics
Brown (1976) and Harris (1969) provide detailed demographic information on each man.
Most of the 1787 delegates were natives of the Thirteen Colonies. Nine were born elsewhere:
four (Butler, Fitzsimons, McHenry, and Paterson) in Ireland, two (Davie and Robert Morris) in
England, two (Wilson and Witherspoon) in Scotland, and one (Hamilton) in the West Indies.
Many of them had moved from one state to another. Seventeen individuals had already lived,
studied or worked in more than one state or colony: Baldwin, Bassett, Bedford, Dickinson, Few,
Franklin, Ingersoll, Hamilton , Livingston, Alexander Martin, Luther Martin, Mercer, Gouverneur
Morris, Robert Morris, Read, Sherman, and Williamson.
Several others had studied or traveled abroad.
The Founding Fathers had strong educational backgrounds at the colonial colleges or abroad.[16] Some,
like Franklin and Washington, were largely self-taught or learned through apprenticeship. Others had
obtained instruction from private tutors or at academies. About half of the men had attended or
graduated from college. Some men held medical degrees or advanced training in theology. Most of the
education was in the colonies, but several were lawyers who had been trained at the Inns of Court in
London.
Longevity and family life
Death age of the Founding Fathers.
For their era, the 1787 delegates (like the 1776 signers) were average in terms of life spans.[14] Their
average age at death was about 67. The first to die was Houston in 1788; the last was Madison in 1836.
Secretary Charles Thomson lived to the age of 94. Johnson died at 92. John Adams lived to the age of 90.
A few—Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Williamson, and Wythe—lived into their eighties. Either 15 or 16
(depending on Fitzsimons's exact age) died in their seventies, 20 or 21 in their sixties, 8 in their fifties,
and 5 in their forties. Three (Alexander Hamilton, Richard Dobbs Spaight and Button Gwinnett) were
killed in duels.
Most of the delegates married and raised children. Sherman fathered the largest family: 15 children by
two wives. At least nine (Bassett, Brearly, Johnson, Mason, Paterson, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney,
Sherman, Wilson, and Wythe) married more than once. Four (Baldwin, Gilman, Jenifer, and Alexander
Martin) were lifelong bachelors. Many of the delegates also had children conceived illegitimately.[17]
Religion
Franklin T. Lambert (2003) has examined the religious affiliations and beliefs of the Founders. Of the 55
delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, 49 were Protestants, and two were Roman Catholics
(D. Carroll, and Fitzsimons).[18] Among the Protestant delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 28
were Church of England (or Episcopalian, after the American Revolutionary War was won), eight were
Presbyterians, seven were Congregationalists, two were Lutherans, two were Dutch Reformed, and two
were Methodists.[18]
A few prominent Founding Fathers were anti-clerical Christians such as Thomas Jefferson,[19][20][21] who
constructed the Jefferson Bible, and Benjamin Franklin.[22]
Historian Gregg L. Frazer argues that the leading Founders (Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Wilson, Morris,
Madison, Hamilton, and Washington) were neither Christians nor Deists, but rather supporters of a
hybrid "theistic rationalism".[23]
Post-convention careers
The 1787 delegates' subsequent careers reflected their abilities as well as the vagaries of fate.[24] Most
were successful, although seven (Fitzsimons, Gorham, Luther Martin, Mifflin, Robert Morris, Pierce, and
Wilson) suffered serious financial reverses that left them in or near bankruptcy. Two, Blount and
Dayton, were involved in possibly treasonous activities. Yet, as they had done before the convention,
most of the group continued to render public service, particularly to the new government they had
helped to create.
Slaves and slavery
Portrait of George Washington and his valet slave William Lee.
See also: George Washington and slavery and Thomas Jefferson and slavery
Many of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin
owned slaves (Franklin later became an abolitionist).[25] Slaves and slavery are mentioned only indirectly
in the 1787 Constitution. For example, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 prescribes that "three fifths of all
other Persons" are to be counted for the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and
direct taxes. Additionally, in Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3, slaves are referred to as "persons held in
service or labor".[25][26] The Founding Fathers, however, did make important efforts to contain slavery.
Many Northern states had adopted legislation to end or significantly reduce slavery during and after the
American Revolution.[26] In 1782 Virginia passed a manumission law that allowed slave owners to free
their slaves by will or deed.[27] As a result, thousands of slaves were manumitted in Virginia.[27] Thomas
Jefferson, in 1784, proposed to ban slavery in all the Western Territories, which failed to pass Congress
by one vote.[26] Partially following Jefferson's plan, Congress did ban slavery in the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787, for lands north of the Ohio River.[26] The international slave trade was banned in all states
except South Carolina, by 1800. Finally in 1807, President Jefferson called for and signed into law a
Federally-enforced ban on the international slave trade throughout the U.S. and its territories. It became
a federal crime to import or export a slave.[28] However, the domestic slave trade was allowed, for
expansion, or for diffusion of slavery into the Louisiana Territory.[29]
Legacy
According to the historian Joseph J. Ellis, the concept of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. emerged in the
1820s as the last survivors died out. Ellis says "the founders," or "the fathers," comprised an aggregate
of semi-sacred figures whose particular accomplishments and singular achievements were decidedly less
important than their sheer presence as a powerful but faceless symbol of past greatness. For the
generation of national leaders coming of age in the 1820s and 1830s – men like Andrew Jackson, Henry
Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun – "the founders" represented a heroic but anonymous
abstraction whose long shadow fell across all followers and whose legendary accomplishments defied
comparison.
"We can win no laurels in a war for independence," Webster acknowledged in 1825. "Earlier and
worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us ... [as] the founders of states. Our
fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a great duty of defence and preservation."[30]
The last remaining founders, also called the "Last of the Romans", lived well into the nineteenth
century.[31]
Lists of Founding Fathers
Signatories to key historical documents
Benjamin Franklin, an early advocate of colonial unity, was a foundational figure in defining the
American ethos and exemplified the emerging nation's ideals.
Peyton Randolph, as President of the Continental Congress, presided over creation of the Continental
Association.
A Committee of Five, composed of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman,
and Robert Livingston, drafted and presented to the Continental Congress what became known as
America's Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776.
John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, renowned for his large and stylish signature on the
United States Declaration of Independence.
John Dickinson authored the first draft of the Articles of Confederation in 1776 while serving in the
Continental Congress as a delegate from Pennsylvania, and signed them late the following year, after
being elected to Congress as a delegate from Delaware.
Henry Laurens was President of the Continental Congress when the Articles were passed on November
15, 1777.
George Washington served as President of the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
James Madison, called the "Father of the Constitution" by his contemporaries.
The following abbreviations are used in the table below:
CA = Continental Association (1774) • DI = Declaration of Independence (1776)
AC = Articles of Confederation (1777) • USC = United States Constitution (1787)
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
Andrew Adams Connecticut
Yes
John Adams Massachusetts Yes Yes
Samuel Adams Massachusetts Yes Yes Yes
Thomas Adams Virginia
Yes
John Alsop New York Yes
Abraham Baldwin Georgia
Yes
John Banister Virginia
Yes
Josiah Bartlett New Hampshire
Yes Yes
Richard Bassett Delaware
Yes
Gunning Bedford, Jr. Delaware
Yes
David Brearley New Jersey
Yes
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
Edward Biddle Pennsylvania Yes
John Blair Virginia
Yes
Richard Bland Virginia Yes
William Blount North Carolina
Yes
Simon Boerum New York Yes
Carter Braxton Virginia
Yes
Jacob Broom Delaware
Yes
Pierce Butler South Carolina
Yes
Charles Carroll of Carrollton Maryland
Yes
Daniel Carroll Maryland
Yes Yes
Richard Caswell North Carolina Yes
Samuel Chase Maryland Yes Yes
Abraham Clark New Jersey
Yes
William Clingan Pennsylvania
Yes
George Clymer Pennsylvania
Yes
Yes
John Collins Rhode Island
Yes
Stephen Crane New Jersey Yes
Thomas Cushing Massachusetts Yes
Francis Dana Massachusetts
Yes
Jonathan Dayton New Jersey
Yes
Silas Deane Connecticut Yes
John De Hart New Jersey Yes
John Dickinson
Delaware
Yes Yes
Pennsylvania Yes
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
William Henry Drayton South Carolina
Yes
James Duane New York Yes
Yes
William Duer New York
Yes
Eliphalet Dyer Connecticut Yes
William Ellery Rhode Island
Yes Yes
William Few Georgia
Yes
Thomas Fitzsimons Pennsylvania
Yes
William Floyd New York Yes Yes
Nathaniel Folsom New Hampshire Yes
Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania
Yes
Yes
Christopher Gadsden South Carolina Yes
Joseph Galloway Pennsylvania Yes
Elbridge Gerry Massachusetts
Yes Yes
Nicholas Gilman New Hampshire
Yes
Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts
Yes
Button Gwinnett Georgia
Yes
Lyman Hall Georgia
Yes
Alexander Hamilton New York
Yes
John Hancock Massachusetts
Yes Yes
John Hanson Maryland
Yes
Cornelius Harnett North Carolina
Yes
Benjamin Harrison Virginia Yes Yes
John Hart New Jersey
Yes
John Harvie Virginia
Yes
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
Patrick Henry Virginia Yes
Joseph Hewes North Carolina Yes Yes
Thomas Heyward, Jr. South Carolina
Yes Yes
Samuel Holten Massachusetts
Yes
William Hooper North Carolina Yes Yes
Francis Hopkinson New Jersey
Yes
Stephen Hopkins Rhode Island Yes Yes
Titus Hosmer Connecticut
Yes
Charles Humphreys Pennsylvania Yes
Samuel Huntington Connecticut
Yes Yes
Richard Hutson South Carolina
Yes
Jared Ingersoll Pennsylvania
Yes
John Jay New York Yes
Thomas Jefferson Virginia
Yes
Thomas Johnson Maryland Yes
William Samuel Johnson Connecticut
Yes
Rufus King Massachusetts
Yes
James Kinsey New Jersey Yes
John Langdon New Hampshire
Yes
Edward Langworthy Georgia
Yes
Henry Laurens South Carolina
Yes
Francis Lightfoot Lee Virginia
Yes Yes
Richard Henry Lee Virginia Yes Yes Yes
Francis Lewis New York
Yes Yes
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
Philip Livingston New York Yes Yes
William Livingston New Jersey Yes
Yes
James Lovell Massachusetts
Yes
Isaac Low New York Yes
Thomas Lynch South Carolina Yes Yes
Henry Marchant Rhode Island
Yes
James Madison Virginia
Yes
John Mathews South Carolina
Yes
James McHenry Maryland
Yes
Thomas McKean Delaware Yes Yes Yes
Arthur Middleton South Carolina
Yes
Henry Middleton South Carolina Yes
Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania Yes
Yes
Gouverneur Morris
New York
Yes
Pennsylvania
Yes
Lewis Morris New York
Yes
Robert Morris Pennsylvania
Yes Yes Yes
John Morton Pennsylvania Yes Yes
Thomas Nelson, Jr. Virginia
Yes
William Paca Maryland Yes Yes
Robert Treat Paine Massachusetts Yes Yes
William Paterson New Jersey
Yes
Edmund Pendleton Virginia Yes
John Penn North Carolina
Yes Yes
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
Peyton Randolph Virginia Yes
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney South Carolina
Yes
Charles Pinckney South Carolina
Yes
George Reed Delaware Yes Yes
Yes
Joseph Reed Pennsylvania
Yes
Daniel Roberdeau Pennsylvania
Yes
Caesar Rodney Delaware Yes Yes
George Ross Pennsylvania Yes Yes
Benjamin Rush Pennsylvania
Yes
Edward Rutledge South Carolina Yes
John Rutledge South Carolina Yes Yes
Yes
Nathaniel Scudder New Jersey
Yes
Roger Sherman Connecticut Yes Yes Yes Yes
James Smith Pennsylvania
Yes
Jonathan Bayard Smith Pennsylvania
Yes
Richard Smith New Jersey Yes
Richard Dobbs Spaight North Carolina
Yes
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer Maryland
Yes
Richard Stockton New Jersey
Yes
Thomas Stone Maryland
Yes
John Sullivan New Hampshire Yes
George Taylor Pennsylvania
Yes
Edward Telfair Georgia
Yes
Matthew Thornton New Hampshire
Yes
Name Province/State CA DI AC USC
Matthew Tilghman Maryland Yes
Nicholas Van Dyke Delaware
Yes
George Walton Georgia
Yes
John Walton Georgia
Yes
Samuel Ward Rhode Island Yes
George Washington Virginia Yes
Yes
John Wentworth, Jr. New Hampshire
Yes
William Whipple New Hampshire
Yes
John Williams North Carolina
Yes
William Williams Connecticut
Yes
Hugh Williamson North Carolina
Yes
James Wilson Pennsylvania
Yes
Yes
Henry Wisner New York Yes
John Witherspoon New Jersey
Yes Yes
Oliver Wolcott Connecticut
Yes Yes
George Wythe Virginia
Yes
Other founders
The following individuals are also referred to in cited reliable sources as having been fathers or founders
of the United States.
Abigail Adams, advisor, wife, and mother of presidents.[32]
Ethan Allen, military and political leader in Vermont.[33]
Richard Allen, African-American bishop.[34]
John Bartram, botanist, horticulturist and explorer.[35]
Egbert Benson, politician from New York.[36]
Elias Boudinot, New Jersey delegate to Continental Congress.[37]
Aaron Burr, Vice President under Jefferson.[38]
George Rogers Clark, army general.[39]
George Clinton, New York governor and Vice President of the U.S.[3]
Tench Coxe, economist in Continental Congress.[40]
Albert Gallatin, politician and Treasury Secretary.[41]
Horatio Gates, army general.[39]
Nathanael Greene, army general.[39]
Nathan Hale, captured U.S. soldier executed in 1776.[32]
James Iredell, advocate for Constitution, judge.[3]
John Paul Jones, navy captain.[39]
Henry Knox, army general, Secretary of War.[3]
Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish army general.[41]
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French army general.[41]
Henry Lee III, army officer and Virginia governor.[39]
Robert R. Livingston, diplomat and jurist.[32]
William Maclay, Pennsylvania politician and U.S. Senator.[3]
Dolley Madison, spouse of President James Madison.[32]
John Marshall, fourth Chief Justice of the United States.[32]
Philip Mazzei, Italian physician, merchant and author.[42]
James Monroe, fifth President of the United States[43]
Daniel Morgan, military hero and Virginia Congressman.[39]
James Otis, Jr., Massachusetts lawyer and politician.[44]
Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense.[45][46]
Andrew Pickens, army general and SC congressman.[39]
Timothy Pickering, U.S. Secretary of State from Massachusetts.[47]
Israel Putnam, army general.[48]
Comte de Rochambeau, French army general.[41]
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton [49][50]
Thomas Sumter, SC military hero and congressman.[39]
Haym Solomon, financier and spy for Continental Army.[51]
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian officer.[41]
Joseph Warren, doctor, revolutionary leader.[48]
Mercy Otis Warren, political writer.[3]
Anthony Wayne, army general and politician.[39]
Noah Webster, writer, lexicographer, educator.[52]
Thomas Willing, banker.[53]
Paine Wingate, oldest survivor, Continental Congress.[54][55]
See also
United States portal
List of national founders (worldwide)
History of the United States Constitution
Rights of Englishmen
Patriot (American Revolution)
Sons of Liberty
Military leadership in the American Revolutionary War
Notes
1.
americanrevolution.org Key to Trumbull's picture
America's Founding Fathers: Who Are They? Thumbnail Sketches of 164 Patriots
(Universal-Publishers, 2001).
The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2009).
Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries (New
York: Harper & Row, 1973).
Continental Congress, 64–67.
Baron of Beacon Hill, 189.
"Signers of the Declaration". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. p. Biography
#54. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
"Confederation Congress". Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
Calvin C. Jillson (2009). American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change (5th
ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-203-88702-8.
1787: The Grand Convention (New York:
Macmillan, 1966; reprint ed., with new foreword by Richard B. Morris, New York: W. W. Norton, 1987).
[1]
Staar (January 2009). "Our Founding Fathers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
Lambert, Franklin T. (2003). The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press (published 2006). ISBN 978-0691126029. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government,"
been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for
protection to his own."
The Religion of Thomas Jefferson Retrieved July 9, 2011
Corruptio optimi est
pessima." "And it is a sad Observation, that when the People too late see their Error, yet the Clergy still
persist in their Encomiums on the Hypocrite; and when he happens to die for the Good of his Country,
without leaving behind him the Memory of one good Action, he shall be sure to have his Funeral Sermon
stuff'd with Pious Expressions which he dropt at such a Time, and at such a Place, and on such an
Occasion; than which nothing can be more prejudicial to the Interest of Religion, nor indeed to the
Memory of the Person deceas'd. The Reason of this Blindness in the Clergy is, because they are
honourably supported (as they ought to be) by their People, and see nor feel nothing of the Oppression
which is obvious and burdensome to every one else."
Frazer, Gregg L. (2012). The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and
Revolution. University Press of Kansas. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
Wright, William D. (2002). Critical Reflections on Black History. West Port, Connecticut: Praeger
Publishers. p. 125.
Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical
Review 77 (1): 87. doi:10.2307/1856595.
The Cambridge History of Law in America. 2008. p. 278.
Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical
Review 77 (1): 88. doi:10.2307/1856595.
Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical
Review 77 (1): 85. doi:10.2307/1856595.
Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. (2001) p. 214.
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese; Eugene D. Genovese (2005). The Mind of the Master Class: History and
Faith in the Southern Slaveholders' Worldview. Cambridge University Press. p. 278.
Founding fathers: the essential guide to the men who made America
(John Wiley and Sons, 2007).
McWilliams, J. (1976). "The Faces of Ethan Allen: 1760-1860". The New England Quarterly 49 (2):
257–282. doi:10.2307/364502. JSTOR 364502.
Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black
Founding Fathers (NYU Press, 2009).
Grand Central Publishing. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-1-4555-1321-5.
Images of America: Jamaica (Arcadia Publishing, 2011).
The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. (Oxford University Press US, 2006).
Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founding Fathers Different. (New York:
Penguin Books, 2007) 225–242.
(review)". The Journal of Military History (Volume 71, Number 2, April 2007), pp. 522–524.
Stephen Yafa (2006). Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber. Penguin. p. 75.
Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father (NYU Press 2010).
The Italian American experience: an encyclopedia, page 361 (Taylor & Francis,
2000).
Unger, Harlow (2009). James Monroe: The Last Founding Father. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-
306-81808-6.
Kann, Mark E. (1999). The Gendering of American Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Fathers, and
Political Patriarchy. ABC-CLIO. p. xi. ISBN 978-0-275-96112-1.
"Founding Father Thomas Paine: He Genuinely Abhorred Slavery". The Journal of Blacks in Higher
Education (48): 45. 2005. doi:10.2307/25073236.
her: The Impact of Thomas Paine," in Joyce Chumbley. ed.,
Thomas Paine: In Search of the Common Good (2009) pp. 39–43
slavery and the shaping of America", Chicago Tribune (November 09, 2003): "Forgotten founders such as
Pickering and Morris made as many waves as those whose faces stare out from our currency."
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Founding Fathers: And the Birth of Our Nation
(Penguin, 2011).
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation". Harper Perennial, 2005
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation". Harper, 2008
rican Revolution: Haym Solomon and Others, Jefferson,
North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1987.
The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an
American Culture (Penguin 2011).
Wright, R. E. (1996). "Thomas Willing (1731-1821): Philadelphia Financier and Forgotten Founding
Father". Pennsylvania History 63 (4): 525–560. doi:10.2307/27773931 (inactive 2015-02-10).
JSTOR 27773931.
New York Times (December 20, 1931). This book review referred
to Wingate as one of the "Fathers" of the United States, per the book title.
55. The New Yorker, Volume I, page 398 (September 10, 1836): "'The Last of the Romans'
— This was said of Madison at the time of his decease, but there is one other person
who seems to have some claims to this honorable distinction. Paine Wingate of
Stratham, N.H. still survives."
References
American National Biography Online, (2000).
Richard B. Bernstein, Are We to Be a Nation? The Making of the Constitution (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1987).
R. B. Bernstein, The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).
Richard D. Brown. "The Founding Fathers of 1776 and 1787: A Collective View," William and
Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., Vol. 33, No. 3 (Jul. 1976), pp. 465–480 online at JSTOR.
Henry Steele Commager, "Leadership in Eighteenth-Century America and Today," Daedalus 90
(Fall 1961): 650–673, reprinted in Henry Steele Commager, Freedom and Order (New York:
George Braziller, 1966).
Joseph J. Ellis. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2000), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History.
Joanne B. Freeman, Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2001).
Jack P. Greene. "The Social Origins of the American Revolution: An Evaluation and an
Interpretation," Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 88, No. 1 (Mar. 1973), pp. 1–22 online in JSTOR.
P.M.G. Harris, "The Social Origins of American Leaders: The Demographic Foundations, "
Perspectives in American History 3 (1969): 159–364.
Mark E. Kann; The Gendering of American Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Fathers, and
Political Patriarchy (New York: Frederick Praeger, 1999).
Adrienne Koch; Power, Morals, and the Founding Fathers: Essays in the Interpretation of the
American Enlightenment (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1961).
K. M. Kostyal. Funding Fathers: The Fight for Freedom and the Birth of American Liberty (2014)
Franklin T. Lambert. The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. (Princeton, NJ
Princeton University Press, 2003).
Martin, James Kirby. Men in Rebellion: Higher Governmental Leaders and the coming of the
American Revolution, (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1973; reprint, New York:
Free Press, 1976).
Morris, Richard B. Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries
(New York: Harper & Row, 1973).
Robert Previdi; "Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of
America," Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, 1999
Rakove, Jack. Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America(Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt; 2010) 487 pages; scholarly study focuses on how the Founders moved from private
lives to public action, beginning in the 1770s
Cokie Roberts. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (New York: William
Morrow, 2005); popular
Gordon S. Wood. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different (New York:
Penguin Press, 2006)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Founding Fathers of the United States.
NARA – America's founding fathers (retrieved 09-20-2010)
Founders Online: Correspondence and Other Writings of Six Major Shapers of the United States
Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Founding Fathers and Slavery (retrieved 09-20-2010)
What Happened to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence? (retrieved 09-20-2010)
Debunks – along with other fact finding sites – the Internet Myth of "What Happened to The
Signers of the Declaration of Independence" (retrieved 01-30-15)
"What Would the Founding Fathers Do Today?" (retrieved 09-20-2010) (Link not working as of
01-30-15)
Booknotes interview with Bernard Bailyn on To Begin the World Anew, March 23, 2003.
"Founding Father Quotes, Biographies, and Writings"
America's Four United Republics Many original documents from www.historic.us