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o 4.1 Signatories to key historical documents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