Founding Fathers of the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Founding Fathers of the United States are those individuals of the Thirteen Colonies in North America who led the against the authority of the British Crown in word and deed and contributed to the establishment of the United States of America.[2]

Historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Trumbull's Declaration of Independence, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas a painting by John Trumbull depicting Jefferson, James Madison, and George the presenting their Washington.[3][4] Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin draft to the Congress on June 28, 1776.[1] were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were authors of The Federalist Papers, advocating ratification of the Constitution. Jay, Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris (1783) that would end the American War.[5] Washington was Commander­in­Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention. Washington, Jay and Franklin are considered the Founding Fathers of U.S. Intelligence by the CIA.[6] All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States, with Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison serving as President. Four of these seven ­ Washington, Jay, Hamilton and Madison ­ did not sign the Declaration of Independence.[7] Signature page of Treaty of The term Founding Fathers is sometimes used to refer to Paris (1783); the treaty was the Signers of the embossed version of the Declaration of negotiated by John Adams, [8] Independence in 1776. It is not to be confused with the Benjamin Franklin and John term Framers; the Framers are defined by the National Jay Archives as those 55 individuals who were appointed to be delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and took part in drafting the proposed Constitution of the United States. Of the 55 Framers, only 39 were signers of the Constitution.[9][10] Two further groupings of Founding Founders include: 1) those who signed the , a trade ban and one of the colonists' first collective volleys protesting British control and the Intolerable Acts in 1774 [11] or 2) those who signed the Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitutional document.[12]

The phrase "Founding Fathers" is a twentieth­century appellation, first coined by Warren G. Harding in 1916.[13] In the 19th century, they were referred to as simply, the "Fathers". Some historians have begun to eschew the limiting Great Man theory associated with the term "Founding Fathers" and apply it to a broader group of people, that includes not only Morris' "Seven" or the Signers or the Framers but also all those, no matter their race or gender, who, whether as politicians, jurists, statesmen, soldiers, diplomats, or ordinary citizens, took part in winning U.S. independence and creating the United States of America.[14][15]

Contents

1 Background 2 Interesting facts and commonalities 2.1 Education 2.1.1 Colleges attended 2.1.2 Advanced degrees and apprenticeships 2.1.2.1 Doctors of medicine 2.1.2.2 Theology 2.1.2.3 Legal apprenticeships 2.1.3 Self­taught or little formal education 2.2 Demographics 2.3 Political experience 2.4 Occupations and finances 2.5 Religion 2.6 Ownership of slaves and position on slavery 2.7 Attendance at conventions 2.8 Spouses and children 2.9 and historical documents of the United States 2.10 Post­constitution life 2.11 Youth and longevity 2.12 Founders who were not signatories or delegates 3 Legacy 3.1 Institutions formed by Founders 3.2 Scholarship on the Founders 3.2.1 Living historians whose focus is the Founding Fathers 3.2.2 Noted collections of the Founding Fathers 3.3 In stage and film 3.4 Children's books 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

Background

The First met briefly in Philadelphia, in 1774 and consisted of fifty­six delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies (excluding ) that became the United States of America. On the list of attendees was George Washington, who would soon be drawn out of military retirement to command the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Also in attendance was Patrick Henry, and John Adams, who were elected by their respective colonial The Albany Congress assemblies. Other notable delegates included from of 1754 was a Massachusetts, from Pennsylvania and New conference attended by York's John Jay. This congress in addition to formulating appeals seven colonies, which to the British crown, established the Continental Association to presaged later efforts at administer boycott actions against Britain. cooperation. The of When the Second Continental Congress came together on May 1765 included 10, 1775, it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Congress. representatives from Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting nine colonies. participated in the second.[16] Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, of Massachusetts, and of . 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.[17] 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.[18] The newly founded country of the United States had to create a new government to replace the British Parliament. The U.S. adopted the Articles of Confederation, a declaration that established a national government which was made up of a one­house 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.[19] Later, the Constitutional Convention took place during the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia.[20] Although the Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many – chiefly James Madison and Alexander Hamilton – was to create a new frame of government rather than attempting 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. Interesting facts and commonalities

The Founding Fathers represented a cross­section of 18th­century U.S. leadership. Almost all of them were well­educated 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. Scholars have examined the collective biography of them as well as the signers of the Declaration and the Scene at the Signing of the Constitution Constitution.[21] of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy Education

Many of the Founding Fathers attended or held degrees from the colonial colleges, the earliest of these being Harvard (1636), the College of William and Mary (1693), King William's School (1696) and Yale (1701). Some had previously been home schooled or obtained early instruction from private tutors or academies.[22] Others had studied abroad. Ironically, Benjamin Franklin who had little formal education himself would ultimately establish the University of Pennsylvania based on European models (1740); "Penn" would have the first medical school (1765) in the thirteen colonies where another Founder, Benjamin Rush would eventually teach. With a limited number of professional schools established in the U.S., Founders also sought advanced degrees from traditional institutions in England and Scotland such as the University of Edinburgh and University of St. Andrews.

Colleges attended

College of William and Mary: Thomas Jefferson [23] Harvard University: John Adams, John Hancock and William Williams George Washington King's College (today's Columbia University): John Jay, served as President of Alexander Hamilton, , Robert R. the 1787 Constitutional [24] Livingston, and Egbert Benson. Convention. Princeton: James Madison, Gunning Bedford, Jr., Aaron Burr, Benjamin Rush and William Paterson University of Pennsylvania: Hugh Williamson Yale: James Wilson attended University of St. Andrews and University of Edinburgh though he never received a degree.

Advanced degrees and apprenticeships

Doctors of medicine

University of Edinburgh: Rush [25] Benjamin Franklin, an University of Utrecht, Netherlands: Williamson early advocate of colonial unity, was a Theology foundational figure in defining the U.S. ethos University of Edinburgh: Witherspoon (attended, no degree) and exemplified the University of St. Andrews : Witherspoon (honorary emerging nation's doctorate) ideals.

Legal apprenticeships

Several like John Jay, James Wilson, John Williams and George Wythe[26] were trained as lawyers through apprenticeships in the colonies while a few trained at the Inns of Court in London.

Self­taught or little formal education Franklin, Washington, John Williams and Henry Wisner had little formal education and were largely self­taught or learned through apprenticeship.

Demographics

Most of the Founding Fathers were natives of the Thirteen Colonies. At least 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. Alexander Hamilton Eighteen had already lived, studied or worked in more than Alexander Hamilton one state or colony: Baldwin, Bassett, Bedford, Davie, wrote the Federalist Dickinson, Few, Franklin, Ingersoll, Hamilton, Livingston, papers with Jay and Alexander Martin, Luther Martin, Mercer, Gouverneur Madison Morris, Robert Morris, Read, Sherman, and Williamson. Several others had studied or traveled abroad.

Political experience

The Founding Fathers had extensive political experience. Many had been members of the Continental Congress. Nearly all of the 55 Constitutional Convention delegates had experience in colonial and state government, and the majority had held county John Jay was President and local offices.[27] of the Continental Thomas Mifflin and Nathaniel Gorham had served as Congress from 1778­ President of the Continental Congress. 1779 and negotiated The ones who lacked congressional experience were Bassett, the Treaty of Paris Blair, Brearly, Broom, Davie, Dayton, Alexander Martin, with Adams and Luther Martin, Mason, McClurg, Paterson, Charles Franklin. Pinckney, Strong, Washington and Yates. Eight men (Clymer, Franklin, Gerry, Robert Morris, Read, , 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, three of the nation's historical documents. Dickinson, Franklin, Langdon, and Rutledge had been governors. Occupations and finances

The Founding Fathers 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.[28] A few of them were wealthy or 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.[29] James Madison, called the "Father of the As many as thirty­five had legal training, though not all of Constitution" by his them practiced law. Some had also been local judges.[30] contemporaries. 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. Fifteen owned or managed slave­operated plantations or large farms: Bassett, Blair, Blount, Davie,[31] Johnson, Peyton Randolph, as Butler, Carroll, Jenifer, Madison, Mason, Charles Pinckney, President of the Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Rutledge, Spaight, and Continental Congress, Washington. presided over creation Many wealthy Northerners owned domestic slaves: Franklin of the Continental later freed his slaves and was a key founder of the Association. 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 Johnson and Witherspoon were college presidents.

Religion

Franklin T. Lambert (2003) has examined the religious affiliations and beliefs of the Founders. Of the 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, 28 were Anglicans (in the Church of England; or Episcopalian, after the American Revolutionary War was won), 21 were Protestants, and two were Roman Catholics , [32] (D. Carroll, and Fitzsimons). Among the Protestant delegates who introduced the to the Constitutional Convention, eight were Presbyterians, seven Lee Resolution in the were Congregationalists, two were Lutherans, two were Dutch Second Continental Reformed, and two were Methodists.[32] Congress calling for the colonies' A few prominent Founding Fathers were anti­clerical Christians independence from such as Thomas Jefferson,[33][34][35] who constructed the Great Britain. Jefferson Bible, and Benjamin Franklin.[36]

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".[37]

The Faiths of the Founding Fathers is a book that that discusses A Committee of Five, the religion held by the founding fathers, written in 2006 by composed of John historian of U.S. religion David L. Holmes. Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Ownership of slaves and position on slavery Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert One of the greatest contradictions of the Founding Fathers was Livingston, drafted and their disunity with regard to slavery at a time that they were presented to the seeking liberty for themselves. In her study of Thomas Jefferson, Continental Congress historian Annette Gordon­Reed emphasizes this irony, "Others of what became known as the founders held slaves, but no other founder drafted the charter the U.S. Declaration of for freedom, "[38] In addition to Jefferson, George Washington, Independence of July John Jay and many other of the Founding Fathers practiced 4, 1776. slavery but were also conflicted by the institution which many saw as immoral and politically divisive.[39] Benjamin Franklin owned slaves (though Franklin later became an abolitionist).[40] John Jay would try unsuccessfully to abolish slavery as early as 1777 in the State of New York but was overruled (though he would later sign the Gradual Emancipation Act into law while Governor).[41] Alexander Hamilton opposed slavery, as his experiences in life left him very familiar with slavery and its effect on slaves and on slaveholders,[42] although he did negotiate slave transactions for his wife's family, the Schuylers.[43] John Adams, Samuel Adams, [44] and Thomas Paine never owned slaves John Hancock, President of the Slaves and slavery are mentioned only indirectly in the 1787 Continental Congress, Constitution. For example, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 renowned for his large prescribes that "three fifths of all other Persons" are to be counted and stylish signature for the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives on the United States and direct taxes. Additionally, in Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3, Declaration of [40][45] slaves are referred to as "persons held in service or labor". Independence. 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.[45] In 1782 Virginia passed a manumission law that allowed slave owners to free their slaves by will or deed.[46] As a result, thousands of slaves were manumitted in Virginia.[46] Thomas Jefferson, in 1784, proposed to ban slavery in all the Western Territories, which failed to pass Congress by one vote.[45] Partially following Jefferson's plan, Congress did ban slavery in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, for lands north of the Ohio River.[45]

The international slave trade was banned in all states except , by 1800. Finally in 1807, President Jefferson called for and signed into law a Federally­enforced ban on the international slave trade throughout the U.S. and its territories. It became a federal crime to import or export a slave.[47] However, the domestic slave trade was allowed, for expansion, or for diffusion of slavery into the Louisiana Territory.[48]

Attendance at conventions

In the winter and spring of 1786–1787, twelve of the thirteen states chose a total of 74 delegates to attend the Constitutional 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 the colony was founded by Roger Williams 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.[49]

Spouses and children

Most of the Founding Fathers married and had children. Many of John Dickinson their spouses, like Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, Martha Washington, authored the first draft Abigail Adams, Sarah Livingston Jay, Dolley Madison, Mary of the Articles of White Morris and Catherine Alexander Duer were strong women Confederation in 1776 and made significant contributions of their own to the fight for while serving in the [50] liberty. Continental Congress as a delegate from Sherman fathered the largest family: 15 children by two wives. At Pennsylvania, and least nine (Bassett, Brearly, Johnson, Mason, Paterson, Charles signed them late the Cotesworth Pinckney, Sherman, Wilson, and Wythe) married following year, after more than once. Four (Baldwin, Gilman, Jenifer, and Alexander being elected to Martin) were lifelong bachelors. Many of the delegates also had Congress as a delegate [51] children conceived illegitimately. George Washington, "The from Delaware. Father of our Country,"[52] had no biological descendants.

Charters of freedom and historical documents of the United States

The National Archives and Records Administration also known as NARA, defines U.S. Founding Documents, or Charters of Freedom, as the Declaration of Independence (1776), The Constitution (1787) and the Bill of Rights (1791). These original instruments which represent the philosophy of the United States are housed in Washington, D.C. in the NARA Rotunda.[53] The Library of Congress further identifies the Articles of Confederation, also preserved at NARA, as a primary U.S. document.[54] The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution of the United States until its replacement by the present Constitution on March 4, 1789.

Signatories of two of the Charters of Freedom, The Articles of Confederation and the Continental Association are indicated below. (Continental Association (CA), Declaration of Independence (DI), Articles of Confederation (AC), and the United States Constitution (USC)):

Henry Laurens was President of the Continental Congress when the Articles were passed on November 15, 1777.

Roger Sherman, the only person who signed all four U.S. historical documents. Portrait of George Washington and his valet slave William Lee. CA DI AC USC Name Province/State (1774) (1776) (1777) (1787) 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 Virginia Yes New Hampshire Yes Yes Richard Bassett Delaware Yes Gunning Bedford, Jr. Delaware Yes 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 David Brearley New Jersey Yes Jacob Broom Delaware Yes Pierce Butler South Carolina Yes Charles Carroll of Maryland Yes Carrollton Maryland Yes Yes Richard Caswell North Carolina Yes Samuel Chase Maryland Yes Yes Abraham Clark New Jersey Yes Pennsylvania Yes George Clymer Pennsylvania Yes Yes CA DI AC USC Name Province/State (1774) (1776) (1777) (1787) John Collins Rhode Island Yes Stephen Crane New Jersey Yes Thomas Cushing Massachusetts Yes Massachusetts Yes Jonathan Dayton New Jersey Yes Silas Deane Connecticut Yes John De Hart New Jersey Yes Delaware Yes Yes John Dickinson Pennsylvania Yes South Carolina Yes New York Yes Yes William Duer New York Yes Eliphalet Dyer Connecticut Yes 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 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 CA DI AC USC Name Province/State (1774) (1776) (1777) (1787) Maryland Yes North Carolina Yes Benjamin Harrison Virginia Yes Yes John Hart New Jersey Yes Virginia Yes Patrick Henry Virginia Yes Joseph Hewes North Carolina Yes Yes Thomas Heyward, Jr. South Carolina Yes Yes Massachusetts Yes William Hooper North Carolina Yes Yes Stephen Hopkins Rhode Island Yes Yes Francis Hopkinson New Jersey Yes Connecticut Yes Charles Humphreys Pennsylvania Yes Samuel Huntington Connecticut Yes Yes South Carolina Yes Jared Ingersoll Pennsylvania Yes John Jay New York Yes Thomas Jefferson Virginia Yes Daniel of St. Thomas Maryland Yes Jenifer Thomas Johnson Maryland Yes William Samuel Johnson Connecticut Yes Rufus King Massachusetts Yes James Kinsey New Jersey Yes John Langdon New Hampshire Yes Georgia Yes South Carolina Yes Virginia Yes Yes CA DI AC USC Name Province/State (1774) (1776) (1777) (1787) Richard Henry Lee Virginia Yes Yes Yes New York Yes Yes 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 James Madison Virginia Yes Rhode Island Yes South Carolina Yes James McHenry Maryland Yes Thomas McKean Delaware Yes Yes Yes Arthur Middleton South Carolina Yes South Carolina Yes Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania Yes Yes New York Yes Gouverneur Morris 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 Charles Pinckney South Carolina Yes Charles Cotesworth South Carolina Yes Pinckney CA DI AC USC Name Province/State (1774) (1776) (1777) (1787) Peyton Randolph Virginia Yes George Read Delaware Yes Yes Yes Pennsylvania Yes Pennsylvania Yes Caesar Rodney Delaware Yes Yes George Ross Pennsylvania Yes Yes Benjamin Rush Pennsylvania Yes Edward Rutledge South Carolina Yes Yes John Rutledge South Carolina Yes Yes 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 Richard Stockton New Jersey Yes Thomas Stone Maryland Yes John Sullivan New Hampshire Yes George Taylor Pennsylvania Yes Georgia Yes Matthew Thornton New Hampshire Yes Matthew Tilghman Maryland Yes Nicholas Van Dyke Delaware Yes Georgia Yes John Walton Georgia Yes Samuel Ward Rhode Island Yes George Washington Virginia Yes Yes John Wentworth, Jr. New Hampshire Yes CA DI AC USC Name Province/State (1774) (1776) (1777) (1787) 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

Post­constitution life

Subsequent events in the lives of the Founding Fathers after the adoption of the Constitution were characterized by success or failure, reflecting the abilities of these men as well as the vagaries of fate.[55] Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison served in highest U.S. office of President. Jay would be elected to two terms as Governor of New York.

Seven (Fitzsimons, Gorham, Luther Martin, Mifflin, Robert Morris, Pierce, and Wilson) suffered serious financial reversals that left them in or near bankruptcy; in fact, Robert Morris spent three of the last years of his life imprisoned following bad land deals.[50] 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.

Youth and longevity

Many of the Founding Fathers were under 40 years old at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776: James Armistead Lafayette was 15, Marquis de Lafayette was 18, Alexander Hamilton was 19, Aaron Burr was 20, Gouverneur Morris and Betsy Ross were 24. The oldest were Benjamin Franklin, 70 and Samuel Whittemore, 81.[56] Secretary lived to the age of 94. Johnson died at 92. John Adams lived to the age of 90. A few — Franklin, Jay, Jefferson, Madison, Hugh Williamson, and George Wythe — lived into their eighties. Approximately 16 died in their seventies, 21 in their sixties, 8 in their fifties, and 5 in their forties. Three (Alexander Hamilton, Richard Dobbs Spaight and Button Gwinnett) were killed Death age of the Founding Fathers. in duels.

Political adversaries John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day ­ July 4, 1826 [57]

The last remaining founders, also called the "Last of the Romans", lived well into the nineteenth century.[58]

Founders who were not signatories or delegates

The following men and women are also recognized by many as having been founders of the United States based upon their significant contributions to the formation of American nation and democracy.

Abigail Adams, advisor, First Lady and mother of a president.[59] Ethan Allen, military and political leader in Vermont.[60] Richard Allen, African­American bishop.[61] John Bartram, botanist, horticulturist and explorer.[62] Egbert Benson, politician from New York.[63] Elias Boudinot, New Jersey delegate to Continental Congress.[64] Aaron Burr, Vice President under Jefferson.[65] George Rogers Clark, army general.[66] George Clinton, New York governor and Vice President of the U.S.[14] Tench Coxe, economist in Continental Congress.[67] William Richardson Davie, delegate to the Constitutional Convention (leaving before he could sign it), and Governor of North Carolina. Albert Gallatin, politician and Treasury Secretary.[68] Horatio Gates, army general.[66] Nathanael Greene, army general.[66] Nathan Hale, captured U.S. soldier executed in 1776.[59] Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton [69][70] James Iredell, advocate for Constitution, judge.[14] John Paul Jones, navy captain.[66] Henry Knox, army general, Secretary of War.[14] Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish army general.[68] Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French army general.[68] Henry Lee III, army officer and Virginia governor.[66] Robert R. Livingston, diplomat and jurist.[59] William Maclay, Pennsylvania politician and U.S. Senator.[14] Dolley Madison, spouse of President James Madison.[59] John Marshall, fourth Chief Justice of the United States.[59] George Mason, revolutionary writer, co­father of the Bill of Rights.[71] Philip Mazzei, Italian physician, merchant and author.[72] James Monroe, fifth President of the United States[73] Daniel Morgan, military hero and Virginia Congressman.[66] James Otis, Jr., Massachusetts lawyer and politician.[74] Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense.[75][76] Andrew Pickens, army general and SC congressman.[66] Timothy Pickering, U.S. Secretary of State from Massachusetts.[77] Israel Putnam, army general.[78] Edmund Randolph, first United States Attorney General.[79] Jean­Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French army general.[68] Haym Solomon, financier and spy for Continental Army.[80] Thomas Sumter, SC military hero and congressman.[66] Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian officer.[68] Joseph Warren, doctor, revolutionary leader.[78] Mercy Otis Warren, political writer.[14] Anthony Wayne, army general and politician.[66] Noah Webster, writer, lexicographer, educator.[81] Thomas Willing, banker.[82] Paine Wingate, oldest survivor, Continental Congress.[83][84] Legacy

Institutions formed by Founders Several Founding Fathers were instrumental in establishing schools and societal institutions that still exist today:

Benjamin Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania, while Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. Benjamin Rush founded Dickinson College and Franklin College, (today Franklin and Marshall) as well as the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest medical society in America. Alexander Hamilton founded the New York Post, as well as the United States Coast Guard. Henry Knox [85] helped found the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783; the society was predicated on service as an officer in the Revolutionary War and heredity. Members included Washington, Hamilton and Burr. Other Founders like Sam Adams, John Adams, Franklin and Jay criticized the formation of what they considered to be an elitist body and threat to the Constitution. Franklin would later accept an honorary membership though Jay declined.[86]

Scholarship on the Founders

Articles and books by twenty­first century historians combined with the digitization of primary sources like handwritten letters continue to contribute to an encyclopedic body of knowledge about the Founding Fathers.

Living historians whose focus is the Founding Fathers

Ron Chernow won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of George Washington. His bestselling book about Alexander Hamilton inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name.

Joseph J. Ellis ­ According to 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 semi­sacred 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."[87]

Joanne B. Freeman Freeman's area of expertise is the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton as well as political culture of the revolutionary and early national eras.[88][89][90] Freeman has documented the often opposing visions of the Founding Fathers as they tried to build a new framework for governance, "Regional distrust, personal animosity, accusation, suspicion, implication, and denouncement—this was the tenor of national politics from the outset.” [91]

Annette Gordon­Reed is an American historian and Harvard Law School professor. She is noted for changing scholarship on Thomas Jefferson regarding his relationship with Sally Hemings and her children. She has studied the challenges facing the Founding Fathers particularly as it relates to their position and actions on slavery. She points out "the central dilemma at the heart of American democracy: the desire to create a society based on liberty and equality" that yet does not extend those privileges to all." [38]

Jack N. Rakove ­ Thomas Jefferson

Peter S. Onuf ­ Thomas Jefferson

Noted collections of the Founding Fathers

Adams Papers Project Founders Online

The Founders Online is a searchable database of over 178,000 documents authored by or addressed to George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

The Papers of Alexander Hamilton The Selected Papers of John Jay, Columbia University The Papers of Thomas Jefferson at The Papers of James Madison at University of Virginia The Washington Papers The Franklin Papers at Yale

In stage and film The Founding Fathers were portrayed in the Tony Award winning musical 1776, a stage production about the debates over, and eventual adoption of, the Declaration of Independence; the popular performance was later turned into the 1972 film

More recently, several of the Founding Fathers ­ Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Laurens and Burr ­ were reimagined in Hamilton an acclaimed production about the life of Alexander Hamilton, with music, lyrics and book by Lin­Manuel Miranda.The show was inspired by the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by historian Ron Chernow.The groundbreaking rap musical won 11 Tony Awards [92]

Children's books

In their 2015 children's book, The Founding Fathers author Jonah Winter and illustrator Barry Blitt categorized 14 leading patriots into two teams based on their contributions to the formation of America ­ the Varsity Squad (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams, Madison, Jay, and Hamilton) and the Junior Varsity Squad (Sam Adams, Hancock, Henry, Morris, Marshall, Rush, and Paine).[93] See also

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. "American Revolution: Key to Declaration of Independence" (http://www.americanrevolution.or g/deckey.php). Retrieved April 6, 2017. 2. Mellinkoff, David. Mellinkoff's Dictionary of American Legal Usage (West Publishing, 1992) 3. Richard B. Morris, Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as (New York: Harper & Row, 1973). 4. Kettler, Sarah. "The Founding Fathers: Who Were They Really?" (http://www.biography.com/ne ws/founding­fathers­quotes­facts). Biography. Retrieved April 5, 2017. 5. PBS NewsHour. "Forgotten Founding Father" (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/forgotten ­founding­father/). 6. Rose, P.K. "The Founding Fathers of American Intelligence" (https://www.cia.gov/library/center ­for­the­study­of­intelligence/csi­publications/books­and­monographs/the­founding­fathers­of­a merican­intelligence/art­1.html). Retrieved April 5, 2017. 7. "Did any of our "Founding Fathers" NOT sign the Declaration of Independence?" (http://declara tion.fas.harvard.edu/faq/founding­fathers­not­signers). Harvard University: Declaration Resources Project. Retrieved April 8, 2017. 8. "Signers of the Declaration" (http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration). National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved April 7, 2017. 9. National Archives. "Meet the Framers of the Constitution" (https://www.archives.gov/founding­ docs/founding­fathers). 10. US Constitution Online. "The Framers" (https://www.usconstitution.net/constframe.html). 11. Carl G. Karsch. "The First Continental Congress: A Dangerous Journey Begins" (https://web.arc hive.org/web/20120118024728/http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/history/congress.htm). Carpenter's Hall. Archived from the original (http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/history/co ngress.htm) on January 18, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2017. 12. Stanfield, Jack. America's Founding Fathers: Who Are They? Thumbnail Sketches of 164 Patriots (Universal­Publishers, 2001). 13. Jill Lepore, The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle American History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010), 16. 14. R. B. Bernstein, The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). 15. Shane White. "The Other New York Hamilton" (http://observer.com/2015/10/the­other­new­york ­hamilton/). The Observer. Retrieved April 9, 2017. 16. Burnett, Continental Congress, 64–67. 17. Fowler, Baron of Beacon Hill, 189. 18. "Signers of the Declaration" (http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio5 4.htm). National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. p. Biography #54. Retrieved April 24, 2014. 19. "Confederation Congress" (http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2327). Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved October 23, 2010. 20. Calvin C. Jillson (2009). American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change (5th ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 31. ISBN 978­0­203­88702­8. 21. See Brown (19764); Martin (19739); "Data on the Framers of the Constitution," at [1] (http://ww w.usconstitution.net/constframedata.html) 22. Brown (1976); Harris (1969) 23. "The Alma Maters of Our Founding Fathers" (https://www.universitylanguage.com/blog/02/the­ alma­maters­of­our­founding­fathers/). Retrieved April 7, 2017. 24. "A Brief History of Columbia" (http://www.columbia.edu/content/history.html). Columbia University. 2011. Retrieved 2011­04­14. 25. "Benjamin Rush (1746 ­ 1813) access­date=April 9, 2017" (http://www.archives.upenn.edu/peop le/1700s/rush_benj.html). Penn University Archives and Records Center. 26. "George Wythe" (https://www.history.org/almanack/people/bios/biowythe.cfm). Colonial Williamsburg. Retrieved April 9, 2017. 27. Martin (1973); Greene (1973) 28. Greene (1973) 29. Greene (1973). 30. Brown (1976) 31. William R. Davie, Blackwell P. Robinson. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1957. 32. Lambert, Franklin T. (2003). The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (published 2006). ISBN 978­0691126029. 33. Letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813 "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest­ridden people maintaining a free civil government," 34. Letter to Horatio G. Spafford, March 17, 1814 "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own." 35. The Religion of Thomas Jefferson (http://ecollege.edu/about­us/veritas­aeterna/383­religion­of­j efferson) Retrieved July 9, 2011 36. Quoted in The New England Currant (July 23, 1722), "Silence Dogood, No. 9; 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." 37. Frazer, Gregg L. (2012). The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700620214. 38. Annette Gordon­Reed, Engaging Jefferson: Blacks and the Founding Father, The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Jan., 2000), pp. 171­182 39. "The Founders and Slavery: John Jay Saves the Day" (http://www.economist.com/blogs/democr acyinamerica/2011/07/founders­and­slavery). The Economist. Retrieved April 5, 2017. 40. Wright, William D. (2002). Critical Reflections on Black History. West Port, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. p. 125. 41. The Selected Papers of John Jay, Columbia University, http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/inside/dev/jay/JaySlavery.html 42. Horton, James O. (2004). "Alexander Hamilton: Slavery and Race in a Revolutionary Generation" (http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org/about/teachers.html). New York Journal of American History. New York Historical Society (3). Retrieved October 29, 2016. 43. Magness,Phillip. "Alexander Hamilton's Exaggerated Abolitionism" (http://historynewsnetwork. org/blog/153639). Retrieved April 6, 2017. 44. "The Founding Fathers and Slavery" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/The­Founding­Fathers­a nd­Slavery­1269536). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 9, 2017. 45. Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical Review. 77 (1): 87. JSTOR 1856595 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1856595). doi:10.2307/1856595 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1856595). 46. The Cambridge History of Law in America. 2008. p. 278. 47. Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical Review. 77 (1): 88. JSTOR 1856595 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1856595). doi:10.2307/1856595 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1856595). 48. Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical Review. 77 (1): 85. JSTOR 1856595 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1856595). doi:10.2307/1856595 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1856595). 49. See the discussion of the Convention in Clinton L. Rossiter, 1787: The Grand Convention (New York: Macmillan, 1966; reprint ed., with new foreword by Richard B. Morris, New York: W. W. Norton, 1987). 50. Griswold, Rufus (1855), The Republican Court, or, American Society in the Days of Washington, D. Appleton & Co. 51. Staar (January 2009). "Our Founding Fathers" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/staar/our­foundi ng­emfathersem_b_442571.html). Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 February 2012. 52. George Washington's Mount Vernon. "Father of His Country" (http://www.mountvernon.org/digi tal­encyclopedia/article/father­of­his­country/). Retrieved April 6, 2017. 53. National Archives. "America's Founding Documents" (https://www.archives.gov/founding­ docs). Retrieved April 6, 2017. 54. "Articles of Confederation" (https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html). Library of Congress. Retrieved April 10, 2017. 55. Martin (1973) 56. Andrlik, Todd. "How Old Were the Leaders of the American Revolution on July 4, 1776?" (htt p://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/08/how_old_were_the_founding_fat her_the_leaders_of_the_american_revolution.html). 57. History. "Thomas Jefferson and John Adams Die" (http://www.history.com/this­day­in­history/th omas­jefferson­and­john­adams­die). 58. Elizabeth Fox­Genovese; Eugene D. Genovese (2005). The Mind of the Master Class: History and Faith in the Southern Slaveholders' Worldview (https://books.google.com/books?id=iaSeHE ByLnUC&pg=PA278). Cambridge University Press. p. 278. ISBN 9780521850650. 59. Encyclopædia Britannica. Founding fathers: the essential guide to the men who made America (John Wiley and Sons, 2007). 60. McWilliams, J. (1976). "The Faces of Ethan Allen: 1760­1860". The New England Quarterly. 49 (2): 257–282. JSTOR 364502 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/364502). doi:10.2307/364502 (http s://doi.org/10.2307%2F364502). 61. Newman, Richard. Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers (NYU Press, 2009). 62. Jane Goodall (27 August 2013). Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978­1­4555­1321­5. 63. Ballenas, Carl. Images of America: Jamaica (Arcadia Publishing, 2011). 64. Holmes, David. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. (Oxford University Press US, 2006). 65. Wood, Gordon S. Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founding Fathers Different. (New York: Penguin Books, 2007) 225–242. 66. Buchanan, John. "Founding Fighters: The Battlefield Leaders Who Made American Independence (review)". The Journal of Military History (Volume 71, Number 2, April 2007), pp. 522–524. 67. Stephen Yafa (2006). Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber (https://books.google.co m/books?id=DZoxe0aO9AEC&pg=PA75). Penguin. p. 75. ISBN 9780143037224. 68. Dungan, Nicholas. Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father (NYU Press 2010). 69. Roberts, Cokie. "Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation". Harper Perennial, 2005 70. Roberts, Cokie. "Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation". Harper, 2008 71. Broadwater, Jeff (2006). George Mason, Forgotten Founder. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978­0­8078­3053­6. OCLC 67239589 (https://www.w orldcat.org/oclc/67239589). 72. LaGumina, Salvatore. The Italian American experience: an encyclopedia, page 361 (Taylor & Francis, 2000). 73. Unger, Harlow (2009). James Monroe: The Last Founding Father. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0­306­81808­6. 74. Kann, Mark E. (1999). The Gendering of American Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Fathers, and Political Patriarchy. ABC­CLIO. p. xi. ISBN 978­0­275­96112­1. 75. "Founding Father Thomas Paine: He Genuinely Abhorred Slavery". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (48): 45. 2005. doi:10.2307/25073236 (inactive 2017­01­15). 76. David Braff, "Forgotten Founding Father: The Impact of Thomas Paine," in Joyce Chumbley. ed., Thomas Paine: In Search of the Common Good (2009) pp. 39–43 77. Burstein, Andrew. "Politics and Personalities: Garry Wills takes a new look at a forgotten founder, 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." 78. Rafael, Ray. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Founding Fathers: And the Birth of Our Nation (Penguin, 2011). 79. "Founding Fathers: Virginia" (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/documents/fathers/virginia.html). FindLaw Constitutional Law Center. 2008. Retrieved 2008­11­14. 80. Schwartz, Laurens R. Jews and the American Revolution: Haym Solomon and Others, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1987. 81. Kendall, Joshua. The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture (Penguin 2011). 82. Wright, R. E. (1996). "Thomas Willing (1731­1821): Philadelphia Financier and Forgotten Founding Father". Pennsylvania History. 63 (4): 525–560. JSTOR 27773931 (https://www.jstor. org/stable/27773931). doi:10.2307/27773931 (inactive 2017­01­15). 83. "A Patriot of Early New England", 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. 84. 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." 85. "THE FOUNDING OF THE SOCIETY, 1783–1784" (http://www.societyofthecincinnati.org/abo ut/history/founding). Society of the Cincinnati. Retrieved April 9, 2017. 86. "History:The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut" (http://theconnecticutsociety. org/history/). 87. Joseph J. Ellis; Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. (2001) p. 214. 88. Jennifer Schuessler. "Up From the Family Basement, a Little­Seen Hamilton Trove" (https://ww w.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/arts/design/alexander­hamilton­documents­sothebys.html). The New York Times. 89. Joanne B. Freeman. "The Long History of Political Idiocy" (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/0 4/opinion/the­long­history­of­political­idiocy.html). The New York Times. 90. Joanne B. Freeman. "How Hamilton Uses History: What Lin­Manuel Miranda Included in His Portrait of a Heroic, Complicated Founding Father—and What He Left Out" (http://www.slate.c om/articles/arts/culturebox/2015/11/how_lin_manuel_miranda_used_real_history_in_writing_ha milton.html). Slate. Retrieved April 9, 2017. 91. Chris Bray. "Tip and Gip Sip and Quip­The politics of never" (https://thebaffler.com/salvos/tip­a nd­gip­sip­and­quip). The Baffler. Retrieved April 11, 2017. 92. Robert Viagas. "Hamilton Tops Tony Awards With 11 Wins" (http://www.playbill.com/article/to ny­time­its­broadways­biggest­night). Playbill. Retrieved April 9, 2017. 93. Winter, Jonah and Blitt, Barry, The Founding Fathers!Those Horse­Ridin', Fiddle­Playin', Book­ Readin', Gun­Totin' Gentlemen Who Started America Simon and Schuster, New York (2015) References

American National Biography Online, Joanne B. Freeman, Affairs of Honor: (2000). National Politics in the New Republic. New Bernard Bailyn, To Begin the World Anew Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001. Knopf, 2003. Steven K. Green, Inventing a Christian Richard B. Bernstein, Are We to Be a America: The Myth of the Religious Nation? The Making of the Constitution. Founding. Oxford, England: Oxford Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, University Press, 2015. 1987. Jack P. Greene. "The Social Origins of the R. B. Bernstein, The Founding Fathers American Revolution: An Evaluation and Reconsidered (New York: Oxford an Interpretation," Political Science University Press, 2009). Quarterly, Vol. 88, No. 1 (Mar. 1973), Richard D. Brown. "The Founding Fathers pp. 1–22 online in JSTOR (http://www.jstor. of 1776 and 1787: A Collective View," org/stable/2148646). William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., Vol. P.M.G. Harris, "The Social Origins of 33, No. 3 (Jul. 1976), pp. 465–480 online at American Leaders: The Demographic JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/stable/192154 Foundations, " Perspectives in American 3). History 3 (1969): 159–364. Henry Steele Commager, "Leadership in Mark E. Kann; The Gendering of American Eighteenth­Century America and Today," Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Daedalus 90 (Fall 1961): 650–673, Fathers, and Political Patriarchy (New reprinted in Henry Steele Commager, York: Frederick Praeger, 1999). Freedom and Order (New York: George Adrienne Koch; Power, Morals, and the Braziller, 1966). Founding Fathers: Essays in the Joseph J. Ellis. Founding Brothers: The Interpretation of the American Revolutionary Generation (New York: Enlightenment (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), winner of the University Press, 1961). Pulitzer Prize for History. K. M. Kostyal. Founding Fathers: The Joseph J. Ellis. The Quartet: Orchestrating Fight for Freedom and the Birth of the Second American Revolution, 1783­ American Liberty (2014) 1789 (New York: First Vintage Books Edition, May 2016). Franklin T. Lambert, The Founding Fathers Robert Previdi; "Vindicating the Founders: and the Place of Religion in America. Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins (Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press, of America," Presidential Studies 2003). Quarterly, Vol. 29, 1999 James Kirby Martin, Men in Rebellion: Rakove, Jack. Revolutionaries: A New Higher Governmental Leaders and the History of the Invention of coming of the American Revolution, (New America(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2010) Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 487 pages; scholarly study focuses on how 1973; reprint, New York: Free Press, 1976). the Founders moved from private lives to Richard B. Morris, Seven Who Shaped Our public action, beginning in the 1770s Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Cokie Roberts. Founding Mothers: The Revolutionaries (New York: Harper & Row, Women Who Raised Our Nation. New York: 1973). William Morrow, 2005. Gordon S. Wood. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different (New York: Penguin Press, 2006)

External links

Founders Online: Correspondence and Other Writings Wikimedia Commons of Six Major Shapers of the United States (http://found has media related to ers.archives.gov/) Founding Fathers of Debunks – along with other fact finding sites – the the United States. Internet Myth of "What Happened to The Signers of the Declaration of Independence" (retrieved 01­30­15) (http://www.snopes.com/histor y/american/pricepaid.asp) "What Would the Founding Fathers Do Today?" (http://web.archive.org/web/20070114 055143/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/3/2006_3_31.sht ml) at the Wayback Machine (archived January 14, 2007) "Founding Father Quotes, Biographies, and Writings" (http://www.foundingfatherquot es.com)

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