Eleanor Finch
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of 18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation. The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 signed the Constitution. The Founding Fathers who were present during the Constitution included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of individuals appointed to the Constitutional Convention | 70 |
| Number of individuals who did not accept or could not attend | 11 |
| Number of delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention sessions | 55 |
| Number of delegates who signed the Constitution | 39 |
| Age range of the delegates | 26-81 |
| Number of signers of the Declaration of Independence | 56 |
| Number of signers of the United States Constitution | 39 |
| Most identified as "Father" of the United States | George Washington |
| First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court | John Jay |
| First Secretary of the Treasury | Alexander Hamilton |
| First Secretary of State | Thomas Jefferson |
| America's most senior diplomat from the start of the Revolutionary War | Benjamin Franklin |
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What You'll Learn
- John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin drafted the Declaration of Independence
- delegates attended the Constitutional Convention, 39 signed the Constitution
- George Washington was commander-in-chief and president of the Constitutional Convention
- James Madison was the 'father of the Constitution', serving as the fourth president
- Alexander Hamilton was an orphan born in the Caribbean, he rose to become a Founding Father
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin drafted the Declaration of Independence
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation. The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the US Constitution.
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were members of the Committee of Five, which was charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence. On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five, which included Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The Committee took no minutes, so there is some uncertainty about how the drafting process proceeded. However, it is known that the Committee discussed the general outline of the document and decided that Jefferson would write the first draft.
Adams, a leading proponent of independence, persuaded the Committee to charge Jefferson with writing the original draft, which the Second Continental Congress then edited. Jefferson wrote the Declaration in isolation between June 11 and June 28, 1776. The Declaration was a formal explanation of why the Continental Congress voted to declare American independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was adopted by the Congress during the American Revolutionary War, which had commenced in April 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
After the text was finalized by Congress, Jefferson and Adams sent copies of the rough draft to friends, with variations noted from the original drafts. Jefferson was unhappy with many of the revisions, particularly the removal of the passage on the slave trade and the insertion of language less offensive to Britons. Benjamin Franklin tried to reassure Jefferson with a tale about a merchant whose storefront sign was changed after receiving critiques from a circle of critical friends.
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55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention, 39 signed the Constitution
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation. The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States.
The Constitutional Convention, which took place in 1787, was a meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies (except Rhode Island) who had been appointed to discuss and draft a new constitution for the United States. 55 delegates attended the sessions of the Constitutional Convention, but only 39 actually signed the Constitution. The delegates included future presidents George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. Other notable delegates included Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate at 81 years old, and Alexander Hamilton, who rose from obscurity to become a towering force in the founding of the American republic.
The Founding Fathers who drafted the Constitution were not without their flaws. Nearly half of them were slaveholders, and all of them profited from the system of slavery in the United States. Additionally, they often disagreed with each other, holding extremely different views on issues such as the role of the federal government, slavery, and the radicalism or moderation of the American Revolution. Despite these differences of opinion, the Founding Fathers were able to create a form of government that was unlike any other in the world at the time.
The Constitution of the United States, drafted by the Founding Fathers, served as the political and legal framework for the new nation. The document laid down the blueprint for modern democratic government, expressing the fundamental ideals of the American Revolutionaries, such as their belief in the rights of the people over kings and nobles. The Constitution has endured for over two centuries, undergoing amendments and transformations to attain a system of constitutional government that respects the fundamental rights of individuals.
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George Washington was commander-in-chief and president of the Constitutional Convention
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation. The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States.
George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, was instrumental in achieving American independence. Appointed in 1775, Washington led a poorly equipped and inexperienced army to victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781. Following this, the British acknowledged the sovereign independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Washington then resigned as commander-in-chief and returned to civilian life.
In 1787, Washington was chosen to lead the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, but he initially declined due to concerns about the legality of the convention. However, he was eventually persuaded to attend and was unanimously elected to preside over the meeting. Washington played a crucial role in lending his prestige to the work of the delegates and lobbying for support for the ratification of the Constitution.
As president of the Constitutional Convention, Washington worked closely with James Madison and other delegates to draft and ratify the Constitution. He spoke rarely during debates but used his influence to support the creation of a strong national government. The delegates assumed that Washington would become the first president under the new Constitution, which encouraged them to propose wide-ranging powers for the executive branch.
Overall, George Washington's role as commander-in-chief and president of the Constitutional Convention was instrumental in achieving American independence and establishing the framework of government for the new nation. His leadership, influence, and support were key to the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution.
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James Madison was the 'father of the Constitution', serving as the fourth president
James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, is often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution". Madison played a pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. He was 36 years old when he attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where his Virginia, or large-state, Plan provided the framework and guiding principles of the Constitution. Madison's plan proposed a central government with three branches that would check and balance each other, preventing any one branch from becoming too powerful.
Madison's influence on the Constitution was significant, and he was also instrumental in its ratification. He collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in the newspaper publication of the Federalist Papers, which became the standard commentary on the Constitution. Madison wrote 29 of the 85 papers, and his efforts led to the ratification of the Constitution by Virginia. In addition, Madison sponsored the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, emphasising freedom of religion, speech, and the press.
Madison's contributions to the Constitution were recognised even during his lifetime, with historian J.C.A. Stagg writing that Madison was "the most successful and possibly the most influential of all the Founding Fathers". Law professor Noah Feldman also acknowledged Madison's influence, stating that his "model of liberty-protecting constitutional government" is "the most influential American idea in global political history".
Madison was a Founding Father of the United States, and his role in shaping the nation extended beyond his contributions to the Constitution. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolutionary War, and he served as Thomas Jefferson's secretary of state from 1801 to 1809. Madison also helped found a major political party, and he argued for America's shipping rights as a neutral party in the war between France and Great Britain. He assisted in engineering the Louisiana Purchase and was a strong advocate for a powerful yet balanced government.
While Madison is widely acclaimed as the "Father of the Constitution", he himself rejected this title, insisting that the Constitution was the result of the collective efforts of many individuals.
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Alexander Hamilton was an orphan born in the Caribbean, he rose to become a Founding Father
Alexander Hamilton, born on January 11, 1755 or 1757, was an orphan born out of wedlock in Charlestown on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies (now in Saint Kitts and Nevis). His father, James Hamilton, a drifting trader, abandoned the family in 1765 or 1766, and his mother, Rachel Faucette, died in 1768. Hamilton spent his adolescence on the Danish possession of St. Croix, where he worked as a clerk at Beekman and Cruger, a local import-export firm. At the age of 13, he wrote a detailed letter about a hurricane that devastated the island, which was published in the Royal Danish-American Gazette. Locals recognized his remarkable intelligence and raised money to send him to school in Britain's North American colonies.
In 1779, while stationed at the army's winter headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey, Hamilton met Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of a general. They married in 1780 and had eight children. During the Revolutionary War, Hamilton became a close friend of several fellow officers, including the Marquis de Lafayette and John Laurens. He fought at the battles of Kip's Bay, White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton, impressing senior officers in the Continental Army. In 1777, he joined General George Washington's military staff, becoming a lieutenant colonel.
In 1781, Hamilton left Washington's staff after arguing about his desire for a field command, which Washington ultimately granted. Hamilton led the successful assault of Redoubt 10 during the Siege of Yorktown, which contributed to the surrender of General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Following Yorktown, Hamilton was selected by New York as a delegate to the Confederation Congress in 1782. He was later appointed as a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he helped draft the Constitution and advocated for its ratification. Hamilton is also known for his contributions to The Federalist Papers, which advocated for the ratification of the Constitution.
In addition to his role in drafting the Constitution, Hamilton served as the first secretary of the treasury of the United States from 1789 to 1795. He was the founder and architect of the American financial system. Hamilton argued in favor of a strong central government for the new nation. He was also a major author of The Federalist Papers, which remain highly influential and are often cited in scholarly studies and court decisions. Alexander Hamilton's life and achievements as an orphan from the Caribbean who rose to become a Founding Father of the United States demonstrate the impact that individuals can have on the formation and development of a nation.
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Frequently asked questions
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation.
55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 signed the Constitution. Some of the Founding Fathers present were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin.
The Founding Fathers laid down the blueprint for modern democratic government. They created a form of government that was unlike any other in the world at the time. James Madison, in particular, is known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his crucial role in its formulation.
