Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution, written in 1787, has been criticised for its silence on several groups of people, including Blacks, women, and Jews. Despite the existence of slavery, Blacks were not mentioned in the original Constitution, nor was there any provision concerning women as a distinct group. The Founding Fathers' intention was to create a document that ensured equality for all, but the absence of explicit mention of these groups has led to debates and interpretations over time.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Signers of the Constitution | 39 (including George Reed, who signed for John Dickinson of Delaware) or 38 |
| Total number of delegates at the Constitutional Convention | 55 |
| Number of delegates who did not sign the Constitution | 16 |
| Number of delegates who refused to sign the Constitution | 3 (Randolph, Mason, and Gerry) |
| Age range of delegates | 26–81 |
| Founding Fathers who were not at the Constitutional Convention | Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but had extensive political experience | All of them |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but had a formal education | Most of them |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but had a college degree | More than a third of them |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but had served in the Continental Congress | Four-fifths of them |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but were of English ancestry | Most of them |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but were wealthy | All of them |
| Founding Fathers who were not present but were slaveholders | Some of them |
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What You'll Learn
Women
The US Constitution, as originally written, did not mention women at all. Abigail Adams famously advised her husband, John Adams, to "remember the ladies", but he and the other founders left any mention of women out of the founding documents.
The prevailing political ideologies of republicanism and liberalism excluded women. Neither ideology held that a woman could be a citizen, with a politically significant self, either to sacrifice or to be served by the government. However, there is evidence to suggest that the Constitution included women and called for their protection as members of society. The use of the word "persons" instead of "men" in the Constitution has been interpreted as inclusive of women.
No women attended the daily meetings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1787, and no women voted for or against the adoption of the Constitution. However, some women were intensely interested in the political happenings and were influenced by the proceedings of the convention and the language of the final document. Elizabeth Willing Powel, for example, was at the centre of social life during the convention, hosting delegates at her home. Other women likely overheard discussions or ideas from the convention.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first drafted in 1921 by Alice Paul, a suffrage leader, to guarantee inclusion and strengthen protections for women under the law. The ERA would make the Constitution prohibit discrimination on the basis of race and sex and enshrine the values of equality in the Constitution.
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People of colour
The Founding Fathers of the United States are those who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, as well as certain military personnel who fought in the American Revolutionary War and others who assisted in the nation's formation. The Founding Fathers represented the upper echelon of political leadership in the British colonies during the latter half of the 18th century. They were leaders in their communities and colonies, and they were willing to assume responsibility for public affairs.
The Founding Fathers' ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written. The Declaration of Independence declared that "all men are created equal," and the U.S. Constitution purported to "secure the blessings of liberty" to the American people. However, these rights and liberties were meant only for white men of property. The Founding Fathers never imagined that women, African Americans (both slave and free), or men without property could be the equal of propertied white men. Nonwhite men who were not of African descent were also excluded, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 stipulated that only "free white persons" could become citizens.
The Founding Fathers' simultaneous commitment to private property rights, principles of limited government, and intersectional harmony prevented them from taking a stand against slavery. Many of them were slaveholders themselves, and their considerable investment in slave-based staple agriculture, combined with their deep-seated racial prejudice, posed obstacles to emancipation. In his initial draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson condemned the slave trade and, by implication, slavery, but he absolved Americans of responsibility for owning slaves by blaming their presence on British colonial policies.
The Constitution, ratified in 1788, did not restrict citizenship based on race, but it only counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person in state populations. This enhanced Southern power in the House of Representatives but also increased the direct federal tax burden of slaveholding states. The Founding Fathers carefully constructed a document that preserved and protected slavery without ever using the word. They did not want to explicitly enshrine their hypocrisy, so they sought to hide it.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868, was meant to define African Americans as equal citizens under the law. However, it has not always been upheld, and African Americans have faced violence and retaliation when attempting to exercise their rights. The Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896 also declared that the racial segregation of black Americans was constitutional.
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The poor
The Founding Fathers of the United States were among the wealthiest people in the colonies when they drafted and signed the Constitution. They expected that only people of wealth and education would be able to vote, while the poor and uneducated would participate indirectly through local government, town halls, meetings, and protest actions like boycotts.
The Constitution is written so that citizenship rights are very limited. The Founding Fathers were wary of democracy and the potential for demagoguery. They wanted to restrict direct participation in the political process by the masses. As such, the Founding Fathers saw to it that only the House of Representatives, one part of one branch of the federal government, would be popularly elected by the people.
The Electoral College, which chooses the president, and the commander in chief, who selects the Supreme Court justices, were other measures to limit the direct election of key political figures. Originally, senators were selected by state legislatures.
The Founding Fathers' efforts to contain slavery are also notable. While slaves and slavery are mentioned indirectly in the 1787 Constitution, it is worth noting that the Founding Fathers' intentions and actions regarding this issue had complex and lasting consequences. For example, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 states that "three-fifths of all other Persons" are to be counted for the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and direct taxes.
The Founding Fathers' vision of democracy and the role of the poor within it differed significantly from the reality of today's democracy in the United States.
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The uneducated
The Founding Fathers of the United States were the group of individuals who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. They also include certain military personnel who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and others who greatly assisted in the nation's formation. The Founding Fathers were among the wealthiest people in the colonies when they drafted and signed the Constitution, and they expected that only people of wealth and education would be able to vote and directly participate in politics.
The Founding Fathers believed that the common people, the poor, and the uneducated would participate indirectly through their local government, at town halls and meetings, and through protest actions like boycotts. They were wary of centralized power and loyal to their states, so they created a powerful central government that represented wildly different interests and views.
The Founding Fathers who were present at the Constitutional Convention are referred to as framers. Of the 55 delegates who attended, 16 did not sign the document. Three refused, while the remainder left early, either in protest of the proceedings or for personal reasons. Some sources regard all framers as founders, including those who did not sign.
The Founding Fathers who did not attend the Constitutional Convention include Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock.
The Founding Fathers were mostly of English ancestry, though many had family roots extending across the other regions of the British Isles: Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. More than a third attended or graduated from colleges in the American colonies, while additional founders attended college abroad, primarily in England and Scotland. The remaining founders were homeschooled, received tutoring, completed apprenticeships, or were self-educated.
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Non-landowners
The Founding Fathers of the United States were among the wealthiest people in the colonies when they drafted and signed the Constitution. They expected that only people of wealth and education would be able to vote, and that the common people, the poor and uneducated, would participate indirectly through local government and town halls.
The Founding Fathers were concerned about democracy and the prospect of demagoguery. They wanted to limit the number of people who could participate in politics and vote. For example, in 1807, New Jersey restricted voting rights to white men, after previously allowing women and African Americans to vote if they met a certain property ownership threshold.
The Founding Fathers also wanted to limit the power of state legislatures, which they felt were becoming too radical and beholden to the interests of the common man. They wanted to ensure that only a small group of people could participate in the political process.
The Constitution, therefore, left out non-landowners, who were not considered to be "people of wealth and education". The Founding Fathers did not want non-landowners to have a direct say in politics or government, and instead expected them to participate indirectly.
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Frequently asked questions
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. Other Founding Fathers include certain military personnel who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and others who greatly assisted in the nation's formation.
The single person most identified as the ""Father" of the United States is George Washington, the nation's first president and a military commander in the American Revolution. Historian Richard B. Morris identified seven figures as key founders: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Washington.
The Founding Fathers left out the common people, the poor, and the uneducated. They expected these groups to participate indirectly through their local governments, town halls, meetings, and protest actions like boycotts.
