Founding Fathers of the United States

"Framers" redirects here. For the type of carpenter, see framer.
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.

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]

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]

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.

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.

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
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
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
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
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
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney South Carolina Yes
Charles Pinckney South Carolina Yes
Peyton Randolph Virginia 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
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.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ americanrevolution.org Key to Trumbull's picture
  2. ↑ Stanfield, Jack. America's Founding Fathers: Who Are They? Thumbnail Sketches of 164 Patriots (Universal-Publishers, 2001).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 R. B. Bernstein, The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
  4. ↑ Richard B. Morris, Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries (New York: Harper & Row, 1973).
  5. ↑ Burnett, Continental Congress, 64–67.
  6. ↑ Fowler, Baron of Beacon Hill, 189.
  7. ↑ "Signers of the Declaration". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. p. Biography #54. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Confederation Congress". Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  9. ↑ Calvin C. Jillson (2009). American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change (5th ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-203-88702-8.
  10. ↑ 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).
  11. ↑ See Brown (19764); Martin (19739); "Data on the Framers of the Constitution," at
  12. ↑ Martin (1973); Greene (1973)
  13. ↑ Greene (1973)
  14. 1 2 Brown (1976)
  15. ↑ Greene (1973).
  16. ↑ Brown (1976); Harris (1969)
  17. ↑ Staar (January 2009). "Our Founding Fathers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  18. 1 2 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.
  19. ↑ Letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813 "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government,"
  20. ↑ 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."
  21. ↑ The Religion of Thomas Jefferson Retrieved July 9, 2011
  22. ↑ 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."
  23. ↑ Frazer, Gregg L. (2012). The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution. University Press of Kansas. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
  24. ↑ Martin (1973)
  25. 1 2 Wright, William D. (2002). Critical Reflections on Black History. West Port, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. p. 125.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical Review 77 (1): 87. doi:10.2307/1856595.
  27. 1 2 The Cambridge History of Law in America. 2008. p. 278.
  28. ↑ Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical Review 77 (1): 88. doi:10.2307/1856595.
  29. ↑ Freehling, William W. (February 1972). "The Founding Fathers and Slavery". The American Historical Review 77 (1): 85. doi:10.2307/1856595.
  30. ↑ Joseph J. Ellis; Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. (2001) p. 214.
  31. ↑ 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.
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Founding fathers: the essential guide to the men who made America (John Wiley and Sons, 2007).
  33. ↑ McWilliams, J. (1976). "The Faces of Ethan Allen: 1760-1860". The New England Quarterly 49 (2): 257–282. doi:10.2307/364502. JSTOR 364502.
  34. ↑ Newman, Richard. Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers (NYU Press, 2009).
  35. ↑ Jane Goodall (27 August 2013). Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-1-4555-1321-5.
  36. ↑ Ballenas, Carl. Images of America: Jamaica (Arcadia Publishing, 2011).
  37. ↑ Holmes, David. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. (Oxford University Press US, 2006).
  38. ↑ Wood, Gordon S. Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founding Fathers Different. (New York: Penguin Books, 2007) 225–242.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 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.
  40. ↑ Stephen Yafa (2006). Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber. Penguin. p. 75.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 Dungan, Nicholas. Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father (NYU Press 2010).
  42. ↑ LaGumina, Salvatore. The Italian American experience: an encyclopedia, page 361 (Taylor & Francis, 2000).
  43. ↑ Unger, Harlow (2009). James Monroe: The Last Founding Father. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81808-6.
  44. ↑ 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.
  45. ↑ "Founding Father Thomas Paine: He Genuinely Abhorred Slavery". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (48): 45. 2005. doi:10.2307/25073236.
  46. ↑ 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
  47. ↑ 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."
  48. 1 2 Rafael, Ray. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Founding Fathers: And the Birth of Our Nation (Penguin, 2011).
  49. ↑ Roberts, Cokie. "Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation". Harper Perennial, 2005
  50. ↑ Roberts, Cokie. "Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation". Harper, 2008
  51. ↑ Schwartz, Laurens R. Jews and the American Revolution: Haym Solomon and Others, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1987.
  52. ↑ Kendall, Joshua. The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture (Penguin 2011).
  53. ↑ 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.
  54. ↑ "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.
  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)

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