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Founding Fathers of the United States

group of Americans who led the revolution against Great Britain

The Founding Fathers refers to certain men who lived during the American Revolutionary War era. These men signed the Declaration of Independence, helped write the Constitution of the United States, or helped win the American Revolutionary War. Many of these men were members of the Continental Congress at some point. The term "Founding Fathers" was first used for these people in 1916.[1]

John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, depicting the five-man committee who wrote the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress.

There were many people who were Founding Fathers. Some scholars like to limit them to a small number, such as seven: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.[2]

Most of the Founding Fathers were large landowners or rich merchants. Most of them owned slaves. After the Constitution, many of the Founding Fathers became leaders in the federal government. Five of them, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and James Monroe, were later elected president of the United States.

List of Founding Fathers

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Name Province/state DI (1776) AC (1777) USC (1787)
Andrew Adams Connecticut Yes
John Adams Massachusetts Yes
Samuel Adams Massachusetts Yes Yes
Thomas Adams Virginia Yes
Abraham Baldwin Georgia Yes
John Banister Virginia Yes
Josiah Bartlett New Hampshire Yes Yes
Richard Bassett Delaware Yes
Gunning Bedford Jr. Delaware Yes
John Blair Jr. Virginia Yes
William Blount North Carolina Yes
Carter Braxton Virginia Yes
David Brearley New Jersey Yes
Jacob Broom Delaware Yes
Pierce Butler South Carolina Yes
Charles Carroll Maryland Yes
Daniel Carroll Maryland Yes Yes
Samuel Chase Maryland Yes
Abraham Clark New Jersey Yes
William Clingan Pennsylvania Yes
George Clymer Pennsylvania Yes Yes
John Collins Rhode Island Yes
Francis Dana Massachusetts Yes
Jonathan Dayton New Jersey Yes
John Dickinson Delaware Yes Yes
William Henry Drayton South Carolina Yes
James Duane New York Yes
William Duer New York Yes
William Ellery Rhode Island Yes Yes
William Few Georgia Yes
Thomas Fitzsimons Pennsylvania Yes
William Floyd New York Yes
Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Yes 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 V Virginia Yes
John Hart New Jersey Yes
John Harvie Virginia Yes
Joseph Hewes North Carolina Yes
Thomas Heyward Jr. South Carolina Yes Yes
Samuel Holten Massachusetts Yes
William Hooper North Carolina Yes
Stephen Hopkins Rhode Island Yes
Francis Hopkinson New Jersey Yes
Titus Hosmer Connecticut Yes
Samuel Huntington Connecticut Yes Yes
Richard Hutson South Carolina Yes
Jared Ingersoll Pennsylvania Yes
William Jackson South Carolina Yes
Thomas Jefferson Virginia Yes
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer Maryland Yes
William Samuel Johnson Connecticut Yes
Rufus King Massachusetts 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
Francis Lewis New York Yes Yes
Philip Livingston New York Yes
William Livingston New Jersey Yes
James Lovell Massachusetts Yes
Thomas Lynch Jr. South Carolina Yes
James Madison Virginia Yes
Henry Marchant Rhode Island Yes
John Mathews South Carolina Yes
James McHenry Maryland Yes
Thomas McKean Delaware Yes Yes
Arthur Middleton South Carolina Yes
Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania Yes
Gouverneur Morris[a] New York Yes
Pennsylvania Yes
Lewis Morris New York Yes
Robert Morris Pennsylvania Yes Yes Yes
John Morton Pennsylvania Yes
Thomas Nelson Jr. Virginia Yes
William Paca Maryland Yes
Robert Treat Paine Massachusetts Yes
William Paterson New Jersey Yes
John Penn North Carolina Yes Yes
Charles Pinckney South Carolina Yes
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney South Carolina Yes
George Read Delaware Yes Yes
Joseph Reed Pennsylvania Yes
Daniel Roberdeau Pennsylvania Yes
Caesar Rodney Delaware Yes
George Ross Pennsylvania Yes
Benjamin Rush Pennsylvania Yes
Edward Rutledge South Carolina Yes
John Rutledge South Carolina Yes
Nathaniel Scudder New Jersey Yes
Roger Sherman Connecticut Yes Yes Yes
James Smith Pennsylvania Yes
Jonathan Bayard Smith Pennsylvania Yes
Richard Dobbs Spaight North Carolina Yes
Richard Stockton New Jersey Yes
Thomas Stone Maryland Yes
George Taylor Pennsylvania Yes
Edward Telfair Georgia Yes
Matthew Thornton New Hampshire Yes
Nicholas Van Dyke Delaware Yes
George Walton Georgia Yes
John Walton Georgia Yes
George Washington Virginia 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
John Witherspoon New Jersey Yes Yes
Oliver Wolcott Connecticut Yes Yes
George Wythe Virginia Yes
  1. ↑ Morris signed two of the documents, one as a delegate from New York, and one as a delegate from Pennsylvania.

Other delegates

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The 55 delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention are referred to as framers. Of these, the 16 listed below did not sign the document.[3] Three refused, while the remainder left early, either in protest of the proceedings or for personal reasons.[4][5] Nevertheless, some sources regard all framers as founders, including those who did not sign:[6][7]

(*) Randolph, Mason, and Gerry were the only three present at the Constitution's adoption who refused to sign.

References

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  1. ↑ Bernstein, Richard B.; Rice, Kym S. (1987). Are We to be a Nation?: The Making of the Constitution. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-04476-0.
  2. ↑ Morris, Richard Brandon (1973). Seven who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries. Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-013078-7.
  3. ↑ Morton, 2006, pp. 1, 316
  4. ↑ Beeman, 2009, pp. xxi–xxiii, 25955
  5. ↑ Morton, 2006, p. 4
  6. ↑ Cite error: The named reference ArchivesFramers was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  7. ↑ Bernstein, 2009, pp. 177–179



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