Founding Fathers of the United States
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]

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
changeName | 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 |
- ↑ Morris signed two of the documents, one as a delegate from New York, and one as a delegate from Pennsylvania.
Other delegates
changeThe 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]
- William Richardson Davie, North Carolina
- Oliver Ellsworth, Connecticut
- Elbridge Gerry, Massachusetts *
- William Houston, New Jersey
- William Houstoun, Georgia
- John Lansing Jr., New York
- Alexander Martin, North Carolina
- Luther Martin, Maryland
- George Mason, Virginia *
- James McClurg, Virginia
- John Francis Mercer, Maryland
- William Pierce, Georgia
- Edmund Randolph, Virginia *
- Caleb Strong, Massachusetts
- George Wythe, Virginia
- Robert Yates, New York
(*) Randolph, Mason, and Gerry were the only three present at the Constitution's adoption who refused to sign.
References
change- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Morris, Richard Brandon (1973). Seven who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries. Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-013078-7.
- ↑ Morton, 2006, pp. 1, 316
- ↑ Beeman, 2009, pp. xxi–xxiii, 25955
- ↑ Morton, 2006, p. 4
- ↑ Cite error: The named reference
ArchivesFramers
was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page). - ↑ Bernstein, 2009, pp. 177–179