View source for Founding Fathers of the United States

{{Short description|Leaders in the formation of the United States}}
{{Redirect|Founding Fathers|the founding fathers of other countries|List of national founders}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox historical era
| name       = Founding Fathers of the United States
| location   = [[Thirteen Colonies]]
| start      = 1760s
| end        = 1820s
| image      = Declaration of Independence (1819), by John Trumbull.jpg

| alt        =
| caption    = The [[Committee of Five]] ([[John Adams|Adams]], [[Robert R. Livingston|Livingston]], [[Roger Sherman|Sherman]], [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]], and [[Benjamin Franklin|Franklin]]) present their draft of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] to the [[Second Continental Congress]] in Philadelphia on June 28, 1776, as depicted in [[John Trumbull]]'s [[Declaration of Independence (painting)|1818 portrait]].
| before     =
| including  = Signers of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] (1776), [[Articles of Confederation]] (1781), and [[Constitution of the United States|United States Constitution]] (1789)
| after      =
| monarch    =
| leaders    =
* [[John Adams]]
* [[Samuel Adams]]
* [[Benjamin Franklin]]
* [[Alexander Hamilton]]
* [[John Hancock]]
* [[Patrick Henry]]
* [[John Jay]]
* [[Thomas Jefferson]]
* [[Richard Henry Lee]]
* [[Robert R. Livingston]]
* [[James Madison]]
* [[George Mason]]
* [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]]
* [[Peyton Randolph]]
* [[Roger Sherman]]
* [[Joseph Warren]]
* [[George Washington]]
* [[James Wilson (Founding Father)|James Wilson]]

| presidents =
| primeministers =
| key_events = *[[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]]
* [[Boston Tea Party]]
* [[Intolerable Acts]]
* [[American Revolutionary War]]
* [[Lee Resolution]]
* [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]
* [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]]
* [[United States Constitution]]
* [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]]
}}
{{History of the United States sidebar|image=File:Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.jpg|imagesize=250px|caption=The ratification of the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]] in [[Philadelphia]] in 1787 (by [[Howard Chandler Christy]], 1940)}}
[[File:Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington.jpg|thumb|[[George Washington]], a key Founding Father, was commanding general of the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] and a Revolutionary hero, presided over the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] and became the nation's first president in April 1789.<ref>[[#jillson1994|Jilson, 1994]], p. 291; Portrait by [[Gilbert Stuart]]</ref>]]

The '''Founding Fathers of the United States''', referred to as the '''Founding Fathers''' or the '''Founders''' by Americans, were a group of late-18th-century [[American Revolution|American revolutionary]] leaders who [[United Colonies|united]] the [[Thirteen Colonies]], oversaw the [[American Revolutionary War|War of Independence]] from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], established the [[United States|United States of America]], and crafted a [[Constitution of the United States|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]], 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 Father of the United States is [[George Washington]], commanding general in the American Revolution and the nation's first president. In 1973, historian [[Richard B. Morris]] identified seven figures as key founders, based on what he called the "triple tests" of leadership, longevity, and statesmanship: [[John Adams]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[John Jay]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[James Madison]], and Washington.<ref name=morris1>[[#morris1973|Morris, 1973]], p. 1</ref>

Most of the Founding Fathers had ancestry traceable back to [[England]], though many had family roots extending across the other regions of the [[British Isles]]: [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], and [[Ireland]]. Additionally, some traced their lineage back to the early Dutch settlers of New York ([[New Netherland]]) during the colonial era, while others were descendants of French [[Huguenots]] who settled in the British [[Thirteen Colonies]], escaping religious persecution in [[France]].<ref name="English Emigration">{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEengland.htm|title=English Emigration.|website=Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk|access-date=21 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408173429/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEengland.htm|archive-date=8 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haefeli |first=Evan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6REAYXK1HmMC&q=dutch+founding+fathers |title=New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2012|isbn=978-0-8122-0895-5 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Hannah Farnham Sawyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OYNTyp6XjcAC&q=french+huguenot+founding+fathers+america |title=The Huguenots in France and America |year=1973 |volume=1-2|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn=978-0-8063-0531-8 }}</ref> Many of them were wealthy merchants, lawyers, landowners, and [[Slavery in the United States|slaveowners]].

==Historical founders==
[[File:Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson (by Rembrandt Peale, 1800)(cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Jefferson]], a key Founding Father, was the primary author of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], which [[Pulitzer Prize for History|Pulitzer Prize]]-winning historian [[Joseph Ellis]] says contains "the most potent and consequential words in U.S. history".<ref name="American Creation">{{cite book | author-link=Joseph Ellis | first=Joseph | last=Ellis | title=American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic | location=New York | publisher=Knopf | date=2007 | isbn=978-0-307-26369-8 | pages=55–56}}</ref>]] 
Historian Richard Morris' selection of seven key founders was widely accepted through the 20th century.<ref>[[#berstein1987|Bernstein, 1987]], pp. 6–7</ref><ref name=HarvardFounders /> John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were members of the [[Committee of Five]] that were charged by the [[Second Continental Congress]] with drafting the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Franklin, Adams, and John Jay negotiated the 1783 [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]], which established American independence and brought an end to the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>[[#jedson2006|Jedson, 2006]], pp. 4–5, 37</ref> The constitutions drafted by Jay and Adams for their respective states of [[Constitution of New York|New York (1777)]] and [[Constitution of Massachusetts|Massachusetts (1780)]] proved influential in the language used in developing the U.S. Constitution.<ref>[[#founding'gov|US Constitution, Transcription]]</ref><ref>[[#mass'gov|J.Adams and Massachusetts Constitution]]</ref><ref>[[#morris2022|Morris: John Jay & the Constitution]]</ref> ''[[The Federalist Papers]]'', which advocated the ratification of the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]], were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Jay. George Washington was [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Continental Army]] and later president of the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]].<ref>[[#bradford1994|Bradford, 1994]], pp. 129, 132</ref><ref name="Jilson p. 291">[[#jillson1994|Jilson, 1994]], p. 291</ref> 

Each of these men held additional important roles in the early government of the United States. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison served as the first four presidents; Adams and Jefferson were the nation's first two vice presidents;<ref>[[#loc'presidents|Library of Congress: Chronological list of Presidents]]</ref> Jay was the nation's first [[Chief Justice of the United States|chief justice]];<ref>[[#malone10|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 10, pp. 8–9</ref> Hamilton was the first [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the treasury]];<ref>[[#chernow2004|Chernow, 2004]], pp. 2, 4, 287</ref> Jefferson was the first [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]];<ref>[[#chernow2010|Chernow, 2010]], pp. 429, 526</ref><ref>[[#stewart2015|Stewart, 2015]], p. 186</ref> and Franklin was America's most senior diplomat from the start of the Revolutionary War through its conclusion with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.<ref>[[#malone6|Dictionary of American Biography, 1932]], v. 6, p. 595</ref>

The list of Founding Fathers is often expanded to include the [[Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence|signers of the Declaration of Independence]] and individuals who later approved the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]].<ref name=morris1/> Some scholars regard all delegates to the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] as Founding Fathers whether they approved the Constitution or not.<ref name=ArchivesDeclaration>[[#signers.gov|National Archives: Signers of the Declaration]], Outline of signers</ref><ref name=ArchivesFramers>[[#framers.gov|National Archives]], Framers of the Constitution</ref> In addition, some historians include signers of the [[Articles of Confederation]], which was adopted in 1781 as the nation's first constitution.<ref name=Padover>[[#padover1958|Padover, 1958]], pp. 191–214</ref>

Historians have come to recognize others as founders, such as [[List of military leaders in the American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War military leaders]] as well as participants in developments leading up to the war, including prominent writers, orators, and other men and women who contributed to cause.<ref name=HarvardFounders>[[#sneff2016|Sneff, 2016]], Essay</ref><ref>''[[#britannica2010|Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', p. 12</ref><ref name="Beck">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50416335|title=Hamilton Club Honors Memory of Washington|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=February 23, 1902|location=Brooklyn, NY |page=8 |access-date=June 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], pp. 6–7</ref> Since the 19th century, the Founding Fathers have shifted from the concept of them as [[demigods]] who created the modern nation-state, to take into account their inability to address issues such as [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] and the debt owed after the American Revolutionary War.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/african/resistance-and-abolition/ | title=Resistance and Abolition &#124; African &#124; Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History &#124; Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress &#124; Library of Congress | website=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/loans |title=U.S. Debt and Foreign Loans, 1775–1795 |publisher=Office of the Historian – United States Department of State |access-date=November 3, 2024}}</ref> Scholars emphasize that the Founding Fathers' accomplishments and shortcomings be viewed within the context of their time.<ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], pp. ix–x1</ref>

==Origin of phrase==
The phrase "Founding Fathers" was first used by U.S. senator [[Warren G. Harding]] in his keynote speech at the [[1916 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention of 1916]].<ref>[[#berstein1987|Bernstein, 1987]], pp. 3–5</ref> Harding later repeated the phrase at his [[Inauguration of Warren G. Harding|March 4, 1921, presidential inauguration]].<ref>[[#harding1921|Harding, 1921, Inaugural Address]]</ref> While U.S. presidents used the terms "founders" and "fathers" in their speeches throughout much of the early 20th century, it was another 60 years before Harding's phrase would be used again during the presidential inaugural ceremonies. [[Ronald Reagan]] referred to "Founding Fathers" at both his [[First inauguration of Ronald Reagan|first inauguration on January 20, 1981]], and his [[Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan|second on January 20, 1985]].<ref>[[#reagan1981|Reagan, 1981, First Inaugural Address]]</ref><ref>[[#reagan1985|Reagan, 1985, Second Inaugural Address]]</ref>

In 1811, responding to praise for his generation, [[John Adams]] wrote to a younger [[Josiah Quincy III]], "I ought not to object to your Reverence for your Fathers as you call them&nbsp;... but to tell you a very great secret ... I have no reason to believe We were better than you are."<ref>{{cite web |date=February 9, 1811 |title=From John Adams to Josiah, III Quincy, 9 February 1811 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-03-02-1904 |access-date=November 3, 2022 |website=[[Founders Online]], National Archives}}</ref> He also wrote, "Don't call me,&nbsp;... Father&nbsp;... [or] Founder&nbsp;... These titles belong to no man, but to the American people in general."<ref>[[#ellis2007|Ellis, 2007]], pp. 6–7</ref>

In [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s [[Second inauguration of Thomas Jefferson|second presidential inaugural address]] in 1805, he referred to those who first came to the New World as "forefathers".<ref>[[#jefferson1805|Jefferson, 1805, Second Inaugural Address]]</ref> At his [[Inauguration of John Quincy Adams|1825 inauguration]], [[John Quincy Adams]] called the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]] "the work of our forefathers" and expressed his gratitude to "founders of the Union".<ref>[[#quincy1825|J. Quincy Adams, 1825, Inaugural Address]]</ref> In July of the following year, President J. Quincy Adams, in an executive order upon the deaths of his father, John, and Jefferson, who both died on the same day, paid tribute to them as "Fathers" and "Founders of the Republic".<ref>[[#ex'order1826|J.&nbsp;Q. Adams, 1826, Executive order]]</ref> These terms were used in the U.S. throughout the 19th century, from the inaugurations of [[Martin Van Buren]] and [[James K. Polk|James Polk]] in [[Inauguration of Martin Van Buren|1837]] and [[Inauguration of James K. Polk|1845]], to [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[Cooper Union speech]] in 1860 and his [[Gettysburg Address]] in 1863, and up to [[William McKinley]]'s [[First inauguration of William McKinley|first inauguration]] in 1897.<ref>[[#vanburen1837|Martin Van Buren, 1837, Inaugural Address]]</ref><ref>[[#polk1845|Polk, 1845, Inaugural Address]]</ref><ref>[[#conant2015|Conany, 2015]], p. ix</ref><ref>[[#mckinley1897|McKinley, 1897, First Inaugural Address]]</ref>

At a 1902 celebration of [[Presidents' Day|Washington's Birthday]] in [[Brooklyn]], [[James M. Beck]], a constitutional lawyer and later a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. congressman]], delivered an address, "Founders of the Republic", in which he connected the concepts of founders and fathers, saying: "It is well for us to remember certain human aspects of the founders of the republic. Let me first refer to the fact that these fathers of the republic were for the most part young men."<ref name="Beck"/>

==List of Founding Fathers==
===Framers and signers===
{{Further|Framers}}
[[File:Portraits and autograph signatures of the framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 4th, 1776 (NYPL Hades-292367-466033).tif|thumb|Portraits and autograph signatures of the Founding Fathers, [[Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence|who unanimously signed]] the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] at the [[Second Continental Congress]] inside present-day [[Independence Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]]]]
The [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] has identified three founding documents as the "[[Charters of Freedom]]": Declaration of Independence, [[United States Constitution]], and [[Bill of Rights (U.S. history)|Bill of Rights]]. According to the Archives, these documents "have secured the rights of the American people for nearly two and a half centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs|publisher=US National Archives|title=America's Founding Documents|date=October 30, 2015 |access-date=June 8, 2022}}</ref> In addition, as the nation's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation and [[Perpetual Union]] is also a founding document.<ref>[[#altman2003|Altman, 2003]], pp. 20–21</ref><ref>[[#bellia2020|Bellia, 2020]], pp. 835–940</ref> As a result, signers of three key documents are generally considered to be Founding Fathers of the United States: Declaration of Independence (DI),<ref name=ArchivesDeclaration /> Articles of Confederation (AC),<ref name=Padover /> and U.S. Constitution (USC).<ref name=ArchivesFramers /> The following table provides a list of these signers, some of whom signed more than one document.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="width:150pt;" | Name
! style="width:105pt;" | Province/state
! style="width:25pt;" | <abbr title="Declaration of Independence">[[United States Declaration of Independence|DI]] </abbr>(1776)
! style="width:25pt;" | <abbr title="Articles of Confederation">[[Articles of Confederation|AC]]</abbr> (1777)
! style="width:25pt;" | <abbr title="United States Constitution">[[United States Constitution|USC]]</abbr> (1787)
|-
| {{sortname|Andrew|Adams|link=Andrew Adams (politician)}} || Connecticut || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Adams}} || Massachusetts || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Samuel|Adams}} || Massachusetts || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Adams|Thomas Adams (politician)}} || Virginia || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Abraham|Baldwin}} || Georgia || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Banister|John Banister (lawyer)}} || Virginia || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Josiah|Bartlett}} || New Hampshire || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Richard|Bassett|Richard Bassett (Delaware politician)}} || Delaware || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Gunning|Bedford Jr.}} || Delaware || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Blair Jr.|John Blair Jr.}} || Virginia || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Blount}} || North Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Carter|Braxton}} || Virginia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|David|Brearley}} || New Jersey || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Jacob|Broom}} || Delaware || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Pierce|Butler|Pierce Butler (American politician)}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Charles|Carroll|Charles Carroll of Carrollton}} || Maryland || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Daniel|Carroll}} || Maryland || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Samuel|Chase}} || Maryland || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Abraham|Clark}} || New Jersey || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Clingan}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Clymer}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Collins|John Collins (Continental Congress)}} || Rhode Island || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Francis|Dana}} || Massachusetts || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Jonathan|Dayton}} || New Jersey || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Dickinson|John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)}} || Delaware || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|William Henry|Drayton}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|James|Duane}} || New York || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Duer|William Duer (Continental congressman)}} || New York || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Ellery}} || Rhode Island || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Few}} || Georgia || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Fitzsimons}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Floyd}} || New York || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Benjamin|Franklin}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Elbridge|Gerry}} || Massachusetts || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Nicholas|Gilman}} || New Hampshire || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Nathaniel|Gorham}} || Massachusetts || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Button|Gwinnett}} || Georgia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Lyman|Hall}} || Georgia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Alexander|Hamilton}} || New York || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Hancock}} || Massachusetts || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Hanson}} || Maryland || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Cornelius|Harnett}} || North Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Benjamin|Harrison V|Benjamin Harrison V}} || Virginia || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Hart|John Hart (New Jersey politician)}} || New Jersey || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Harvie}} || Virginia || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Joseph|Hewes}} || North Carolina || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Heyward Jr.}} || South Carolina || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Samuel|Holten}} || Massachusetts || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Hooper}} || North Carolina || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Stephen|Hopkins|Stephen Hopkins (politician)}} || Rhode Island || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Francis|Hopkinson}} || New Jersey || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Titus|Hosmer}} || Connecticut || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Samuel|Huntington|Samuel Huntington (statesman)}} || Connecticut || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Richard|Hutson}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Jared|Ingersoll}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Jackson|William Jackson (secretary)}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Jefferson}} || Virginia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Daniel of St. Thomas|Jenifer}} || Maryland || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|William Samuel|Johnson}} || Connecticut || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Rufus|King}} || Massachusetts || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Langdon|John Langdon (politician)}} || New Hampshire || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Edward|Langworthy|Edward Langworthy (Founding Father)}} || Georgia || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Henry|Laurens}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Francis Lightfoot|Lee}} || Virginia || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Richard Henry|Lee}} || Virginia || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Francis|Lewis}} || New York || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Philip|Livingston}} || New York || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Livingston}} || New Jersey || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|James|Lovell|James Lovell (Continental Congress)}} || Massachusetts || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Lynch Jr.|Thomas Lynch Jr.}} || South Carolina || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|James|Madison}} || Virginia || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Henry|Marchant}} || Rhode Island || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Mathews|John Mathews (lawyer)}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|James|McHenry}} || Maryland || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|McKean}} || Delaware || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Arthur|Middleton}} || South Carolina || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Mifflin}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{sortname|Gouverneur|Morris}}{{efn|Morris signed two of the documents, one as a delegate from New York, and one as a delegate from Pennsylvania.}} || New York || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Lewis|Morris}} || New York || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Robert|Morris|Robert Morris (financier)}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Morton|John Morton (American politician)}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Nelson Jr.}} || Virginia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Paca}} || Maryland || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Robert Treat|Paine}} || Massachusetts || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Paterson|William Paterson (judge)}} || New Jersey || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Penn|John Penn (Continental Congress)}} || North Carolina || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Charles|Pinckney|Charles Pinckney (governor)}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Charles Cotesworth|Pinckney}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Read|George Read (American politician, born 1733)}} || Delaware || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Joseph|Reed|Joseph Reed (politician)}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Daniel|Roberdeau}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Caesar|Rodney}} || Delaware || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Ross|George Ross (American politician)}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Benjamin|Rush}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Edward|Rutledge}} || South Carolina || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Rutledge}} || South Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Nathaniel|Scudder}} || New Jersey || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Roger|Sherman}} || Connecticut || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|James|Smith|James Smith (delegate)}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Jonathan Bayard|Smith}} || Pennsylvania || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Richard Dobbs|Spaight}} || North Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|Richard|Stockton|Richard Stockton (Continental Congressman)}} || New Jersey || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Thomas|Stone}} || Maryland || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Taylor|George Taylor (Pennsylvania politician)}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Edward|Telfair}} || Georgia || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Matthew|Thornton}} || New Hampshire || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Nicholas|Van Dyke|Nicholas Van Dyke (governor)}} || Delaware || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Walton}} || Georgia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Walton|John Walton (Continental Congress)}} || Georgia || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Washington}} || Virginia || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Wentworth Jr.}} || New Hampshire || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Whipple}} || New Hampshire || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Williams|John Williams (Continental Congress)}} || North Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|William|Williams|William Williams (Continental Congress)}} || Connecticut || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Hugh|Williamson}} || North Carolina || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|James|Wilson|James Wilson (Founding Father)}} || Pennsylvania || {{yes}}|| {{hid|zed}} || {{yes}}
|-
| {{sortname|John|Witherspoon}} || New Jersey || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|Oliver|Wolcott}} || Connecticut || {{yes}}|| {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}}
|-
| {{sortname|George|Wythe}} || Virginia || {{yes}} || {{hid|zed}} || {{hid|zed}}
|}

==== Other delegates ====
The 55 delegates who attended the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] are referred to as framers. Of these, the 16 listed below did not sign the document.<ref>[[#morton2006|Morton, 2006]], pp. 1, 316</ref> Three refused, while the remainder left early, either in protest of the proceedings or for personal reasons.<ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. xxi–xxiii, 25955</ref><ref>[[#morton2006|Morton, 2006]], p. 4</ref> Nevertheless, some sources regard all framers as founders, including those who did not sign:<ref name=ArchivesFramers /><ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], pp. 177–179</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[William Richardson Davie]], North Carolina
* [[Oliver Ellsworth]], Connecticut
* [[Elbridge Gerry]], Massachusetts*
* [[William Houston]], New Jersey
* [[William Houstoun (lawyer)|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 politician)|William Pierce]], Georgia
* [[Edmund Randolph]], Virginia*
* [[Caleb Strong]], Massachusetts
* [[George Wythe]], Virginia
* [[Robert Yates (politician)|Robert Yates]], New York
{{div col end}}

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

=== Additional Founding Fathers ===
In addition to the signers and Framers of the founding documents and one of the seven notable leaders previously mentioned—[[John Jay]]—the following are regarded as founders based on their contributions to the creation and early development of the new nation:

* [[Elias Boudinot]], New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress, [[Congress of the Confederation]] (president 1782–1783), and the first three [[United States Congress|U.S. Congresses]]. Boudinot was director of the [[United States Mint|U.S. Mint]] under presidents Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, and also was the founding president of the [[American Bible Society]].<ref name="auto10">[[#holmes2006|Holmes, 2006]], p. 150</ref>
* [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]], first governor of New York, 1777–1795, served again from 1801 to 1805, and was the fourth vice president of the US, 1805–1812. He was an anti-Federalist advocate of the Bill of Rights.<ref name=berstein179 />
<!--- ADDED SOLE SOURCE SUPPORTING DEANE'S INCLUSION...THEN TEMPORARILY REMOVED HIM FROM LIST...TALK June 12, 2024 *[[Silas Deane]], a delegate to the Continental Congress who signed the [[Continental Association]], became the first foreign diplomat from the U.S. to France where he helped negotiate and then signed the 1778 [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]] that allied France with the United States during the Revolutionary War.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/silas-deane-founding-father-spy-and-loyalist#| title=Silas Deane: Founding Father, Spy, and Loyalist |last=NCC Staff |date=July 27, 2023 |website=constitutioncenter.org|publisher=National Constitution Center |access-date=June 12, 2024}}</ref> --->
* <!--- [[Horatio Gates]], army general; present at the [[Battle of Saratoga]], whose victory was the turning point of the Revolutionary War<ref name="Buchanan" /> --->
* [[Patrick Henry]], gifted orator, known for his famous quote, "[[Give me liberty or give me death!]]",<ref>[[#campbell1969|Campbell, 1969]], pp. 130, 134</ref> served in the First Continental Congress in 1774 and briefly in the Second Congress in 1775 before returning to Virginia to lead its militia. He then completed terms as the first and sixth governor of Virginia, 1776–1779 and 1784–1786.<ref>[[#kidd2011|Kidd, 2011]], pp. 81, 101, 177, 198, 216</ref> 
* [[Esek Hopkins]], commander-in-chief of the [[Continental Navy]]<ref>[[#malone9|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 9, pp. 209–210</ref>
* [[Henry Knox]] served as chief [[artillery]] officer in most of Washington's campaigns. His earliest achievement was the capture of over 50 pieces of artillery, primarily cannons, at New York's Fort Ticonderoga, one of the keys to Washington's capture of Boston in early 1776. Knox became the first [[Secretary of War|secretary of war]] under the U.S. Constitution in 1789.<ref name=Beck />
* [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette]], French Marquis who became a Continental Army general.<ref>[[#dugan2010|Dungan, Nicholas, 2010]], pp. 3, 4, 187–189</ref> Served without pay, brought a ship to America, outfitted for war, provided clothing and other provisions for the patriot cause, all at his own expense.<ref>[[#chernow2004|Chernow, 2004]], p. 96</ref>
*[[Arthur Lee (diplomat)|Arthur Lee]], diplomat who helped negotiate and signed the 1778 [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]] with France, along with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane.
* [[Robert R. Livingston]], member of the [[Committee of Five]] that drafted the Declaration of Independence, 1776; first [[United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs|U.S. secretary of foreign affairs]], 1781–1783, and first chancellor of New York, 1777–1801. He administered the [[Oath of office of the President of the United States|presidential oath of office]] at the [[first inauguration of George Washington]] and with James Monroe negotiated the [[Louisiana Purchase]] as the minister to France.<ref>[[#gothamcenter|Gotham Center, NY: Livingston papers]]</ref><ref>[[#dangerfield1960|Dangerfield, 1960]]</ref>
* [[John Marshall]] served with George Washington at Valley Forge and later would be the first to refer to him as "the Father of his country". Appointed the fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court under John Adams, Marshall defined the authority of the court and ensured the stability of the federal government during the first three decades of the 19th century.<ref name=bernstein180>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], pp. 126, 180</ref><ref name=LOCk-o>{{cite web|url=https://guides.loc.gov/american-founders-papers/founders-k-o|title=American Founders: K-O |website=loc.gov|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=June 10, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lehrman |first=Lewis E. |author-link=Lewis Lehrman |title=The American Founders |chapter=Family Enmity: John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson |pages=157–159 |publisher=[[Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History]] |year=2013 |location=New York |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/americanfounders0000lehr/page/157/mode/2up |isbn=978-0984-01785-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Unger |first=Harlow G. |author-link=Harlow Giles Unger |title=John Marshall: The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |year=2014 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |url=https://archive.org/details/johnmarshallchie0000unge/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=978-0306-82220-9}}</ref>
* [[James Monroe]], elected to the Virginia legislature (1782); member of the Continental Congress (1783–1786);<ref>[[#malone13|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 82, pp. 219–223</ref> fifth president of the United States for two terms (1817–1825);<ref>[[#unger2009|Unger, 2009]], pp. 2–3</ref> Negotiated the Louisiana Purchase along with Robert Livingston.<ref>[[#cogliano2006|Cogliano, 2006]], p. 241</ref>
* [[James Otis Jr.]], pamphleteer, one of the earliest proponents of patriotic causes, an opponent of slavery, and leader of Massachusetts' Committee of Correspondence, all in the 1760s.<ref>[[#kann1999|Kann, 1999]], p. xi</ref><ref>[[#bowman2005|Bowman, 2005]], pp. 22–25</ref>
* [[Thomas Paine]], author of ''[[Common Sense]]'' and other influential pamphlets in the 1770s; sometimes referred to as "Father of the American Revolution".<ref name=bernstein180/><ref>[[#journal2005|Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2005]], p. 45</ref><ref>[[#braff2009|Braff, 2009]], pp. 39–43</ref> While John Adams strongly criticized Paine for failing to see the need for a separation of powers in government, ''Common Sense'' proved crucial in building support for independence following its publication in January 1776.<ref>[[#mccullough2001|McCullough, 2001]], pp. 96–97</ref><ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], pp. 51–179</ref>
* [[Timothy Pickering]], Secretary of War, [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. secretary of state]], from Massachusetts. Fired by President John Adams; replaced by John Marshall.<ref>[[#mccullough2001|McCullough, 2001]], pp. 538–539</ref>
* [[Thomas Pinckney]], signer of the [[Pinckney's Treaty]] with Spain, fought as an officer in the [[Continental Army]] and served as a [[United States Ambassador to Great Britain|United States ambassador to Great Britain]]
* [[Peyton Randolph]], speaker of Virginia's [[House of Burgesses]], [[presidents of the Continental Congress|president of the First Continental Congress]], and a signer of the Continental Association.<ref>[[#ramage1922|Ramage, 1922]], pp. 415–418</ref>
* [[John Rogers (Continental Congress)|John Rogers]], Maryland lawyer and judge, delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] who voted for the Declaration of Independence but fell ill before he could sign it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/R000398|title=Bioguide Search|website=bioguide.congress.gov}}</ref>
* [[Charles Thomson]], secretary of the Continental Congress from its formation to its final session, 1774–1789.<ref>[[#bowling1976|Bowling, 1976]], pp. 314–335</ref>
* [[Joseph Warren]], respected physician and architect of the Revolutionary movement, known as the "Founding Martyr" for his death at the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]], drafted the [[Suffolk Resolves]] in response to the [[Intolerable Acts]].<ref name=cary19-20>[[#cary1961|Cary, 1961]], pp. viii, 19–20</ref>
* [[Anthony Wayne|"Mad Anthony" Wayne]], a prominent army general during the Revolutionary War.<ref name=bernstein180/><ref name="Buchanan" /><!---*[[Henry Wisner]], New York delegate to the Continental Congress, 1774–1776; voted for the Declaration of Independence but was not present for the signing.--->
* [[Thomas Willing]], delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] from Pennsylvania, the first president of the [[Bank of North America]], and the first president of the [[First Bank of the United States]]<ref>[[#wright1996|Wright, 1996]], pp. 525–560</ref>
* [[Henry Wisner]], New York Continental Congress delegate who voted for the Declaration of Independence but left Philadelphia before the signing.

{{collapse top|bg=Honeydew|Selected portraits of Founding Fathers}}
<div style="background-color:#E7E7E7" class="center">
{|
|[[File:Joseph Siffrein Duplessis - Benjamin Franklin - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Benjamin Franklin]]}}Early advocate of colonial unity, was a foundational figure in defining the [[American nationalism|US]] [[ethos]] and exemplifying the emerging nation's ideals.]]
|[[File:Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull 1806.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Alexander Hamilton]]}}Served as Washington's senior ''[[aide-de-camp]]'' during most of the Revolutionary War; wrote 51 of the 85 articles comprising the ''[[Federalist Papers]]''; and created much of the administrative framework of the government.]]
|[[File:Robert R Livingston, attributed to Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828).jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)|Robert R. Livingston]]}}Member [[Committee of Five]] that drafted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]; administered oath of office to Washington]]
|[[File:Gilbert Stuart, John Jay, 1794, NGA 75023.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[John Jay]]}}President of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779; negotiated the [[Treaty of Paris 1783|Treaty of Paris]] with Adams and Franklin; wrote ''[[The Federalist Papers]]'' with Hamilton and Madison.]]
|}
{|
|[[File:Gilbert Stuart, James Madison, c. 1821, NGA 56914.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[James Madison]]}}Called the "Father of the Constitution" by his contemporaries<ref>[[#allen2002|Allen, 2002]], p. 75</ref>]]
|[[File:PeytonRandolph.jpeg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Peyton Randolph]]}}President of the Continental Congress, presided over creation of the [[Continental Association]]<ref name=randolph/>]]
|[[File:Charles Willson Peale - Richard Henry Lee - NPG.74.5 - National Portrait Gallery (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Richard Henry Lee]]}}Introduced the [[Lee Resolution]] in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain]]
|[[File:John Hancock 1770-crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|{{center|[[John Hancock]]}}President of the Continental Congress; renowned for his large signature on the United States Declaration of Independence]]
|}
{|
|[[File:Samuel Adams by John Singleton Copley.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Samuel Adams|{{center|[[Samuel Adams]]}} Member of the First and Second Continental Congress; Signed the Continental Association, Declaration of Independence, and Articles of Confederation]]
|[[File:John Dickinson portrait.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[John Dickinson]]}}Known as the "Penman of the Revolution"; wrote the 1774 [[Petition to the King]], the 1775 [[Olive Branch Petition]], the final draft of [[Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms|Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms]], and the first draft of the Articles of Confederation.]]
|[[File:Henry laurens.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Henry Laurens]]}}President of the Continental Congress <small>(November 1, 1777 – December 9, 1778)</small> when the Articles were passed on November 15, 1777.<ref>[[#jillson1994|Jilson & Wilson, 1994]], p. 50</ref>]]
|[[File:Roger Sherman 1721-1793 by Ralph Earl.jpeg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Roger Sherman]]}}Member of the [[Committee of Five]], developed the Constitution's influential [[Connecticut Compromise]] and was the only person who signed all four major U.S. founding documents.<ref>[[#bradford1994|Bradford, 1994]], pp. 21–25</ref>]]
|}
{|
|[[File:Robert morris portrait.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]]}}President of Pennsylvania's Committee of Safety, "Financier of the Revolution"; one of the founders of the financial system of the United States.]]
|[[File:JosephWarrenByCopley.jpeg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Joseph Warren]]}}Physician who died during the Battle of Bunker Hill]]
|[[File:Thomas Mifflin.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Thomas Mifflin]]}}Member First and Second Continental Congress; Signed the [[Continental Association]] and U.S. Constitution]]
|[[File:Nathaniel Jocelyn - Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) - 1943.1816 - Harvard Art Museums.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{center|[[Elbridge Gerry]]}}Member Second Continental Congress; Signed the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation; Fifth vice President under James Madison]]
|}
</div>
{{cob|}}

=== Women founders ===
{{See also|Women in the American Revolution}}
[[File:Abigail Adams.jpg|thumb|upright=0.94|[[Abigail Adams]], close advisor to her husband [[John Adams]]]]
Historians have come to recognize the roles women played in the nation's early development, using the term "Founding Mothers".<ref>[[#britannica2010|Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref><ref>[[#kann1999|Kann, 1999]], pp. xi–xii</ref> Among the women honored in this respect are:
* [[Abigail Adams]], wife, confidant, advisor to [[John Adams]], second [[First Lady of the United States|first lady]], and mother of the sixth U.S. president [[John Quincy Adams]], famously extolled her husband when he was working in the Continental Congress, to "Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors . . . [or] we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation".<ref name="berstein179"/><ref name=historydotcom /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/abigail-adams|title=Abigail Smith Adams|last=Michals|first=Debra|date=2015 |website=womenshistory.org|publisher=National Women's History Museum|access-date=June 26, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Mercy Otis Warren]], poet, playwright, and pamphleteer during the [[American Revolution]]<ref name=bernstein180/><ref>[[#britannica2010|Encyclopædia Britannica]], pp. 166–167</ref>

=== Other patriots ===
The following men and women are also recognized for the notable contributions they made during the founding era:
* [[Ethan Allen]], military leader and founder of Vermont.<ref>[[#mcwilliams1976|McWilliams, 1976]], pp. 257–282</ref><ref name="berstein179">[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], p. 179</ref>
* [[Richard Allen (bishop)|Richard Allen]], African-American bishop, founder of the [[Free African Society]] and the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Newman |first=Richard S. |title=Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers |publisher=New York University Press |year=2008 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomsprophetb0000newm/page/n3/mode/2up |isbn=978-0814-75826-7}}</ref>
* [[Crispus Attucks]], believed to be of Native American and African descent, was the first of five persons killed in the [[Boston Massacre]] of 1770, and thus the first to die in the American Revolution.<ref>[[#britannica2010|Encyclopædia Britannica]], pp. 172–173</ref><!--The book's introduction and first two chapters identify everyone whose biography appears therein as founders. However, few of the biographies themselves use the term.--> Of the deaths at Boston John Adams would later write, "On that night the foundations of American independence was laid."<ref>[[#boston1925|Boston City Council, archives]], p. 34</ref>
* [[Penelope Barker]], organized and wrote the resolution of the [[Edenton Tea Party]] (October 1774), an activist throughout the American Revolution.<ref name="Howatt">{{citation | last = Howat | first = Kenna | title = Mythbusting the Founding Mothers | publisher = National Women's History Museum | year = 2017 | url = https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/mythbusting-founding-mothers}}</ref>
* [[John Barry (naval officer)|John Barry]], an officer in the [[Continental Navy]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]], has been credited as "The Father of the American Navy" (sharing the descriptor with [[John Paul Jones]] and [[John Adams]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/j/john-adams-frigate-i.html|title=John Adams I (Frigate) 1799–1867|publisher=USA.gov|access-date=August 22, 2015}}</ref> and was the first captain of a U.S. warship commissioned for service under the Continental flag.{{sfn|Meany|1911|p=1}}
* [[Israel Bissell]], a patriot [[Post riders|post rider]] in Massachusetts who rode the news to Philadelphia of the British attack on [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Lexington and Concord]].
* [[Hugh Henry Brackenridge]], lawyer, judge, author, chaplain in the Continental army,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Westcott |first=Reed |date=n.d. |title=Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington |url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/hugh-henry-brackenridge/ |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=George Washington's Mount Vernon (mountvernon.org) |language=en |quote="Hugh Henry Brackenridge was a Scottish-born Pennsylvanian preacher, politician, writer, and jurist, who – though not strictly a Founding Father himself – was intimately familiar with several founders, James Madison in particular."}}</ref> ally of Madison,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Conner |first=Martha |title=Breckenridge at Princeton |url=https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/download/1435/1283 |journal=Western Pennsylvania History |pages=146–162}}</ref> collaborator with Freneau,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Chandler |first1=Lyndsay C. |last2=Homol |first2=Lindley |date=2018 |orig-date=2007 |title=H.H. Brackenridge |url=https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/bios/Brackenridge__Hugh_Henry |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Pennsylvania Center for the Book |publisher=Penn State University}}</ref> and central figure in early western Pennsylvania<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Toole |first=James |date=January 2, 2000 |title=Hugh Henry Brackenridge – Our local Founding Father |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |url=https://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000102brackenridge1.asp |access-date=January 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crocco |first=Stephen |date=1992 |title=Hugh Henry Brackenridge: Priest and Prophet of the American Enlightenment |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23332616 |journal=American Presbyterians |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=211–221 |jstor=23332616 |issn=0886-5159}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reed |first=Isaac Ariail |date=2019 |title=Performative State-Formation in the Early American Republic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48595814 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=334–367 |doi=10.1177/0003122419831228 |jstor=48595814 |s2cid=96424952 |issn=0003-1224|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* [[Cato (spy)|Cato]], a [[Black Patriot]] and slave who served as a spy alongside his owner, [[Hercules Mulligan]]. Cato carried intelligence gathered by Mulligan to officers in the Continental Army and other revolutionaries, including through British-held territory, which was credited for likely saving [[George Washington]]'s life on at least two occasions. He was granted his freedom in 1778 for his service.<ref>[[#deetz1996|Deetz, 1996]], pp. 138–140</ref>
* [[Angelica Schuyler Church]], sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton, corresponded with many of the leading Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and the Marquis de Lafayette.<ref>[[#chernow2004|Chernow, 2004]], pp. 301, 315, 318–319, 423, 464</ref>
* [[Tench Coxe]], economist in the Continental Congress<ref>[[#yafa2006|Yafa, 2006]], p. 76</ref> 
* [[Philip Freneau]], called the "Poet of the Revolution"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bowen |first=Edwin W. |date=1903 |title=Philip Freneau, the Poet of the American Revolution |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27530558 |journal=The Sewanee Review |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=213–220 |jstor=27530558 |issn=0037-3052}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Castronovo |first=Russ |date=August 21, 2014 |chapter=Aftermath: The Poetry of the Post-Revolution |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/34798/chapter/297631748 | title=Propaganda 1776: Secrets, Leaks, and Revolutionary Communications in Early America |publisher=Oxford University Press | series=Oxford Studies in American Literary History |isbn=9780199354900 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199354900.003.0006}}</ref>
* [[Hendrick Fisher]], colonial legislator from Somerset County, New Jersey; delegate to the [[Stamp Act Congress]] (1765) and President of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey (1775), which helped organize the colony’s revolutionary government. Excluded from the British Crown’s 1776 general pardon as a leading rebel, Fisher is regarded as one of New Jersey’s foremost early Patriots.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Oldest Founder in New Jersey – Hendrick Fisher |url=https://founderoftheday.com/founder-of-the-day/hendrick-fisher |website=Founder of the Day |date=2019 |access-date=1 November 2025}}</ref>
* [[Albert Gallatin]], politician and treasury secretary<ref name=dungan>[[#dugan2010|Dungan, Nicholas, 2010]]</ref>
* [[Nathanael Greene]], Revolutionary War general; commanded [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War|the southern theater]]<ref name="Buchanan" />
* [[Nathan Hale]], captured U.S. soldier, executed in 1776 for spying on British in New York<ref>[[#ellis2007a|Ellis, 2007]], p. 86</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]], wife of Alexander Hamilton<ref>Roberts, Cokie (2005). ''Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation''. Harper Perennial.</ref><ref>Roberts, Cokie (2008). ''Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation''. Harper.</ref>
* [[James Iredell]], essayist for independence and advocate for the constitution, early Supreme Court Justice<ref name=bernstein180/>
* [[John Paul Jones]], U.S. Navy captain; when the British requested his surrender, he replied, "I have not yet begun to fight"<ref name="Buchanan"/><ref>[[#chernow2010|Chernow, 2010]], p. 363</ref>
* [[Benjamin Kent]], lawyer, Massachusetts attorney general, senior member of the [[Sons of Liberty]] and the [[Boston Caucus|North End Caucus]]. In April 1776, Kent encouraged John Adams to declare American independence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/principlesactsof01nile/page/322?q=%22benjamin+kent%22|title=Principles and acts of the revolution in America|year=1822|publisher=Baltimore, Printed and pub. for the editor, by W. O. Niles}}</ref><ref name="sib">{{cite book |title=Sibley's Harvard Graduates |date=1933 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Boston |pages=220–228 |hdl=2027/uc1.31970025342293 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-04-02-0057|title=Founders Online: To John Adams from Benjamin Kent, 24 April 1776|website=founders.archives.gov}}</ref>
* [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]], American general, former Polish army general<ref name=dungan/>
* [[Bernardo de Galvez]], Spanish military, governor of Spanish Louisiana. Captured Baton Rouge, Natchez, and Mobile, all in British West Florida.<ref>Raab, 2007, {{isbn|978-0786432134}}, pp. 135</ref>
* [[John Laurance]], New York politician and judge who served as [[Judge advocate general]] during the Revolution<ref>Jones, Keith Marshall, III. ''John Laurance: The Immigrant Founding Father America Never Knew''. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2019.</ref> 
* [[Henry Lee III]], army officer and Virginia governor<ref name="Buchanan">[[#buchanan2007|Buchanan, 2007]], pp. 522–524</ref>
* [[William Maclay (Pennsylvania senator)|William Maclay]], [[Pennsylvania]] politician and U.S. senator<ref name=bernstein180/>
* [[Daniel Morgan]], military leader and Virginia congressman<ref name="Buchanan" />
* [[Hercules Mulligan]], Irish-American tailor and spy, member of the [[Sons of Liberty]].<ref>[[#obrien1937|O'Brien, 1937]], p. 13</ref> Introduced Alexander Hamilton into New York society and helped him recruit men for his artillery units.<ref>[[#chernow2004|Chernow, 2004]], pp. 42, 73, 78</ref>
* [[Samuel Nicholas]], commander-in-chief of the [[Continental Marines]]<ref>[https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/People/Whos-Who-in-Marine-Corps-History/Mackie-Ozbourn/Major-Samuel-Nicholas/ Marine Corps University], Essay</ref> 
* [[Andrew Pickens (congressman)|Andrew Pickens]], army general and [[South Carolina]] congressman<ref name="Buchanan" />
* [[Oliver Pollock]], a merchant, diplomat, and financier of the [[American Revolutionary War]]
* [[Israel Putnam]], army general<ref name="Ray">Raphael, Ray. ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Founding Fathers And the Birth of Our Nation'' (Penguin, 2011).</ref>
* [[Paul Revere]], silversmith, member of the Sons of Liberty which staged the Boston Tea Party, and one of three horsemen in the [[Paul Revere's Midnight Ride|midnight ride]].<ref name=historydotcom>{{cite web |date=March 23, 2021 |orig-date=January 30, 2019 |title=The Founding Fathers |website=[[History.com]] |url=https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/founding-fathers-united-states#section_10}}</ref>
* [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau]], French army general<ref name=dungan/>
* [[Haym Salomon]], along with [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], was the prime financier of the American Revolution. He also spied for the Continental Army.<ref>[[#schwartz1987|Schwartz, 1987]], pp. 12, 28</ref>
* [[Philip Schuyler]], Revolutionary War general, U.S. senator from New York, father of the Schuyler sisters.
* [[John Sevier]], cofounder of the [[Watauga Association]], Revolutionary War soldier, called the Founding Father of Tennessee<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bowden |first=Ralph |date=April 10, 2014 |title=Tennessee's First Hero: Gordon Belt and Traci Nichols-Belt examine how history has treated Tennessee founding father John Sevier |url=https://chapter16.org/tennessees-first-hero/ |access-date=July 18, 2023 |website=Chapter 16 |publisher=Humanities Tennessee |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Joseph Stanton Jr.]], major general and U.S. senator
* [[Arthur St. Clair]], major general, [[president of the Confederation Congress]], and later first [[governor of the Northwest Territory]]
* [[Thomas Sumter]], [[South Carolina]] military leader, and member of both houses of Congress<ref name="Buchanan" />
* [[John Trumbull]], artist, whose paintings inform the collective memory of the early American Republic<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jaffe |first=Irma B. |publisher=New York Graphic Society |title=John Trumbull, patriot-artist of the American Revolution |date=1975 |isbn=0-8212-0459-9 |location=Boston |oclc=1229525}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Silverman |first=E.H. |date=June 1958 |title=Painter of the Revolution |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/painter-revolution |journal=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] |volume=9 |issue=4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912203415/https://www.americanheritage.com/painter-revolution |archive-date= September 12, 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Richard Varick]], private secretary to [[George Washington]], recorder of New York City (1786); Speaker of the New York Assembly (1787); second attorney general of [[New York state]] (1788–1789); Mayor of New York City (1789–1801); founder of the [[American Bible Society]] (1828)<ref>[[#malone19|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 19, pp. 226–227</ref>
* [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] officer;<ref name=dungan/> Inspector General of Continental Army; present at Valley forge with Washington, training militia<ref>[[#malone17|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 17, pp. 226–227</ref>
* [[Noah Webster]], political writer, [[Lexicography|lexicographer]], educator<ref>[[#kendall2010|Kendall, 2010]], pp. 5–7</ref>

== The colonies unite (1765–1774) ==
{{See also|Stamp Act of 1765}}

In the mid-1760s, Parliament began levying taxes on the colonies to finance Britain's debts from the [[French and Indian War]], a decade-long conflict that ended in 1763.<ref>[[#jensen1968|Jensen, 1968]], pp. 59–61</ref><ref>[[#carp2010|Carp, 2010]], p. 15</ref> Opposition to [[Stamp Act of 1765|Stamp Act]] and [[Townshend Acts]] united the colonies in a common cause.<ref name="Chaffin, Townshend Acts, 132">[[#chaffin1991|Chaffin, 1991]], p. 132.</ref> While the Stamp Act was withdrawn, taxes on tea remained under the Townshend Acts and took on a new form in 1773 with Parliament's adoption of the [[Tea Act]]. The new tea tax, along with stricter customs enforcement, was not well-received across the colonies, particularly in Massachusetts.<ref name=carp193-195>[[#carp2010|Carp, 2010]], pp. 193–195</ref>

On December 16, 1773, 150 colonists disguised as [[Mohawk people|Mohawk Indians]] boarded ships in Boston and dumped 342 chests of tea into the [[Boston Harbor|city's harbor]], a protest that came to be known as the [[Boston Tea Party]].<ref>[[#carp2010|Carp, 2010]], p. 143</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Boston Tea Party |url=https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party|date=March 23, 2022|orig-date=October 27, 2009|website=[[History.com]]|access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> Orchestrated by Samuel Adams and the Boston [[Committee of Correspondence]], the protest was viewed as treasonous by British authorities.<ref name=andrilk98-99>[[#andrilk2012|Andrilk, 2012]], pp. 98–99</ref> In response, Parliament passed the [[Intolerable Acts|Coercive or Intolerable Acts]], a series of punitive laws that closed Boston's port and placed the colony under direct control of the British government. These measures stirred unrest throughout the colonies, which felt Parliament had overreached its authority and was posing a threat to the self-rule that had existed in the Americas since the 1600s.<ref name=carp193-195/>

Intent on responding to the acts, twelve of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] agreed to send delegates to meet in Philadelphia as the [[First Continental Congress]], with [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] declining because it needed British military support in its conflict with native tribes.<ref>[[#firstcongress|Mount Vernon, Essay: First Continental Congress]]</ref> The concept of an American union had been entertained long before 1774, but always embraced the idea that it would be subject to the authority of the British Empire. By 1774, however, letters published in [[Early American publishers and printers|colonial newspapers]], mostly by anonymous writers, began asserting the need for a "Congress" to represent all Americans, one that would have equal status with British authority.<ref>[[#jensen1968|Jensen, 1968]], p. 461</ref>

== Continental Congress (1774–1775) ==
{{main|Continental Congress}}
[[File:First continental Congress at Prayer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''First Continental Congress at Prayer'', an 1848, led by [[Jacob Duché|Reverend Jacob Duché]] (center). Portrait by [[T. H. Matteson]]]]
The [[Continental Congress]] was convened to deal with a series of pressing issues the colonies were facing with Britain. Its delegates were men considered to be the most intelligent and thoughtful among the colonialists. In the wake of the [[Intolerable Acts]], at the hands of an unyielding British king and Parliament, the colonies were forced to choose between either totally submitting to arbitrary Parliamentary authority or resorting to unified armed resistance.<ref>[[#ammerman1974|Ammerman, 1974]], p. 145</ref><ref>[[#chorlton2011|Chorlton, 2011]], p.xxviii</ref> The new Congress functioned as the directing body in declaring a great war and was sanctioned only by reason of the guidance it provided during the armed struggle. Its authority remained ill-defined, and few of its delegates realized that events would soon lead them to decide policies that ultimately established a "new power among the nations". In the process the Congress performed many experiments in government before an adequate Constitution evolved.<ref>[[#burnett1941|Burnett, 1941]], pp. ix, 197</ref>

=== First Continental Congress (1774) ===
{{main|First Continental Congress}}
The [[First Continental Congress]] convened at Philadelphia's [[Carpenter's Hall]] on September 5, 1774.<ref>[[#jensen1968|Jensen, 1968]], p. 490</ref> The Congress, which had no legal authority to raise taxes or call on colonial militias, consisted of 56 delegates, including George Washington of Virginia; John Adams and [[Samuel Adams]] of Massachusetts; John Jay of New York; [[John Dickinson]] of Pennsylvania; and [[Roger Sherman]] of Connecticut. [[Peyton Randolph]] of Virginia was unanimously elected its first president.<ref name=randolph>[[#randolph2022|Mount Vernon, Peyton Randolph, Essay]]</ref><ref>[[#chorlton2011|Chorlton, 2011]], p. 51</ref>

The Congress came close to disbanding in its first few days over the issue of representation, with smaller colonies desiring equality with the larger ones. While [[Patrick Henry]], from the largest colony, Virginia, disagreed, he stressed the greater importance of uniting the colonies: "The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American!".<ref>[[#campbell1969|Campbell, 1969]], p. 110</ref> The delegates then began with a discussion of the [[Suffolk Resolves]], which had just been approved at a town meeting in [[Milton, Massachusetts]].<ref name=suffolk1973>[[#suffolk1973|Suffolk, 1973, pp. 21–34]]</ref> Joseph Warren, chairman of the Resolves drafting committee, had dispatched [[Paul Revere]] to deliver signed copies to the Congress in Philadelphia.<ref>[[#adams1971|Adams, 1971, Autobiography]], p. 135</ref><ref>[[#scaife1921|Scaife, 1921]], p. 9</ref><ref name="andrilk98-99"/> The Resolves called for the ouster of British officials, a trade embargo of British goods, and the formation of a [[militia]] throughout the colonies.<ref name=suffolk1973/> Despite the radical nature of the resolves, on September 17 the Congress passed them in their entirety in exchange for assurances that Massachusetts' colonists would do nothing to provoke war.<ref>[[#suffolk1973|Suffolk, 1973, pp. 37–38]]</ref><ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], p. 3</ref>

The delegates then approved a series of measures, including a [[Petition to the King]] in an appeal for peace and a [[Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress|Declaration and Resolves]] which introduced the ideas of natural law and natural rights, foreshadowing some of the principles found in the Declaration of Independence and [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]].<ref>[[#perry1959|Perry, 1959]], pp. xix, 285</ref> The declaration asserted the rights of colonists and outlined Parliament's abuses of power. Proposed by [[Richard Henry Lee]], it also included a trade boycott known as the [[Continental Association]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Robbins|first1=Caroline|date=April 1976 |title=Rights and Grievances at Carpenters' Hall September 5 – October 26,1774|journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies|volume=43|issue=2|pages=103–104|jstor=27772339}}</ref> The Association, a crucial step toward unification, empowered [[committees of correspondence]] throughout the colonies to enforce the boycott. The Declaration and its boycott directly challenged Parliament's right to govern in the Americas, bolstering the view of [[George III|King George III]] and his administration under [[Lord North]] that the colonies were in a state of rebellion.<ref>[[#bullion1999|Bullion, 1999]], pp. 73,76</ref>

[[William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth|Lord Dartmouth]], the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|secretary of state for the colonies]] who had been sympathetic to the Americans, condemned the newly established Congress for what he considered its illegal formation and actions.<ref>[[#ammerman1974|Ammerman, 1974]], pp. 83–84</ref><ref>[[#chorlton2011|Chorlton, 2011]], pp. 25–26</ref> In tandem with the Intolerable Acts, British Army commander-in-chief [[Thomas Gage|Lieutenant General Thomas Gage]] was installed as governor of Massachusetts. In January 1775, Gage's superior, Lord Dartmouth, ordered the general to arrest those responsible for the Tea Party and to seize the munitions that had been stockpiled by militia forces outside of Boston. The letter took several months to reach Gage, who acted immediately by sending out 700 [[Regular army|army regulars]]. During their march to [[Battle of Lexington and Concord|Lexington and Concord]] on the morning of April 19, 1775, the British troops encountered militia forces, who had been warned the night before by Paul Revere and another messenger on horseback, [[William Dawes]]. Even though it is unknown who fired the first shot, the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] began.<ref>[[#alexander2002|Alexander, 2002]], pp. 145–146</ref>

=== Second Continental Congress (1775) ===
{{main|Second Continental Congress}}
[[File:George Mason.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[George Mason]], author of the 1776 [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]] and co-father of the [[United States Bill of Rights]]]]
On May 10, 1775, less than three weeks after the Battles at Lexington and Concord, the [[Second Continental Congress]] convened in the [[Independence Hall|Pennsylvania State House]]. The gathering essentially reconstituted the First Congress with many of the same delegates in attendance.<ref>[[#burnett1941|Burnett, 1941]], pp. 64–67</ref> Among the new arrivals were [[Benjamin Franklin]] of Pennsylvania, [[John Hancock]] of Massachusetts, and in June, [[Thomas Jefferson]] of Virginia.<!--NOTE: Fowler only mentions Franklin, Hancock, Jefferson as new arrivals. Morris joined in November 1775, and Carroll and Witherspoon didn't join until 1776 so I removed them --> Hancock was elected president two weeks into the session when Peyton Randolph was recalled to Virginia to preside over the [[House of Burgesses]] as speaker, and Jefferson was named to replace him in the Virginia delegation.<ref>[[#Fowler1980|Fowler, 1980]], p. 189</ref> After adopting the rules of debate from the previous year and reinforcing its emphasis on secrecy,<ref>[[#Congress1775|Congress 1775, pp. 96–97]]</ref><ref>[[#burnett1941|Burnett, 1941]], pp. 66–67</ref> the Congress turned to its foremost concern, the defense of the colonies.<ref>[[#burnett1941|Burnett, 1941]], pp. 71–72</ref>

The provincial assembly in Massachusetts, which had declared the colony's governorship vacant, reached out to the Congress for direction on two matters: whether the assembly could assume the powers of civil government and whether the Congress would take over the army being formed in Boston.<ref>[[#Congress1775|Congress 1775, p. 105]]</ref> In answer to the first question, on June 9 the colony's leaders were directed to choose a council to govern within the spirit of the colony's charter.<ref>[[#Congress1775|Congress 1775, p. 108]]</ref><ref>[[#burnett1941|Burnett, 1941]], pp. 72–76</ref> As for the second, Congress spent several days discussing plans for guiding the forces of all thirteen colonies. Finally, on June 14 Congress approved provisioning the New England militias, agreed to send ten companies of riflemen from other colonies as reinforcements, and appointed a committee to draft rules for governing the military, thus establishing the [[Continental Army]]. The next day, Samuel and John Adams nominated Washington as commander-in-chief, a motion that was unanimously approved.<ref name=andrilk132>[[#andrilk2012|Andrilk, 2012]], p. 132</ref><ref name=chernow185-187>[[#chernow2010|Chernow, 2010]], pp. 185–187</ref> Two days later, on June 17, the militias clashed with British forces at [[Battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]], a victory for Britain but a costly one.<ref>[[#phillips2012|Phillips, 2012]], p. 11</ref>

The Congress's actions came despite the divide between conservatives who still hoped for reconciliation with England and at the other end of the spectrum, those who favored independence.<ref>[[#morris1973|Morris, 1973]], pp. 133–134</ref> To satisfy the former, Congress adopted the [[Olive Branch Petition]] on July 5, an appeal for peace to King George III written by John Dickinson. Then, the following day, it approved the [[Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms]], a resolution justifying military action.<ref name=andrilk132/> The declaration, intended for Washington to read to the troops upon his arrival in Massachusetts, was drafted by Jefferson but edited by Dickinson who thought its language too strong.<ref>[[#boydauthorship|Boyd, 1950]], p. 55</ref><ref>[[#burnett1941|Burnett, 1941]], p. 86</ref> When the Olive Branch Petition arrived in London in September, the king refused to look at it.<ref>[[#mccullough2006|McCullough, 2006]], p. 10</ref> By then, he had already issued a [[Proclamation of Rebellion|proclamation]] declaring the American colonies in rebellion.<ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], p. 25</ref>

== Declaration of Independence (1776) ==
{{main|United States Declaration of Independence}}
Under the auspices of the [[Second Continental Congress]] and its [[Committee of Five]],<ref>[[#cogliano2006|Cogliano, 2006]], p. 139</ref> Thomas Jefferson drafted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. It was presented to the Congress by the Committee on June 28,<ref name=Maier131>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], p. 131</ref> and after much debate and editing of the document, on July 2, 1776,<ref>[[#ellis2007|Ellis, 2007]], p. 20</ref><ref>[[#allen2002|Allen, 2002]], p. 96</ref> Congress passed the [[Lee Resolution]], which declared the [[United Colonies]] independent from Great Britain. Two days later, on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.<ref>[[#allen2002|Allen, 2002]], p. 60</ref> The name "United States of America", which first appeared in the Declaration, was formally approved by the Congress on September 9, 1776.<ref>[[#allen2002|Allen, 2002]], p. 233</ref>

In an effort to get this important document promptly into the public realm [[John Hancock]], president of the Second Continental Congress, commissioned [[John Dunlap]], editor and printer of the ''[[Pennsylvania Packet]]'', to print 200 [[Broadside (printing)|broadside]] copies of the Declaration, which came to be known as the [[Dunlap broadsides]]. Printing commenced the day after the Declaration was adopted. They were distributed throughout the 13 colonies/states with copies sent to General Washington and his troops at New York with a directive that it be read aloud. Copies were also sent to Britain and other points in Europe.<ref>[[#friedenwald1904|Friedenwald, 1904]], pp. 123, 139</ref><ref>[[#andrilk2012|Andrilk, 2012]], p. 194</ref><ref name=Maier131/>

== Fighting for independence ==
{{main|American Revolutionary War}}
[[File:Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River]] on December 25–26, 1776, depicted in an 1856 portrait, [[Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851 paintings)|''Washington's Crossing the Delaware'']], by [[Emanuel Leutze]]]]
While the colonists were fighting the British to gain independence their newly formed government, with its Articles of Confederation, were put to the test, revealing the shortcomings and weaknesses of America's first Constitution. During this time Washington became convinced that a strong federal government was urgently needed, as the individual states were not meeting the organizational and supply demands of the war on their own individual accord.<ref>[[#swindler1981|Swindler, 1981]], pp. 167–168</ref><ref>[[#chernow2010|Chernow, 2010]], pp. 352–353</ref> Key precipitating events included the [[Boston Tea Party]] in 1773, [[Paul Revere's Ride]] in 1775, and the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] in 1775.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 29</ref> George Washington's [[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River|crossing of the Delaware River]] was a major American victory over [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian forces]] at the [[Battle of Trenton]] and greatly boosted American morale.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 178</ref> The [[Battle of Saratoga]] and the [[Siege of Yorktown]], which primarily ended the fighting between American and British, were also pivotal events during the war. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|1783 Treaty of Paris]] marked the official end of the war.<ref>[[#renehan2007|Renehan, 2007]], p. 2</ref>

After the war, Washington was instrumental in organizing the effort to create a "national militia" made up of individual state units, and under the direction of the federal government. He also endorsed the creation of a military academy to train artillery officers and engineers. Not wanting to leave the country disarmed and vulnerable so soon after the war, Washington favored a peacetime army of 2,600 men. He also favored the creation of a navy that could repel any European intruders. He approached [[Henry Knox]], who accompanied Washington during most of his campaigns, with the prospect of becoming the future Secretary of War.<ref>[[#chernow2010|Chernow, 2010]], p. 446</ref>

=== Treaty of Paris ===
[[File:Treaty of Paris 1783 - last page (hi-res).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Signature page of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris of 1783]] – See also: [[:File:Treaty of Paris (1783).jpg|An image of the first page]] and a [[s:Treaty of Paris (1783)|transcript of the treaty]]]]
{{main|Treaty of Paris (1783)}}
After Washington's final victory at the [[Siege of Yorktown|surrender at Yorktown]] on October 19, 1781, more than a year passed before official negotiations for peace commenced. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] was drafted in November 1782, and negotiations began in April 1783. The completed treaty was signed on September 3. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and Henry Laurens represented the United States,<ref>[[#jedson2006|Jedson, 2006]], pp. 4–5</ref> while [[David Hartley (the Younger)|David Hartley]], a member of Parliament, and [[Richard Oswald (merchant)|Richard Oswald]], a prominent and influential Scottish businessman, represented Great Britain.<ref>[[#morris1965|Morris, 1965]], p. 110</ref><ref>[[#jedson2006|Jedson, 2006]], p. 35</ref>

Franklin, who had a long-established rapport with the French and was almost entirely responsible for securing an alliance with them a few months after the start of the war, was greeted with high honors from the French council, while the others received due accommodations but were generally considered to be amateur negotiators.<ref>[[#renehan2007|Renehan, 2007]], p. 28</ref> Communications between Britain and France were largely effected through Franklin and [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lord Shelburne]] who was on good terms with Franklin.<ref>[[#meng1933|Meng, 1933]], pp. 198–200</ref> Franklin, Adams and Jay understood the concerns of the French at this uncertain juncture and, using that to their advantage, in the final sessions of negotiations convinced both the French and the British that American independence was in their best interests.<ref>[[#ferling1996|Ferling, 1986]], p. 254</ref>

== Constitutional Convention ==
{{main|Constitutional Convention (United States)}}
[[File:Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''[[Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States]]'', a 1940 portrait by [[Howard Chandler Christy]] depicting the 1787 [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]]]]
Under the Articles of Confederation, the [[Congress of the Confederation]] had no power to collect taxes, regulate commerce, pay the national debt, conduct diplomatic relations, or effectively manage the western territories.<ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], pp. 11–12</ref><ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], p. 5</ref><ref name=HouseConvention>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Continental-Congress/Signatories/ |title=Delegates of the Continental and Confederation Congresses Who Signed the United States Constitution |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=January 10, 2023}}</ref> Key leaders – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and others – began fearing for the young nation's fate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/constitution/text1/foundersdefectsarticlesconf.pdf |title=Founders on the Defects of the Articles of Confederation 1780–1787: Letters (Excerpts) |pages=1–8 |publisher=National Humanities Center |access-date=October 31, 2022}}</ref> As the Articles' weaknesses became more and more apparent, the idea of creating a strong central government gained support, leading to the call for a convention to amend the Articles.<ref>[[#jensen1964|Jensen, 1964]], pp. 31–33</ref><ref name="auto5">[[#jensen1950|Jensen, 1950]], p. 421</ref>

The Constitutional Convention met in the Pennsylvania State House from May 14 through September 17, 1787.<ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], p. 95</ref> The 55 delegates in attendance represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership. The vast majority were well-educated and prosperous, and all were prominent in their respective states with over 70 percent (40 delegates) serving in the Congress when the convention was proposed.<ref>[[#adler2015|Adler, 2015]], p. xi</ref><ref name=HouseConvention />

Many delegates were late to arrive, and after eleven days' delay, a [[quorum]] was finally present on May 25 to elect Washington, the nation's most trusted figure, as convention president.<ref>[[#jillson1994|Jillson, 1994]], p. 42</ref><ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 28</ref> Four days later, on May 29, the convention adopted a rule of secrecy, a controversial decision but a common practice that allowed delegates to speak freely.<ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. 83–84</ref><ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], p. 22–23</ref><ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], pp. 134–136</ref>

=== Virginia and New Jersey plans ===
{{main|New Jersey Plan|Virginia Plan}}
Immediately following the secrecy vote, Virginia governor Edmund Randolph introduced the [[Virginia Plan]], fifteen resolutions written by Madison and his colleagues proposing a government of three branches: a single executive, a [[bicameralism|bicameral]] (two-house) legislature, and a judiciary.<ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], pp. 141–142</ref><ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], pp. 38, 104–106</ref><ref>[[#bernstein1986|Bernstein, 1987]], pp. 158–161</ref> The lower house was to be elected by the people, with seats apportioned by state population. The upper house would be chosen by the lower house from delegates nominated by state legislatures. The executive, who would have veto power over legislation, would be elected by the Congress, which could overrule state laws.<ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], pp. 106–107</ref><ref>[[#farrand1913|Farrand, 1913]], pp. 68–70</ref> While the plan exceeded the convention's objective of merely amending the Articles, most delegates were willing to abandon their original mandate in favor of crafting a new form of government.<ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], pp. 146–148</ref><ref name="auto5"/>

Discussions of the Virginia resolutions continued into mid-June, when William Paterson of New Jersey presented an alternative proposal.<ref>[[#jilson2016|Jillson, 2016]], pp. 41–43</ref> The [[New Jersey Plan]] retained most of the Articles' provisions, including a one-house legislature and equal power for the states. One of the plan's innovations was a "plural" executive branch, but its primary concession was to allow the national government to regulate trade and commerce.<ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], pp. 107</ref><ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. 160–16255</ref><ref>[[#rakove2010|Rakove, 2010]], pp. 370–371</ref> Meeting as a committee of the whole, the delegates discussed the two proposals beginning with the question of whether there should be a single or three-fold executive and then whether to grant the executive veto power.<ref>[[#bowman1986|Bowman, 1986]], p. 54, 63</ref> After agreeing on a single executive who could veto legislation, the delegates turned to an even more contentious issue, legislative representation.<ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], pp. 185–186</ref> Larger states favored [[proportional representation]] based on population, while smaller states wanted each state to have the same number of legislators.<ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], p. 86</ref><ref>[[#jilson2016|Jillson, 2016]], p. 43</ref><ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], p. 55</ref>

=== Connecticut Compromise ===
{{main|Connecticut Compromise}}
By mid-July, the debates between the large-state and small-state factions had reached an impasse.<ref>[[#vandoren1986|Van Doren, 1986]], pp. 96–105</ref> With the convention on the verge of collapse, [[Roger Sherman]] of Connecticut introduced what became known as the [[Connecticut Compromise|Connecticut (or Great) Compromise]].<ref>[[#farrand1913|Farrand, 1913]], pp. 89–91</ref><ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 42</ref><ref>[[#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]], p. 140</ref> Sherman's proposal called for a House of Representatives elected proportionally and a Senate where all states would have the same number of seats. On July 16, the compromise was approved by the narrowest of margins, 5 states to 4.<ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 1987]], pp. 167–168</ref><ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. 218–220</ref>

The proceedings left most delegates with reservations.<ref name="auto6">[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 35</ref><ref name=beeman362-363>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. 362–363</ref> Several went home early in protest, believing the convention was overstepping its authority.<ref>[[#farrand1913|Farrand, 1913]], p. 105</ref><ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], pp. 281–282, 810–812</ref><ref>[[#bowman1986|Bowman, 1986]], pp. 115, 140</ref> Others were concerned about the lack of a Bill of Rights safeguarding individual liberties.<ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 46</ref><ref>[[#berstein1987|Bernstein, 1987]], p. 179</ref> Even Madison, the Constitution's chief architect, was dissatisfied, particularly over equal representation in the Senate and the failure to grant Congress the power to veto state legislation.<ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 36</ref> Misgivings aside, a final draft was approved overwhelmingly on September 17, with 11 states in favor and New York unable to vote since it had only one delegate remaining, Hamilton.<ref name="auto6"/> Rhode Island, which was in a dispute over the state's paper currency, had refused to send anyone to the convention.<ref>[[#vandoren1986|Van Doren, 1986]], p. 237</ref><ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 22</ref> Of the 42 delegates present, only three refused to sign: Randolph and George Mason, both of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts.<ref>[[#morton2006|Morton, 2006]], p. 15</ref><ref name=beeman362-363/>

=== State ratification conventions ===
The [[Constitution of the United States|U. S. Constitution]] faced one more hurdle: approval by the legislatures in at least nine of the 13 states.<ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. 294, 351</ref> Within three days of the signing, the draft was submitted to the Congress of the Confederation, which forwarded the document to the states for ratification.<ref>[[#ellis2007|Ellis, 2007]], p. 160</ref> In November, Pennsylvania's legislature convened the first of the conventions. Before it could vote, Delaware became the first state to ratify, approving the Constitution on December 7 by a 30–0 margin.<ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 122</ref> Pennsylvania followed suit five days later, splitting its vote 46–23.<ref>[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], pp. 768, 819</ref> Despite unanimous votes in New Jersey and Georgia, several key states appeared to be leaning against ratification because of the omission of a Bill of Rights, particularly Virginia where the opposition was led by Mason and Patrick Henry, who had refused to participate in the convention claiming he "smelt a rat".<ref name="auto8">[[#jilson2016|Jillson, 2016]], p. 50</ref><ref>[[#morton2006|Morton, 2006]], pp. 185–186</ref><ref>[[#campbell1969|Campbell, 1969]], p. 317</ref> Rather than risk everything, the Federalists relented, promising that if the Constitution was adopted, amendments would be added to secure people's rights.<ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], p. 409</ref>

Over the next year, the string of ratifications continued. Finally, on June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, making the Constitution the law of the land.<ref>[[#beeman2009|Beeman, 2009]], pp. 351, 442</ref><ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], pp. 314–316</ref> Virginia followed suit four days later, and New York did the same in late July.<ref name="auto8"/> After North Carolina's assent in November, another year-and-a-half would pass before the 13th state would weigh in.<ref name="auto7">[[#warren1928|Warren, 1928]], p. 820</ref> Facing trade sanctions and the possibility of being forced out of the union, Rhode Island approved the Constitution on May 29, 1790, by a begrudging 34–32 vote.<ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], pp. 458–459</ref><ref name="auto7"/>

=== New form of government ===
The Constitution officially took effect on {{start date and age|1789|3|4|p=1}}, when the House and Senate met for their first sessions. On April 30, Washington was sworn in as the nation's first president.<ref>[[#bowman2005|Bowman, 2005]], p. 175</ref><ref>[[#vandoren1986|Van Doren, 1986]], p. 238</ref><ref>[[#maier2010|Maier, 2010]], p. 439</ref> Ten amendments, known collectively as the [[United States Bill of Rights]], were ratified on December 15, 1791.<ref>[[#bowman2005|Bowman, 2005]], p. 129</ref> Because the delegates were sworn to secrecy, Madison's notes on the ratification were not published until after his death in 1836.<ref>[[#archive'madison|National Archives: Madison at the Federal Convention]], Essay</ref>

=== Bill of Rights ===
{{main|United States Bill of Rights}}
The Constitution, as drafted, was sharply criticized by the Anti-Federalists, a group that contended the document failed to safeguard individual liberties from the federal government. Leading Anti-Federalists included Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, both from Virginia, and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. Delegates at the Constitutional Convention who shared their views were Virginians George Mason and Edmund Randolph and Massachusetts representative Elbridge Gerry, the three delegates who refused to sign the final document.<ref>[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], pp. 20–22</ref> Henry, who derived his hatred of a central governing authority from his Scottish ancestry, did all in his power to defeat the Constitution, opposing Madison every step of the way.<ref>[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], pp. xi–xii</ref>

The criticisms are what led to the amendments proposed under the Bill of Rights. Madison, the bill's principal author, was originally opposed to the amendments, but was influenced by the 1776 [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]], primarily written by Mason, and the Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson.<ref>[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], pp. 51–53, 104, 169</ref> Jefferson, while in France, shared Henry's and Mason's fears about a strong central government, especially the president's power, but because of his friendship with Madison and the pending Bill of Rights, he quieted his concerns.<ref>[[#kidd2011|Kidd, 2011]], p. 189</ref> Alexander Hamilton, however, was opposed to a Bill of Rights believing the amendments not only unnecessary but dangerous:

<blockquote>Why declare things shall not be done, which there is no power to do ... that the liberty of the press shall not be restrained, when no power is given by which restrictions may be imposed?<ref>[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], pp. 9–10</ref></blockquote>

Madison had no way of knowing the debate between Virginia's two legislative houses would delay the adoption of the amendments for more than two years.<ref name="auto2">[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], p. 240, 253</ref> The final draft, referred to the states by the federal Congress on September 25, 1789,<ref>[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], pp. 59–60</ref> was not ratified by Virginia's Senate until December 15, 1791.<ref name="auto2"/><br />
The Bill of Rights drew its authority from the consent of the people and held that,

{{Poem quote|The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
: — Article 11.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
: — Article 12.<ref>[[#labunski2006|Labunski, 2006]], p. 277</ref>}}

Madison came to be recognized as the founding era's foremost proponent of religious liberty, free speech, and freedom of the press.<ref>[[#stewart2015|Stewart, 2015]], pp. 98, 180</ref>

== Ascending to the presidency ==
The first five [[List of presidents of the United States#Presidents|U.S. presidents]] are regarded as Founding Fathers for their active participation in the American Revolution: Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Each of them served as a [[List of delegates to the Continental Congress|delegate]] to the [[Continental Congress]].<ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], p. 6</ref>

{{Gallery
|width=170
|height=200
|align=center
|File:Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington.jpg|[[George Washington]] ([[Presidency of George Washington|1789–1797]])
|File:Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, c. 1800-1815, NGA 42933.jpg|[[John Adams]] ([[Presidency of John Adams|1797–1801]])
|File:Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson (by Rembrandt Peale, 1800)(cropped).jpg|[[Thomas Jefferson]] ([[Presidency of Thomas Jefferson|1801–1809]])
|File:James Madison(cropped)(c).jpg|[[James Madison]] ([[Presidency of James Madison|1809–1817]])
|File:James Monroe White House portrait 1819.jpg|[[James Monroe]] ([[Presidency of James Monroe|1817–1825]])
}}

== Demographics and other characteristics ==
The Founding Fathers represented the upper echelon of political leadership in the British colonies during the latter half of the 18th century.<ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], p. 8</ref><ref>[[#padover1958|Padover, 1958]], pp. 192–193</ref> All were leaders in their communities and respective colonies who were willing to assume responsibility for public affairs.<ref>[[#padover1958|Padover, 1958]], pp. 193–194</ref>

Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and U.S. Constitution, nearly all were native born and of British heritage, including Scots, Irish, and Welsh.<ref>[[#padover1958|Padover, 1958]], pp. 195</ref><ref>[[#brown1976|Brown, 1976]], p. 479</ref> Nearly half were lawyers, while the remainder were primarily businessmen and planter-farmers.<ref name=WertherAnalyzing>{{cite web|last=Werther|first=Richard J.|title=Analyzing the Founders: A Closer Look at the Signers of Four Founding Documents| url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/10/analyzing-founders-closer-look-signers-4-founding-documents/|work=Journal of the American Revolution|date=October 24, 2017| access-date=March 3, 2022}}</ref><ref>[[#padover1958|Padover, 1958]], p. 194</ref><ref>[[#brown1976|Brown, 1976]], pp. 474–476</ref> The average age of the founders was 43.<ref>[[#brown1976|Brown, 1976]], p. 469</ref> Benjamin Franklin, born in 1706, was the oldest, while only a few were born after 1750 and thus were in their 20s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usconstitution.net/declarsigndata.html |title=Signers of The Declaration of Independence |publisher=USConstitution.net |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usconstitution.net/artsigndata.html |title=Signers of The Articles of Confederation |website=usconstitution.net |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usconstitution.net/constframedata.html |title=Data on the Framers of the Constitution |publisher=USConstitution.net |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref>

The following sections discuss these and other demographic topics in greater detail. For the most part, the information is confined to signers/delegates associated with the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution.

=== Political experience ===
All of the Founding Fathers had extensive political experience at the national and state levels.<ref>[[#martin1973|Martin, 1973]], pp. 174, 223</ref><ref>[[#greene1973|Greene, 1973]], pp. 1–22</ref> As just one example, the signers of the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation were members of Second Continental Congress, while four-fifths of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention had served in the Congress either during or prior to the convention. The remaining fifth attending the convention were recognized as leaders in the state assemblies that appointed them.

Following are brief profiles of the political backgrounds of some of the more notable founders:
* John Adams began his political career as a town council member in [[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]] outside Boston. He came to wider attention following a series of essays he wrote during the Stamp Act crisis of 1765. In 1770, he was elected to the [[Massachusetts General Assembly]], went on to lead Boston's Committee of Correspondence, and in 1774, was elected to the Continental Congress. Adams later became the first vice president (1789–1797) and second president (1797–1801) of the nation he helped found.<ref>[[#malone1|American National Biography, 1999]], v. 1,  pp. 101–104</ref><ref>[[#mccullough2001|McCullough, 2001]], pp. 71, 222, 379</ref>
* John Dickinson was one of the leaders of the Pennsylvania Assembly during the 1770s. As a member of the First and Second Continental Congress, he wrote two petitions for the Congress to King George III seeking a peaceful solution. Dickinson opposed independence and refused to sign the Declaration of Independence, but served as an officer in the militia and wrote the initial draft of the Articles of Confederation. In the 1780s, he served as [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|president of Pennsylvania]] and [[List of governors of Delaware|president of Delaware]] and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.<ref>[[#malone5|Dictionary of American Biography, 1932]], v. 5, pp. 299–300</ref>
* Benjamin Franklin retired from his business activities in 1747 and was elected to the [[Pennsylvania Assembly]] in 1751. He was sent to London in 1757 for the first of two diplomatic missions on behalf of the colony.<ref>[[#franklin'auto|Franklin, Autobiography, 1895, [1790]]], pp. 6, 51, 83, 214</ref> Upon returning from England in 1775, Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress. After signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he was appointed Minister to France and then Sweden, and in 1783 helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris. Franklin was [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|governor of Pennsylvania]] from 1785 to 1788 and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.<ref>[[#brands2000|Brands, 2000]], p. 8</ref>
* John Jay was a New York delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress and in 1778 was elected [[President of the Continental Congress|Congress president]]. In 1782, he was summoned to Paris by Franklin to help negotiate the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain. As a supporter of the proposed Constitution, he wrote five of the Federalist Papers and became the first [[Chief Justice of the United States|chief justice of the Supreme Court]] following the Constitution's adoption.<ref>[[#malone10|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 10, pp. 6–8</ref> Minister to Spain<ref name=morris1/><ref name=jillson77>[[#jillson2004|Jillson & Wilson, 1994]], p. 77</ref><ref>[[#morris1965|Morris, 1965]], p. xiii</ref>
* [[Thomas Jefferson]] was a delegate from Virginia to the Second Continental Congress (1775–1776) and was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He was elected the [[List of governors of Virginia|second governor of Virginia]] (1779–1781) and served as Minister to France (1785–1789). He later served as the first secretary of state (1790–1793), second vice president (1797–1801) and third president of the United States (1801–1809)<ref>[[#ferling2014|Ferling, 2014]], pp. xx, 4, 89, 155</ref><ref>[[#brands2000|Brands, 2000]], pp. 639, 710</ref>
* Robert Morris had been a member of the [[Pennsylvania Assembly]] and president of Pennsylvania's [[Committees of safety (American Revolution)|Committee of Safety]]. He was also a member of the [[Committee of Secret Correspondence]] and member of the Second Continental Congress. Under the Articles of Confederation he served as the minister of finance and served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.<ref>[[#malone13|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 13, pp. 219–223</ref>
* Roger Sherman had served in the First and Second Continental Congresses, [[Connecticut House of Representatives]] and Justice of the Peace before attending the Constitutional Convention as a delegate. After the Constitution was ratified he served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate representing his home state of Connecticut. He was the only Founder to sign all four of the major founding documents, the Continental Association, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution.<ref>[[#malone17|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 17, pp. 88–89</ref>

=== Education ===
More than a third of the Founding Fathers attended or graduated from colleges in the American colonies, while additional founders attended college abroad, primarily in England and Scotland. All other founders either were home schooled, received tutoring, completed apprenticeships, or were self-educated.

====American institutions====
Following is a listing of founders who graduated from six of the nine colleges established in the Americas during the Colonial Era. A few founders, such as Alexander Hamilton<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000101 |title=Hamilton, Alexander |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> and James Monroe,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000858 |title=Monroe, James |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> attended college (Columbia and William & Mary, respectively) but did not graduate. The other three colonial colleges, all founded in the 1760s, included [[Brown University]] (College of Rhode Island), [[Dartmouth College]], and [[Rutgers University]] (Queen's College).
* [[College of William & Mary]]: Thomas Jefferson,<ref>[[#cogliano2006|Cogliano, 2006]], p. 19</ref> John Blair Jr.,<ref name=BlairArchive>{{cite web|url=https://supremecourthistory.org/associate-justices/john-blair-jr-1790-1796/ |title=John Blair, Jr. |publisher=Supreme Court Historical Society |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> James McClurg,<ref name=BioMcClurg>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-virginia |title=James McClurg, Virginia |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> James Francis Mercer,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000645 |title=Mercer, James Francis |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Edmund Randolph<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/randolph-edmund-jennings |title=Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753–1813) |publisher=Office of the Historian, US Department of State |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Columbia University]] (King's College): John Jay,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://supremecourthistory.org/chief-justices/john-jay-1789-1795/ |title= John Jay, 1789–1795 |publisher=Supreme Court Historical Society |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Robert R. Livingston,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/L000372 |title=Livingston, Robert R. |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Gouverneur Morris,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000976 |title=Morris, Gouverneur |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Harvard University]] (Harvard College): John Adams,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/A000039 |title=Adams, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> Samuel Adams,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/A000045 |title=Adams, Samuel |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> Francis Dana,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/D000021 |title=Dana, Francis |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> William Ellery,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/E000115 |title=Ellery, William |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> Elbridge Gerry,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-massachusetts |title=Gerry, Elbridge |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> John Hancock,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000149 |title=Hancock, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> William Hooper,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000766 |title=Hooper, William |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> William Samuel Johnson (also Yale),<ref name=BioJohnson>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/J000182 |title=Johnson, William Samuel |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Rufus King,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-massachusetts |title=Rufus King, Massachusetts |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> James Lovell,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/L000463 |title=Lovell, James |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> Robert Treat Paine,<ref>{{cite journal |date=1885 |title=Robert Treat Paine |journal=Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |volume=21 |publisher=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |pages=582–585 |jstor=25129842}}</ref> Caleb Strong,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-massachusetts |title=Strong, Caleb |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> Joseph Warren,<ref name=BioWarren>{{cite web|url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/forman-joseph-warren-book/ |last=Feldscher |first=Karen |title=Recalling Joseph Warren–Physician, Revolutionary, Leader |date=March 23, 2012 |publisher=Harvard School of Public Health |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> John Wentworth Jr.,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/A000039 |title=Wentworth, John, Jr. |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> William Williams<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000546 |title=Williams, William |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Princeton University]] (The College of New Jersey):<ref>{{cite web|url=https://library.princeton.edu/mudd-dbs/alumni |title=Princeton Undergraduate Alumni Index, 1748–1920 |publisher=Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Gunning Bedford Jr.,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000300 |title=Bedford, Gunning, Jr. |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> William Richardson Davie,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-north-carolina |title=William Richardson Davie, North Carolina |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Jonathan Dayton,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-new-jersey |title=Jonathan Dayton, New Jersey |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Oliver Ellsworth,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/E000147 |title=Ellsworth, Oliver |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Joseph Hewes,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000551 |title=Hewes, Joseph |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> William Houstoun,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000832 |title=Houstoun, William |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Richard Hutson,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H001017 |title=Hutson, Richard |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> James Madison,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000043 |title=Madison, James |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Alexander Martin,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000166 |title=Martin, Alexander |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Luther Martin,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-maryland |title=Luther Martin, Maryland |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> William Paterson,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-new-jersey |title=William Paterson, New Jersey |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Joseph Reed,<ref name=BioReed>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/R000123 |title=Reed, Joseph |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Benjamin Rush,<ref name=BioRush>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/R000514 |title=Rush, Benjamin |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Nathaniel Scudder,<ref name=BioScudder>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000201 |title=Scudder, Nathaniel |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Jonathan Bayard Smith,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000578 |title=Smith, Jonathan Bayard |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Richard Stockton<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S00094 |title=Stockton, Richard |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref>
* [[University of Pennsylvania]] ([[Academy and College of Philadelphia|College of Philadelphia]]): Francis Hopkinson,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000783 |title=Hopkinson, Francis |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Henry Marchant,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000125 |title=Marchant, Henry |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Thomas Mifflin,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000701 |title=Mifflin, Thomas |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> William Paca,<ref name=BioPaca>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/P000001 |title=Paca, William |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Hugh Williamson<ref name=BioWilliamson>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000551 |title=Williamson, Hugh |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Yale University]] (Yale College): Andrew Adams,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/A000029 |title=Adams, Andrew |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Abraham Baldwin,<ref name=BioHall>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000084 |title=Baldwin, Abraham |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Lyman Hall,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000061 |title=Hall, Lyman |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Titus Hosmer,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000804 |title=Hosmer, Titus |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Jared Ingersoll,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/I000018 |title=Ingersoll, Jared |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> William Samuel Johnson (also Harvard),<ref name=BioJohnson /> Philip Livingston,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/L000369 |title=Livingston, Philip |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> William Livingston,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/L000374 |title=Livingston, William |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Lewis Morris,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000982 |title=Morris, Lewis |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Oliver Wolcott<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000670 |title=Wolcott, Oliver |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref>

==== British institutions ====
Following are founders who graduated from institutions in Britain:
* [[Inner Temple]], is one of the four [[Inns of Court]] in London offering legal studies for admission to the English Bar: William Houstoun,<ref name="auto3" /> William Paca (also University of Pennsylvania graduate)<ref name="The North Carolina Review">[[#NCReview|The North Carolina Review, p. 278]]</ref><ref name="BioPaca" />
* [[Middle Temple]], also one of the four Inns of Court: John Banister,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000109 |title=Banister, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> John Blair,<ref name="ArchivesBlair">{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-virginia#blair |title=John Blair, Virginia |date=November 6, 2015 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> John Dickinson,<ref name="BioDickinson">{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/D000321 |title=Dickinson, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> Thomas Heyward Jr.,<ref name="auto">[[#NCReview|The North Carolina Review, p. 279]]</ref> Thomas Lynch Jr. (also University of Cambridge graduate),<ref name="auto" /> John Matthews,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000238 |title=Matthews, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> Charles Cotesworth Pinckney,<ref name="auto3">[[#NCReview|The North Carolina Review, p. 280]]</ref> Peyton Randolph,<ref name="The North Carolina Review" /><ref name="BioRandolph">{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/R000049 |title=Randolph, Peyton |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> John Rutledge<ref name="auto3" />
* [[University of Cambridge]], England: Thomas Lynch Jr. (also Middle Temple graduate),<ref>[[#NCReview|The North Carolina Review, p. 286]]</ref> Thomas Nelson Jr.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/N000044 |title=Nelson, Thomas Jr. |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref>
* [[University of Edinburgh]], Scotland: Benjamin Rush,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Benjamin Rush |url=https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/benjamin-rush/ |access-date=June 11, 2023 |website=University of Pennsylvania, Archives and Records Center |language=en}}</ref> John Witherspoon<ref name="BioWitherspoon">{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000660 |title=Witherspoon, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref>

=== Ethnicity ===
All of the founders were white, and two-thirds (36 out of 55) were natives of the American Colonies, while nineteen were born in other parts of the [[British Empire#"First" British Empire (1707–1783)|British Empire]].
* England: William Richardson Davie,<ref>[[#concise1997v1|Concise Vol. 1, 1997]], p. 285</ref> William Duer,<ref>[[#malone5|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 5, pp. 486–487</ref> Button Gwinnett,<ref>[[#malone7|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 7, pp. 65–66</ref> Robert Morris,<ref>[[#concise1997v1|Concise Vol. 1, 1997]], p. 884</ref> Thomas Paine<ref>[[#concise1997v2|Concise Vol. 2, 1997]], p. 951</ref>
* Ireland: Pierce Butler,<ref name=malone364-365>[[#malone3|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 3, pp. 364–365</ref> Thomas Fitzsimons,<ref name=fitz444>[[#malone7|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 6, p. 444</ref> James McHenry,<ref name="auto4">[[#malone18|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 18, pp. 324–325</ref> William Paterson,<ref>[[#malone9|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 14, p. 293</ref> James Smith,<ref>[[#malone17|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 17, pp. 283–284</ref> George Taylor,<ref name=BioTaylor>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/T000076 |title=Taylor, George |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref> Charles Thomson,<ref>[[#malone18|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 18, p. 481</ref> Matthew Thornton<ref>[[#malone18|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 18, pp. 503–504</ref>
* Scotland: Edward Telfair,<ref>[[#concise1997v2|Concise Vol. 2, 1997]], p. 1281</ref> James Wilson,<ref>[[#concise1997v2|Concise Vol. 2, 1997]], p. 1456</ref> John Witherspoon<ref>[[#concise1997v2|Concise Vol. 2, 1997]], p. 1473</ref>
* Wales: Francis Lewis<ref name=BioLewis>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/L000282|title=Lewis, Francis |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref>
* West Indies: Alexander Hamilton,<ref>[[#chernow2004|Chernow, 2004]], p. 17</ref> Daniel Roberdeau<ref>[[#malone9|Dictionary of American biography, 1932]], v. 14, p. 646</ref>

=== Occupations ===
While the Founding Fathers were engaged in a broad range of occupations, most had careers in three professions: about half the founders were lawyers, a sixth were planters/farmers, another sixth were merchants/businessmen, and the others were spread across miscellaneous professions.
* Ten founders were physicians: Josiah Bartlett,<ref name=BioBartlett>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000206 |title=Bartlett, Josiah |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref> Lyman Hall,<ref name=BioHall /> Samuel Holten,<ref name=BioHolten>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000750 |title=Holten, Samuel |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref> James McClurg,<ref name=BioMcClurg /> James McHenry (surgeon),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000469 |title=McHenry, James |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref> Benjamin Rush,<ref name=BioRush /> Nathaniel Scudder,<ref name=BioScudder /> Matthew Thornton,<ref name=Thornton>{{cite web|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/T000242 |title=Thornton, Matthew |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref> Joseph Warren,<ref name=BioWarren /> and Hugh Williamson.<ref name=BioWilliamson />
* John Witherspoon was the only minister, although Lyman Hall had been a preacher prior to becoming a physician.<ref name=Witherspoon>{{cite web| url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000660 |title=Witherspoon, John |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref><ref name=BioHall />
* George Washington, a Virginia planter, was a land surveyor before becoming a colonel in the [[Virginia Regiment]].<ref>[[#chernow2010|Chernow, 2010]], pp. 18–19</ref>
* Benjamin Franklin was a successful printer and publisher and an accomplished scientist and inventor, in Philadelphia. Franklin retired at age 42 to focus first on scientific pursuits and then politics and diplomacy, serving as a member of the Continental Congress, first postmaster general, minister to Great Britain, France, and Sweden, and governor of Pennsylvania.<ref name=BioFranklin>[[#isaacson2004|Isaacson, 2004]], pp. 127–128, 176, 206–209, 291, 325, 382</ref><ref name=FranklinExperience>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography-benjamin-franklin/ |title=Biography: Benjamin Franklin |work=[[American Experience]] |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=October 2, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/countries/sweden# |title=A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Sweden |publisher=Office of the Historian |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nga.org/governor/benjamin-franklin/ |title=Gov. Benjamin Franklin |date=January 15, 2019 |publisher=National Governors Association |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref>

== Religion ==
{{See also|First Great Awakening|Religious views of George Washington|Religious views of Thomas Jefferson}}
Of the 55 delegates to the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in 1787, 28 were [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] ([[Church of England]] or [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]]), 21 were other [[Protestants]], and three were [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] (Daniel Carroll and Fitzsimons; Charles Carroll was Catholic but was not a Constitution signatory).<ref name="auto9">[[#lambert=2003|Lambert, 2003]], p. {{page needed|date=August 2022}}</ref> Among the non-Anglican Protestant delegates to the Constitutional Convention, eight were [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]], seven were [[Congregational church|Congregationalists]], two were [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], two were [[Dutch Reformed Church|Dutch Reformed]], and two were [[Methodism|Methodists]].<ref name="auto9"/> 

A few prominent Founding Fathers were [[Anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]], notably Jefferson.<ref>[[#onuf2007|Onuf, 2007]], pp. 139–168</ref><ref>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."</ref> Many founders deliberately avoided public discussion of their faith. Historian [[David L. Holmes]] uses evidence gleaned from letters, government documents, and second-hand accounts to identify their religious beliefs.<ref name="auto10"/>

==Founders on currency and postage==
Four U.S. founders are minted on [[American currency]]—[[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and [[George Washington]]; Washington and Jefferson both appear on three different denominations. Additionally, the reverse of Jefferson's two-dollar bill features [[Declaration of Independence (painting)|John Trumbull's 1818 depiction]] of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|-
! scope="col" | Founding Father name
! scope="col" | Currency image
! scope="col" | Denomination
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''[[George Washington]]'''
| [[File:2021-P US Quarter Obverse.jpg|90px]]
| [[Quarter (United States coin)|Quarter dollar]] (quarter)<br />25¢
|-
|[[File:George Washington Presidential $1 Coin obverse.png|90px]]
|[[Dollar coin (United States)|Dollar coin]]<br />$1
|-
| [[File:Onedolar2009series.jpg|250px]]
| [[United States one-dollar bill|One dollar]]<br />$1
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''[[Thomas Jefferson]]'''
| [[File:Nickel Front.jpg|90px]]
| [[Nickel (United States coin)|Five cents]] (nickel)<br />5¢
|-
|[[File:Thomas Jefferson Presidential $1 Coin obverse.png|95px]]
|[[Dollar coin (United States)|Dollar coin]]<br />$1
|-
| [[File:US $2 obverse.jpg|255px]]
| [[United States two-dollar bill|Two dollars]]<br />$2
|-
| '''[[Alexander Hamilton]]'''
| [[File:US10dollarbill-Series 2004A.jpg|256px]]
| [[United States ten-dollar bill|Ten dollars]]<br />$10
|-
| '''[[Benjamin Franklin]]'''
| [[File:New100front.jpg|255px]]
| [[United States one-hundred-dollar bill|One hundred dollars]]<br />$100
|}

{{multiple image |align=center |total_width=610
|header=Selected stamps of Founders
|footer={{See also|Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps}}
|image1=Alexander Hamilton2-30c.jpg|caption1=[[Alexander Hamilton]], 1870 issue
|image2=Thomas Jefferson 1904 Issue, 2c.jpg |caption2=[[Thomas Jefferson]], 1904 issue
|image3=Washington WF 1917 Issue-5c.jpg |caption3=[[George Washington]],<br />1917 issue
|image4=Benjamin Franklin 1920 $2.jpg|caption4=[[Benjamin Franklin]],<br />1920 issue
}}
{{multiple image |align=center |total_width=800
|header=Selected stamps of Founding events
|image1=Declaration of Independence, 24c, 1869 issue.jpg|caption1=[[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], 1869 issue
|image2=Washington at Cambridge 1925 Issue-2c.jpg |caption2=Washington at [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], 1925 issue
|image3=Washington Battle of Brooklyn 3c 1951 issue.JPG |caption3=Washington at the [[Battle of Long Island|Battle of Brooklyn]], 1951 issue
|image4=Articles of Confederation 13c 1977 issue.JPG |caption4=Drafting the Articles of Confederation, 1977 issue
}}

==Political and cultural impact==
{{See also|Commemoration of the American Revolution|Independence Day (United States)|Legacy of George Washington}}

===Political rhetoric===
According to David Sehat, in modern politics:<ref>[[#sehat2015|Shehat, 2015]], pp 1–2.</ref> <blockquote>Everyone cites the Founders. Constitutional originalists consult the Founders' papers to decide original meaning. Proponents of a living and evolving Constitution turn to the Founders as the font of ideas that have grown over time. Conservatives view the Founders as architects of a free enterprise system that built American greatness. The more liberal-leaning, following their sixties parents, claim the Founders as egalitarians, suspicious of concentrations of wealth. Independents look to the Founders to break the logjam of partisan brinksmanship. Across the political spectrum, Americans ground their views in a supposed set of ideas that emerged in the eighteenth century.
But, in fact, the Founders disagreed with each other....they had vast and profound differences. They argued over federal intervention in the economy and about foreign policy. They fought bitterly over how much authority rested with the executive branch, about the relationship and prerogatives of federal and state government. The Constitution provided a nearly limitless theater of argument. The founding era was, in reality, one of the most partisan periods of American history.</blockquote>

===Holidays===
[[File:Fourth of July fireworks behind the Washington Monument, 1986.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[Fireworks]], such as these shown over the [[Washington Monument]] in Washington, D.C. on July 4, 1986, are an annual national holiday tradition every July 4 in celebration of [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] and the founding of the United States.]]
[[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] (colloquially called the ''Fourth of July'') is a United States national holiday celebrated yearly on July 4 to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the nation. [[President's Day|Washington's Birthday]] is also observed as a national federal holiday, and on April 13 [[Jefferson's Birthday]] honors the US founder and president.

=== Media and theater ===
{{See also|List of plays and musicals about the American Revolution|List of films about the American Revolution|List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution}}
The Founding Fathers were portrayed in the [[Tony Award]]–winning 1969 musical [[1776 (musical)|''1776'']], which depicted the debates over and eventual adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The stage production was adapted into the [[1776 (film)|1972 film]] of the same name. The 1989 film ''[[A More Perfect Union (film)|A More Perfect Union]]'', which was filmed on location in [[Independence Hall]], depicts the events of the Constitutional Convention. The writing and passing of the founding documents are depicted in the 1997 documentary miniseries ''[[Liberty!]]'', and the passage of the Declaration of Independence is portrayed in the second episode of the 2008 miniseries ''[[John Adams (miniseries)#Part II: Independence (1774–1776)|John Adams]]'' and the third episode of the 2015 miniseries ''[[Sons of Liberty (miniseries)|Sons of Liberty]]''. The Founders also feature in the 1986 miniseries ''[[George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation]]'', the 2002–2003 animated television series ''[[Liberty's Kids]]'', the 2020 miniseries ''[[Washington (miniseries)|Washington]]'', and in [[List of films about the American Revolution|many other films]] and [[List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution|television portrayals]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Several Founding Fathers, Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison—were reimagined in [[Hamilton (musical)|''Hamilton'']], a 2015 [[Musical theater|musical]] inspired by [[Ron Chernow]]'s 2004 biography [[Alexander Hamilton (book)|''Alexander Hamilton'']], with music, lyrics and book by [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]]. The musical won eleven Tony Awards and a [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]].<ref>{{cite web|work=Playbill|author=Robert Viagas|title=Hamilton Tops Tony Awards With 11 Wins|access-date=April 9, 2017|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/tony-time-its-broadways-biggest-night|date=June 13, 2016}}</ref>

===Sports===
Several major professional sports teams in the Northeastern United States are named for themes based on the founders:
* [[New England Patriots]] ([[National Football League]])
* [[New England Revolution]] ([[Major League Soccer]])
* [[New York Liberty]] ([[Women's National Basketball Association]])
* [[Philadelphia 76ers]] ([[National Basketball Association]])
* [[Washington Capitals]] ([[National Hockey League]])
* [[Washington Nationals]] ([[Major League Baseball]])

==Religious freedom==
Religious persecution had existed for centuries around the world and it existed in colonial America.<ref name=gelfand7>[[#gelfand1969|Gelfand, 1969]], pp. 7–8</ref><!-- NOTE: source mentions history of religious persecution but does not say it existed in colonial America --> Founders such as [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[James Madison]], [[Patrick Henry]], and [[George Mason]] first established a measure of religious freedom in [[Virginia]] in 1776 with the [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]], which became a model for religious liberty for the nation.<ref name="auto1">[[#gelfand1969|Gelfand, 1969]], p. 34, 37</ref> Prior to this, [[Baptists]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]], and [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] had for a decade petitioned against the [[Church of England]]'s efforts to suppress religious liberties in Virginia.

Jefferson left the Continental Congress to return to Virginia to join the fight for religious freedom, which proved difficult since many members of the Virginia legislature belonged to the established Church of England. While Jefferson was not completely successful, he managed to have repealed the various laws that were punitive toward those with different religious beliefs.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>[[#cogliano2006|Cogliano, 2006]], pp. 46, 56, 110</ref><ref name=meacham123>[[#meacham2012|Meacham, 2012]], p. 123</ref> Jefferson was the architect for [[Separation of church and state in the United States|separation of Church and State]], which opposed the use of public funds to support any established religion and believed it was unwise to link civil rights to religious doctrine.<ref>[[#cogliano2006|Cogliano, 2006]], pp. 151, 153</ref><ref name=meacham123/>

The United States Constitution, ratified in 1788, states in Article VI that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States". [[Freedom of religion in the United States|Freedom of religion]] and [[Freedom of speech in the United States|freedom of speech]] were further affirmed as the nation's law in the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]].<ref name="gelfand7" /> The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] of 1868 provided all Americans with "equal protection under the laws" and thus applied the First Amendment restriction against limiting the free exercise of religion to the states.<ref>see Library of Congress, "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic" (2023) [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06.html#:~:text=Prohibition%20of%20Religious%20Tests,full%20Convention%20on%20August%2030.online]</ref><ref>Steven Waldman, ''Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty'' (Random House, 2009).</ref>

Washington, a local leader of the Church of England, was also a strong proponent of religious freedom. He assured Baptists worried that the Constitution might not protect their religious liberties, that, "... certainly, I would never have placed my signature to it." Jews also viewed Washington as a champion of freedom and sought his assurances that they would enjoy complete religious freedom. Washington responded by declaring America's revolution in religion stood as an example for the rest of the world.<ref>[[#lambert=2003|Lambert, 2003]],  p. 260</ref>

== Slavery ==
{{Further|Slavery in the United States|George Washington and slavery|Thomas Jefferson and slavery|James Madison and slavery}}
[[File:George Washington by John Trumbull (1780).jpg|thumb|''[[George Washington (Trumbull)|George Washington and William Lee]]'', a 1780 portrait by [[John Trumbull]]]]
The Founding Fathers were not unified on the issue of slavery and continued to accommodate it within the new nation. Some were morally opposed to it and some attempted to end it in several of the colonies, but nationally, slavery remained protected. In her study of Jefferson, a slaveholder of 600 slaves, [[Annette Gordon-Reed]] notes ironically, "Others of the founders held slaves, but no other founder drafted the charter for American freedom".<ref name="reed2000">[[#reed2000|Gordon-Reed, 2000]], pp. 171–182</ref> As well as Jefferson, Washington and many other Founding Fathers were slaveowners; 41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration owned slaves. Some were conflicted by the institution, seeing it as immoral and politically divisive; Washington freed his slaves, in his will. Jay and Hamilton led the successful fight to outlaw the international slave trade in New York, with efforts beginning in 1777.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Founders and Slavery: John Jay Saves the Day|newspaper=The Economist |date=July 2011 |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/07/founders-and-slavery |access-date= April 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/inside/dev/jay/JaySlavery.html The Selected Papers of John Jay]</ref>
Thomas Jefferson included an anti-slavery clause in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence:<ref>{{cite web |title=(1776) The Deleted Passage of the Declaration of Independence • |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/declaration-independence-and-debate-over-slavery/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |date=10 August 2009}}</ref>

<blockquote>
"He [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he has obtruded them: thus paying off former crimes committed again the Liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another."
</blockquote>

Founders such as Samuel Adams and John Adams were against slavery. Rush wrote a pamphlet in 1773 which criticized the slave trade, and slavery. Rush argued scientifically that Africans are not intellectually or morally inferior, and any apparent evidence to the contrary is only the "perverted expression" of slavery, which "is so foreign to the human mind, that the moral faculties, as well as those of the understanding are debased, and rendered torpid by it." The Continental Association contained a clause which banned any [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] involvement in slave trading.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/notesonhistory00moorrich Notes on the history of slavery in Massachusetts], by [[George Henry Moore (author)]]</ref><ref>James A. Rawley and [[Stephen D. Behrendt]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=UQcOo4csdzEC&pg=PA271 ''The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A History'' (2008)]</ref><ref>Thomas N. Ingersoll, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qwdQDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA228 ''The Loyalist Problem in Revolutionary New England''] (2016)</ref><ref>[[#dolbeare2010|Dolbeare, 2010]], p. 44</ref>

Franklin, though a key founder of the [[Pennsylvania Abolition Society]],<ref name="Wright_p125">[[#wright2002|Wright, 2002]]</ref> owned slaves whom he [[Manumission|manumitted]] (released). While serving in the Rhode Island Assembly, in 1769 Hopkins introduced one of the earliest anti-slavery laws in the colonies. When Jefferson entered public life as a member of the House of Burgesses, he began as a social reformer by an effort to secure legislation permitting emancipation of slaves. <includeonly>Jefferson say's "In 1769, I became a member of the legislature…. I made one effort in that body for the permission of the emancipation of slaves, which was rejected", but the representatives of the Crown sought "to direct our labors in subservience to [the mother country's] interest…. and… the Royal negative closed the last door to every hope of amelioration."</includeonly> Jay founded the [[New York Manumission Society]] in 1785, for which Hamilton became an officer. They and other members of the Society founded the [[African Free School]] in New York, to educate the children of free blacks and slaves. When Jay was governor of New York in 1798, he helped secure and signed into law an abolition law; fully ending forced labor as of 1827. He freed his slaves in 1798. Hamilton opposed slavery, as his experiences left him familiar with it and its effect on slaves and slaveholders,<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org/about/teachers.html |last=Horton |first=James O. |year=2004 |title=Alexander Hamilton: Slavery and Race in a Revolutionary Generation |journal=New York Journal of American History |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=1151–1152 |access-date=October 29, 2016|doi=10.2307/3663046 |jstor=3663046 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> though he did negotiate slave transactions for his wife's family, the [[Schuyler family|Schuylers]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Magness, Phillip |title=Alexander Hamilton's Exaggerated Abolitionism |date=June 27, 2015 |access-date=April 6, 2017 |url=http://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/153639}}</ref> Evidence suggests Hamilton may have owned a house slave{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} and after the [[Jay Treaty]] was signed, Hamilton advocated that American slaves freed by the British during the war be forcibly returned to their enslavers.<ref>[[#serfilippi2020|Serfilippi, 2020]], pp. 1–3</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=The Founding Fathers and Slavery|access-date=April 9, 2017 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Founding-Fathers-and-Slavery-1269536}}</ref> Henry Laurens, ran the largest slave trading house in North America. In the 1750s alone, his firm, Austin and Laurens, handled sales of more than 8,000 Africans.<ref name=Brown>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/documents/SlaveryAndJustice.pdf |title=Slavery and Justice: Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice |publisher=Brown University |date=October 2006 }}</ref> 

[[Slavery in the United States|Slaves and slavery]] are mentioned indirectly in the 1787 Constitution. For example, [[Three-fifths Compromise|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 [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and direct taxes. Additionally, in [[Fugitive Slave Clause|Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3]], slaves are referred to as "persons held in service or labor".<ref name=Wright_p125/><ref name="Freehling_TAHR_p85">[[#freehling1972|Freehling, 1972]], p. 85</ref> The Founding Fathers made some efforts to contain slavery. Many Northern states had adopted legislation to end, or significantly reduce slavery, during and after the revolution.<ref name="Freehling_TAHR_p85"/> In 1782, Virginia passed a manumission law that allowed owners to free their slaves by will or deed.<ref name=Cambridge_p278>[[#cambridge2008|Cambridge History of Law, 2008]], p. 278</ref> As a result, thousands of slaves were manumitted in Virginia.<ref name=Cambridge_p278/> In the [[Ordinance of 1784]], Jefferson proposed to ban slavery in all the western territories, which failed to pass Congress by one vote. Partially following Jefferson's plan, Congress did ban slavery in the [[Northwest Ordinance]], for lands north of the [[Ohio River]]. The [[Atlantic slave trade|international slave trade]] was banned in all states except South Carolina by 1800. 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. However, the domestic slave trade was allowed for expansion or for diffusion of slavery into the [[Louisiana Territory]].<ref name=Freehling_TAHR_p85/>

===Reconstruction as a "Second Founding"===
{{further|Reconstruction Amendments|African American founding fathers of the United States}}
According to [[Jeffrey K. Tulis]] and Nicole Mellow:<ref>Jeffrey K. Tulis and Nicole Mellow, ''Legacies of losing in American politics'' (U of Chicago Press, 2018), p. 2. -</ref><blockquote>The Founding, Reconstruction (often called "the second founding"), and the New Deal are typically heralded as the most significant turning points in the country's history, with many observers seeing each of these as political triumphs through which the United States has come to more closely realize its liberal ideals of liberty and equality.</blockquote>  
Scholars such as [[Eric Foner]] have expanded the theme.<ref>Eric Foner, ''The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution'' (2020) [https://www.amazon.com/Second-Founding-Reconstruction-Remade-Constitution/dp/0393358526/ excerpt]</ref><ref>Ilan Wurman, ''The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment'' ( 2020) [https://www.amazon.com/Second-Founding-Introduction-Fourteenth-Amendment/dp/1108843158/ excerpt]</ref><ref>See also Garrett Epps,  "Second Founding: The Story of the Fourteenth Amendment." ''Oregon Law Review'' 85 (2006) pp: 895–911 [https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1239&context=all_fac online].</ref> Black abolitionists played a key role by stressing that freed blacks needed equal rights after slavery was abolished.<ref>David Hackett Fischer, ''African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals'' (Simon and Schuster, 2022) pp 1–3.[https://www.amazon.com/African-Founders-Enslaved-Expanded-American/dp/1982145099/  excerpt]
</ref> Biographer [[David Blight]] states that [[Frederick Douglass]], "played a pivotal role in America's Second Founding out of the apocalypse of the Civil War, and he very much wished to see himself as a founder and a defender of the Second American Republic."<ref>David W. Blight, ''Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom'' (Simon and Schuster, 2018) p. xv; winner of Pulitzer Prize; [https://www.amazon.com/Frederick-Douglass-David-W-Blight/dp/1416590323/ excerpt].</ref> Constitutional provision for racial equality for free blacks was enacted by a Republican Congress led by [[Thaddeus Stevens]], [[Charles Sumner]] and [[Lyman Trumbull]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Trefousse |first=Hans Louis |author-link=Hans L. Trefousse |title=The Radical Republicans Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1969 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/radicalrepublica0000tref/page/n11/mode/2up |pages=vii–viii}}/ref> Paul Rego, ''Lyman Trumbull and the Second Founding of the United States'' (University Press of Kansas, 2022)  pp. 1–2. [https://www.amazon.com/Trumbull-Founding-American-Political-Thought/dp/0700633499/ excerpt].</ref> The "second founding" comprised the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th]], [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th]] amendments to the Constitution. All citizens now had federal rights that could be enforced in federal court. In a deep reaction, after 1876 freedmen lost many of these rights and had second class citizenship in the era of lynching and [[Jim Crow laws]]. Finally in the 1950s the U.S., Supreme Court started to restore those rights. Under the leadership of [[Martin Luther King]] and [[James Bevel]], the [[Civil Rights movement]] made the nation aware of the crisis, and under [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|President Lyndon Johnson]] major civil rights legislation was passed in 1964–65, and 1968.<ref>{{cite book |last=Risen |first=Clay |title=The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act |publisher=Bloomsbury Press |year=2014 |location=New York |pages=2–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/billofcenturyepi0000rise/page/2/mode/2up |isbn=978-1608-19824-5}}</ref>

== Scholarly analysis ==
{{main|Historiography of the United States}}
There are thousands of historians who have written about the [[American Revolution]] era and the founding of the United States government. Some of the most prominent ones are listed below. While most scholarly works maintain overall objectivity, historian Arthur H. Shaffer notes that many of the early works about the American Revolution often express a national bias, or anti-bias. Shaffer maintains that this bias lends a direct insight into the minds of the founders and their adversaries respectively. He notes that any bias is the product of a national interest and prevailing political mood, and as such cannot be dismissed as having no historic value for the modern historian.<ref>Shaffer, 2017, Preface: {{isbn|978-1351477000}}</ref> Conversely, various modern accounts of history contain [[anachronisms]], modern day ideals and perceptions used in an effort to write about the past and as such can distort the historical account in an effort to placate a modern audience.<ref>[[#murison2013|Murison, 2013]], pp. 821–823</ref><ref>[[#grafton1990|Grafton, 1990]], pp. inside cover, 5, 35, 118</ref>

===Early historians===
Several of the earliest histories of the founding of the United States and its founders were written by [[Jeremy Belknap]], author of his three-volume work, ''The history of New-Hampshire'', published in 1784.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The History of New-Hampshire: Jeremy Belknap as Literary Craftsman|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|volume=21|issue=1|pages=18–39|jstor = 1923354|last1 = Kaplan|first1 = Sidney|year=1964|doi=10.2307/1923354}}</ref>
* [[Henry Adams]], grandson of [[John Quincy Adams]], wrote a nine-volume work, ''The History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison'', which is acclaimed for its literary style, documentary evidence, and first-hand knowledge of major figures during the early [[American Revolution|Revolutionary]] era.<ref>Cunningham, 1988: {{isbn|978-0813911823}}</ref>
* [[Rufus Wilmot Griswold]] authored ''Washington and the Generals of the Revolution'', a two-volume work, in 1885.
* [[Albert Bushnell Hart]], a [[Harvard University]] history professor, edited a 27-volume work, ''The American Nation: A History'', published in 1904–1918.<ref>[[#hart1904|Hart (ed.), 1904–1918]]</ref>
* [[John Marshall]], a [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]] Justice, published a two-volume biography of [[George Washington|Washington]] in 1832, three years before his death.
* [[David Ramsay (historian)|David Ramsay]] is regarded as one of the first major historians of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name="Cooney">[[#cooney1967|Cooney, 1967 Master of Arts Thesis]]</ref>
* [[Mercy Otis Warren]], who wrote extensively about the Revolution and post-Revolution eras, published all her works anonymously until 1790.<ref name="Cooney"/><ref>[[#bernstein2009|Bernstein, 2009]], p. 180</ref>
* [[Mason Locke Weems]] authored the first biography of Washington in 1800, which includes the famed story about a young Washington cutting down a cherry tree.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Furstenberg |first=François |year=2006 |title=In the Name of the Father: Washington's Legacy: Slavery and the Making of a Nation |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1594200922 |oclc=66527258|ref=furstenberg2006}}</ref>
* [[William Wirt (Attorney General)|William Wirt]] wrote the first biography on [[Patrick Henry]] in 1805, but was accused for excessive praise of Henry.<ref>Appleton's American Biography, v. 6, p. 579</ref>

===Modern historians===
Articles and books by these and other 20th- and 21st-century historians, combined with the digitization of primary sources such as handwritten letters, continue to contribute to an encyclopedic body of knowledge about the Founding Fathers:
* [[Ron Chernow]] won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for his 2010 [[Washington: A Life|biography of Washington]]. His 2004 [[Alexander Hamilton (book)|bestselling book ''Alexander Hamilton'']] inspired the 2015 blockbuster [[Hamilton (musical)|musical of the same name]].
* [[Douglas Southall Freeman]] wrote an extensive seven volume biography on [[George Washington|Washington]]. Historian and George Washington biographer [[John E. Ferling]] maintains that no other biography for Washington compares to that of Freeman's work.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 654</ref>
* [[Dumas Malone]] is noted for his six-volume biography ''Jefferson and His Time'', for which he received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize, and for his co-editorship of the 20-volume ''[[Dictionary of American Biography]]''.

* [[Annette Gordon-Reed]] is an American historian and [[Harvard Law School]] professor. She is noted for changing scholarship on Jefferson regarding his alleged relationship with [[Sally Hemings]] and her children. She has studied the challenges faced by the Founding Fathers, particularly as it relates to their position and actions on slavery.<ref name="reed2000" />
* [[Jack P. Greene]] is an American historian who specializes in colonial-era American history.
* [[David McCullough]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]–winning 2001 book ''[[John Adams (book)|John Adams]]'' focuses on [[John Adams|Adams]], and his 2005 book, ''[[1776 (book)|1776]]'' details Washington's military history in the American Revolution and other independence events carried out by America's founders.<ref>[[#mccullough2001|McCullough, 2001]], 751 pages</ref>
* [[Peter S. Onuf]] and [[Jack N. Rakove]] have researched Jefferson extensively.

According to American historian [[Joseph 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, such as [[Andrew Jackson]], [[Henry Clay]], [[Daniel Webster]], and [[John C. Calhoun]], the founders represented heroic but anonymous abstraction whose long shadow fell across all followers and whose legendary accomplishments defied comparison.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

{{Quote box
|align=right
|width=35%
|quote=We can win no laurels in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us&nbsp;... [as] the founders of states. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a great duty of defence and preservation.
|source=[[Daniel Webster]], 1825<ref>{{cite book|last=Webster |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Webster |title=Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration |publisher=Silver, Burdett and Company |date=1897 |location=Boston |page=24 |url=https://archive.org/details/danielwebstersfi01webs/page/24/mode/2up}}</ref>
|}}

===Noted collections===
* [[Adams Papers Editorial Project]], an ongoing project by the Massachusetts Historical Society to organize, transcribe, and documents authored by and by the family of [[John Adams]], his wife [[Abigail Adams]], and their family, including [[John Quincy Adams]]
* [[Founders Online]], a searchable database of over 184,000 documents authored by or addressed to George Washington, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison
* [[The Papers of Benjamin Franklin]] at [[Yale University]]
* [[The Papers of James Madison]] at the [[University of Virginia]]
* [[The Papers of Thomas Jefferson]] at [[Princeton University]]
* [[The Selected Papers of John Jay]] at [[Columbia University]]
* [[The Washington Papers]] at the University of Virginia

==See also==

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence]]
* [[Signing of the United States Constitution]]
* [[History of the United States Constitution]]
* [[Timeline of drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution]]
* [[Journals of the Continental Congress]]
* [[Adams Memorial]] – proposed
* [[Benjamin Franklin National Memorial]]
* [[Jefferson Memorial]]
* [[James Madison Memorial Building]]
* [[George Mason Memorial]]
* [[Washington Monument]]
* [[Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence]]
* [[American Descendants of Slavery]]
* [[Father of the Nation]]
* [[List of national founders]]
* [[Rights of Englishmen]]
* [[Founderism]]
* [[List of original members of the Society of the Cincinnati]]
* [[List of films about the American Revolution|Films about the American Revolution]]
* [[List of plays and musicals about the American Revolution|Plays and musicals about the American Revolution]]
* [[List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution|Television shows about the American Revolution]]

{{end div col}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{further|Bibliography of George Washington|&nbsp;Bibliography of Benjamin Franklin|&nbsp;Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson|Bibliography of the United States Constitution}}
{{refbegin|22em}}
===Books===
<!-- A -->
* {{cite book |last=Adams |first=John |title=Diary and Autobiography of John Adams |author-link=John Adams |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |year=1961 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/diaryautobiograp02adam |ref=adams1961}}
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* {{cite book |last=Adler |first=Bill |title=America's Founding Fathers: Their Uncommon Wisdom and Wit |location=Lanham, Maryland; Boulder; New York |year=2015 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/americasfounding0000unse_z7h8 
|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield
|ref=adler2015}}
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* {{cite book |last=Alexander |first=John K. |title=Samuel Adams: America's Revolutionary Politician |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2002 |isbn=978-0742521148 |url=https://archive.org/details/samueladamsameri0000alex |ref=alexander2002}}
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* {{cite book|editor-last=Allain |editor-first=Jean |editor-link=Jean Allain |title=The Legal Understanding of Slavery: From the Historical to the Contemporary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |location=Oxford, UK |url=https://archive.org/details/legalunderstandi0000unse/mode/2up |isbn=978-0199660469 |ref=Allain2012}}
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* {{cite book|last=Allen |first=Steven W. |title=Founding Fathers: Uncommon Heroes |publisher=Legal Awareness Series |date=2002 |location=Mesa, Arizona |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingfathersu0000alle |isbn= 1879033763 |ref=allen2002}}
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* {{cite book |last=Ammerman |first=David |title=In the Common Cause: American Response to the Coercive Acts of 1774 |location=Charlottesville |publisher=University Press of Virginia |year=1974 |isbn=978-0813905259 |url=https://archive.org/details/incommoncauseame0000amme/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=ammerman1974}}
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* {{cite book |last=Andrilk |first=Todd |title=Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It Was History, It Was News |location=Naperville, Illinois |publisher=Sourcebooks |year=2012 |isbn=978-1402269677 |url=https://archive.org/details/reportingrevolut0000unse/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=andrilk2012}}
<!-- B -->
* {{cite book |last=Beard |first=Charles A. |author-link=Charles A. Beard |title=An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States |publisher=The Macmillan Company |date=1914 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/economicinterpre00bear_3/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=Beard1914}}
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* {{cite book|last=Beeman |first=Richard R. |author-link=Richard Beeman |title=Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution |publisher=Random House |date=2009 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/plainhonestmenm00beem/page/n7/mode/2up |isbn=978-1400065707 |ref=beeman2009}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Richard B. |author-link=Richard B. Bernstein |title=Are We to Be a Nation? The Making of the Constitution |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1987 |location=Cambridge, MA |url=https://archive.org/details/arewetobenationm00bern |isbn=978-0674044753 |ref=berstein1987}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Richard B. |author-mask=2 |title=The Founding Fathers Reconsidered |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |orig-date=2009 |isbn=978-0199832576 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingfathersr0000bern/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=bernstein2009}}
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* {{cite book |last=Boston City Council |title=Celebration of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1925 |location=Boston |publisher=Boston City Council |year=1925 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5OvzewHm1YC |ref=boston1925}}
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* {{cite book|last=Bowen| first=Catherine |title=Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787 |location=New York |publisher=Little, Brown |year=1986 |orig-date=1966 |isbn=978-0316102612 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781415548141/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=bowen1966}}
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* {{cite book|last=Bowman |first=John Stewart |title=The Founding Fathers: The Men Behind the Nation |publisher=World Publications Group |date=2005 |location=North Deighton, Massachusetts |isbn=1572154365 |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingfathersm0000bowm/ |ref=bowman2005}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bradford |first=Melvin Eustace |title=Founding Fathers: Brief Lives of the Framers of the United States Constitution |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=1994 |location=Lawrence |isbn=978-0700606566 |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingfathersb0000brad/mode/2up |ref=bradford1994}}
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* {{cite book |last=Braff |first=David |year=2009 |title=Forgotten Founding Father: The Impact of Thomas Paine; In Search of the Common Good |chapter=Forgotten Founding Father: The Impact of Thomas Paine |publisher=Spokesman Books |editor=Joyce Chumbley |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BRAFFF |ref=braff2009}}
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* {{cite book |last=Brands |first=H. W. |title=The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |year=2000 |isbn=978-0385495400 |url=https://archive.org/details/firstamericanlif00bran |ref=brands2000}}
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* {{cite book|last=Burnett |first=Edmund Cody |title=The Continental Congress |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1941 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/continentalcongr0000burn/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=burnett1941}}
<!-- C -->
* {{cite book |last=Callahan |first=Kerry P. |title=The Articles of Confederation: A Primary Source Investigation Into the Document That Preceded the U.S. Constitution |location=New York |publisher=Rosen Primary Source |year=2003 |isbn=978-0823937998 |url=https://archive.org/details/articlesofconfed00call |ref=callahan2003}}
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* {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Norine Dickson |title=Patrick Henry: Patriot and Statesman |location=New York |publisher=Devin-Adair Co. |year=1969 |isbn=978-0815965015 |url=https://archive.org/details/patrickhenrypatr0000camp/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22second+continental+congress%22 |ref=campbell1969}}
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* {{cite book |last=Carp |first=Benjamin L. |title=Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America |year=2010 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300117059 |url=https://archive.org/details/defianceofpatrio00benj/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=carp2010}}
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* {{cite book |last=Cary |first=John Henry |title=Joseph Warren: Physician, Politician, Patriot |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |year=1961 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/josephwarrenphys00cary/ |ref=cary1961}}
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* {{cite book |last=Chaffin |first=Robert J. |year=1999 |chapter=The Townshend Acts crisis, 1767–1770 |location=Malden, Massachusetts |publisher=Blackwell |title=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution |editor1=Jack P. Greene |editor2=[[Jack Pole|J.R. Pole]] |isbn=1557865477 |ref=chaffin1991}}
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* {{cite book |last=Chernow |first=Ron |author-link=Ron Chernow |title=Washington: A Life |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1594202667 |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtonlife0000cher |ref=chernow2010}}
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* {{cite book |last=Chernow |first=Ron |title=Alexander Hamilton |author-mask=2 |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0143034759 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto0000cher_y4u1 |ref=chernow2004}}
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* {{cite book |last=Chorlton |first=Thomas Patrick |title=The First American Republic 1774–1789 |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2011 |isbn=978-1456753887 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QseFSxXzuGgC |ref=chorlton2011}}
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* {{cite book |last=Cogliano |first=Francis D. |title=Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy |location=Charlottesville |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0813927336 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersonr0000cogl/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=cogliano2006}}
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* {{cite book |last=Conant |first=Sean |date=2015 |title=The Gettysburg Address: Perspectives on Lincoln's Greatest Speech |url=https://archive.org/details/gettysburgaddres0000unse/page/n3/mode/2up |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190227456 |ref=conant2015}}
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* {{cite book|title=Concise Dictionary of American Biography  |publisher=Scribner |date=1997 |location=New York |edition=5 |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/concisedictionar00char_0/ |isbn=0684805499 |ref=concise1997v1}}
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* {{cite book|title=Concise Dictionary of American Biography  |publisher=Scribner |date=1997 |location=New York |edition=5 |volume=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/concisedictionar00char/ |isbn=0684805499 |ref=concise1997v2}}
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* {{cite book|last=Congress |first=United States |title=Journals of Congress: Containing Their Proceedings from September 5, 1774, to January 1, 1776 |publisher=Folwell's Press |date=1800 |location=Philadelphia |url=https://archive.org/details/journalsofcongre00unit_5/ |ref=Congress1775}}
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* {{cite book|last=Dangerfield |first=George |title=Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York, 1746–1813 |publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Co. |location=New York |date=1960 |url=https://archive.org/details/chancellorrobert00dang/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=dangerfield1960}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Deetz |first=James F.|title=In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life|publisher=Anchor Books, Doubleday|year=1996|location=New York |isbn=978-0385080316 |url=https://archive.org/details/insmallthingsfor00deet/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=deetz1996}}
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* {{cite book|last1=Dolbeare |first1=Kenneth M. |last2=Cummings |first2=Michael S.|title=American political thought|edition=6|year=2010 |ref=dolbeare2010}}
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* {{cite book |last=Dugan |first=Nicholas |title=Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father |publisher=New York University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0814721124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_zChBwAAQBAJ |ref=dugan2010 }}
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* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |author-link=Joseph J. Ellis |year=2007 |title=American Creation |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/americancreation0000elli_t3w8/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=978-0307267740 |ref=ellis2007}}
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* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |author-mask=2 |title=Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2000 |isbn=978-0375405440 |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingbrothers0000elli_s9z2 |ref=ellis2000}}
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* {{cite book|last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |author-mask=2 |title=The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783–1789 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2015 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/quartetorchestra0000elli_e0g0 |isbn=978-0385353403 |ref=ellis2015}}
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* [[Joseph Ellis|Ellis, Joseph]]. ''Founding Fathers: The Essential Guide to the Men Who Made America'' (Encyclopædia Britannica: John Wiley and Sons, 2007) [https://archive.org/details/foundingfatherse0000unse/mode/2up online]; short biographies of leaders
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* {{cite book |last=Farrand |first=Max |author-link=Max Farrand |title=The Framing of the Constitution of the United States |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1913 |location=New Haven, CT |url=https://archive.org/details/framingofconstit0000farr_c4j2/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=farrand1913}} {{ isbn|978-0300004458 }}.
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* {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |title=Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence |author-link=John Ferling |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0199758470 |url=https://archive.org/details/almostmiracleame0000ferl/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=ferling2007}}
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* {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |title=Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation |author-mask=2 |location=New York |publisher=Bloomsbury Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1608195435 |url=https://archive.org/details/jeffersonhamilto0000ferl |ref=ferling2014}}
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* {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |title=John Adams, A Life |author-mask=2 |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt & Co. |year=1996 |isbn=978-0805045765 |url=https://archive.org/details/johnadamslife0000ferl_h6y7 |ref=ferling1996}}
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* {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |author-mask=2 |title=Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/settingworldabla0000ferl/page/n3/mode/2up |isbn=0195134095 |ref=ferling2002}}
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* {{cite book |last=Fowler |first=William M. |author-link=William M. Fowler |title=The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography of John Hancock |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |date=1980 |url=https://archive.org/details/baronofbeaconhil0000fowl |isbn=0395276195|ref=Fowler1980}}
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* {{cite book |last=Franklin |first=Benjamin |title=Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin with His Essays and Will |author-link=Benjamin Franklin |editor=Henry Altemus |location=Chicago |publisher=W. B. Conkey Co. |year=1895 |orig-date=1790 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/autobiography00fran/page/n9/mode/2up |ref=franklin'auto}}
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* {{cite book |last=Frazer |first=Gregg L. |title=The religious beliefs of America's founders : Reason, Revelation, and Revolution  |publisher=Lawrence, Kansas. : University Press of Kansas |year=2012 |isbn=978-0700618453 |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousbel_fraz_2012_000_10692050/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=frazer2012}}
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* {{cite book |last=Friedenwald |first=Herbert |author-mask=2 |title=The Declaration of independence, an interpretation and an analysis |location=New York |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1904 |url=https://archive.org/details/declarationofind00frierich/page/n7/mode/2up?q=dunlap |ref=friedenwald1904}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Furstenberg |first=François |year=2006 |title=In the Name of the Father: Washington's Legacy: Slavery and the Making of a Nation |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |url=https://archive.org/details/innameoffather00furs/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=978-1594200922 |oclc=66527258|ref=furstenberg2006}}
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* {{cite book |editor-last=Garraty |editor-first=John Arthur |editor2-last=Carnes |editor2-first=Mark Christopher |title=American National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=1 |date=1999 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/americannational01garr/ |isbn=0195206355 |ref=ambio}}
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* {{cite book |last=Gelfand |first=Ravina |title=The freedom of religion in America |publisher=Minneapolis, Lerner Publications Co |year=1969 |isbn=978-0822502197 |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomofreligio0000gelf/mode/2up?q=madison |ref=gelfand1969}}
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* {{cite book |last=Goodall |first=Jane |author-link=Jane Goodall |date=2013 |title=Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants |publisher=Grand Central Publishing  |url=https://archive.org/details/seedsofhopewisdo0000good/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=978-1455513215 |ref=goodall2013}}
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* {{cite book |last=Grafton |first=Anthony |title=Forgers and Critics: Creativity and Duplicity in Western Scholarship |location=Princeton, N.J. |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0691191836 |url=https://archive.org/details/forgerscriticscr00graf_0 |ref=grafton1990}}
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* {{cite book |last=Griswold |first=Rufus Wilmot|year=1855 |title=The Republican Court, or, American Society in the Days of Washington |publisher=D. Appleton & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/republicancourt00grisrich/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=griswald1855}}
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* {{cite book |editor1=Grossberg, Michael |editor2=Tomlins, Christopher | year=2008 |title=The Cambridge History of Law in America |volume=1–3 |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory0001unse_l8p6 |ref=cambridge2008}}
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* {{cite book |editor1-first=Albert Bushnell |editor1-last=Hart |editor1-link=Albert Bushnell Hart |title= The American Nation – A History|volume=I |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Bros. |year=1904–1918 |url=https://archive.org/details/americannationhi01hartuoft/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=hart1904}}
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* {{cite book |last=Holmes |first=David |author-link=David L. Holmes |year=2006 |title=The Faiths of the Founding Fathers |title-link=The Faiths of the Founding Fathers |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |ref=holmes2006}}
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* {{cite book |last=Isaacson |first=Walter |title=Benjamin Franklin: An American Life  |author-link=Walter Isaacson |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2004 |isbn=978-0684807614 |url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin0000isaa |ref=isaacson2004}}
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* {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Merrill |title=The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763–1776 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1968 |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingofnation0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=jensen1968}}
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* {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Merrill |author-mask=2 |title=The Making of the American Constitution | publisher=Van Nostrand |year=1964 |location=Princeton, NJ |url=https://archive.org/details/makingofamerican0000jens/page/n1/mode/2up |ref=jensen1964}} {{isbn|0442000758 }}.
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* {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Merrill |author-mask=2 |title=The New Nation 1781–1789 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. |year=1950 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/newnation17811780000merr/page/420/mode/2up |ref=jensen1950}}
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* {{cite book |last1=Jillson |first1=Calvin C. |last2=Wilson |first2=Rick K. |title=Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774–1789 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0804722933 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82_KQwDU5eYC&q=laurens |ref=jillson1994}}
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* {{cite book |last=Jillson |first=Calvin C. |author-mask=2 |title=American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change |edition=8th |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2016 |orig-date=2009 |isbn=978-1317666790 | url=https://archive.org/details/americangovernme0000jill_g2h8/mode/2up |ref=jilson2016}}
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* {{cite book |last=Kann |first=Mark E. |year=1999 |title=The Gendering of American Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Fathers, and Political Patriarchy |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0275961121 |url=https://archive.org/details/genderingofameri0000kann |ref=kann1999}}
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* {{cite book |last=Kendall  |first=Joshua C. |title=The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=2010 |isbn=978-1101486542 |url=https://archive.org/details/forgottenfoundin00kend |ref=kendall2010}}
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* {{cite book |last=Kidd |first=Thomas S.|year=2011|title=Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots |location=New York |publisher=Basic Books |url=https://archive.org/details/patrickhenryfirs0000kidd_o4b5 |isbn=978-0465009282 |ref=kidd2011}}
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* {{cite book |last=Labunski |first=Richard E. |title=James Madison and The Struggle for the Bill of Rights |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0199740994 |url=https://archive.org/details/jamesmadisonstru00rich/mode/2up |ref=labunski2006}}
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* {{cite book |last=Lambert |first=Franklin T. |author-link=Franklin T. Lambert |year=2003 |title=The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publication-date=2006 |isbn=978-0691126029 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/foundin_lam_2003_00_2547 |ref=lambert=2003}}
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* {{cite book |editor-last=Levy |editor-first=Michael I. |title=The Founding Fathers |year=2010 |publisher=Fall River Press (Encyclopædia Britannica) |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingfathers0000unse |isbn=978-1435123892 |ref=britannica2010}}
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* {{cite book |editor-last=MacDonald |editor-first=William |title=Select charters and other documents illustrative of American history, 1606–1775 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan Co. |year=1899 |url=https://archive.org/details/selectchartersot0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22Declaration+and+Resolves%22 |ref=charters1899}}
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* {{cite book |last=Maier |first=Pauline |title=American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence |author-link=Pauline Maier |location=New York |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-0307791955 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanscriptur00paul |ref=maier1998}}
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* {{cite book |last=Maier |first=Pauline |author-mask=2 |title=Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2010 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/ratificationpeop0000maie/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=978-0684868547 |ref=maier2010}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=III  |editor= |author-link=Dumas Malone |publisher=New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer03ilamer/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=malone3}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=IV  |editor= |author-link=Dumas Malone |publisher=New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1930 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer04ilamer/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=malone4}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=V |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.174528 |ref=malone5}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=VI |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer06ilamer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone6}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=VII  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer07ilamer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone7}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=IX  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer09ilamer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone9}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=X  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer10ilamer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone10}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=XI  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer11amer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone11}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=XIII  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1934 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer13amer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone13}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=XIV  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1934 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer14amer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone14}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=XVII  |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1935 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer17amer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone17}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=XVIII |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1936 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer18amer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone18}}
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* {{cite book |last=Malone |title=Dictionary of American biography |volume=XX |editor= |publisher=<br />New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |author-mask=2 |year=1936 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer19amer/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=malone20}}
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* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=James Kirby |year=1973 |title=Men in Rebellion: Higher Governmental Leaders and the coming of the American Revolution |location=New Brunswick, NJ |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0813507507 |url=https://archive.org/details/meninrebellionhi0000mart/ |ref=martin1973}}
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* {{cite book |last=McCullough |first=David G. |title=John Adams |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=978-0743218290 |url=https://archive.org/details/johnadams00mccu |ref=mccullough2001}}
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* {{cite book |last=McCullough |first=David G. |author-link=David G. McCullough |author-mask=2 |title=1776 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=2006 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/1776mccu00mccu/ |isbn=0743226712 |ref=mccullough2006}}
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* {{cite book |last=McLaughin |first=Andrew Cunningham |title=The Foundations of American Constitutionalism |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange |year=2002 |isbn=978-1584772279 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgiltAGGbIoC&q=founders |ref=mclaughin2002}}
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* {{cite book |last=Meacham |first=Jon |title=Thomas Jefferson |author-link=Jon Meacham |publisher=Random House |year=2012 |isbn=978-0307990877 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac |ref=meacham2012}}
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* {{cite book |last=Meany |first=William Barry |title=Commodore John Barry, the father of the American navy: a survey of extraordinary episodes in his naval career |publisher=Harper & brothers, New York, London |year=1911 |url=https://archive.org/details/commodorejohnba00meangoog}}
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* {{cite book |last=Morris |first=Richard B. |author-link=Richard B. Morris |title=Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1973 |isbn=978-0060904548 |url=https://archive.org/details/sevenwhoshapedou00morr |ref=morris1973}}
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* {{cite book |last=Morris |first=Richard B. |title=The Peacemakers: The Great Powers & American Independence |author-mask=2 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |year=1965 |isbn=978-0930350369 |url=https://archive.org/details/peacemakersgrea00morr |ref=morris1965}}
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* {{cite book |last=Morton |first=Joseph |title=Shapers of the Great Debate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Biographical Dictionary |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0313330216 |url=https://archive.org/details/shapersofgreatde0000mort |ref=morton2006}}
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* {{cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Michael Joseph |title=Hercules Mulligan, confidential correspondent of General Washington |location=New York |publisher=P.J. Kenedy & Sons |year=1937|url=https://archive.org/details/herculesmulligan00obri/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=obrien1937}}
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* {{cite book |last=Onuf |first=Peter S. |title=The Mind of Thomas Jefferson, Chapter:'Jefferson's Religion: Priestcraft, Enlightenment and the Republican Revolution |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2007 |author-link=Peter S. Onuf |isbn=978-0813926117 |ref=onuf2007}}
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* {{cite book |last=Perry |first=Richard L.|title=Sources of our liberties; documentary origins of individual liberties in the United States Constitution and Bill of rights |location=Chicago |publisher=American Bar Foundation |year=1959 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/sourcesofourlibe0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=perry1959}}
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* {{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Kevin |title=1775: A Good Year for Revolution |year=2012 |location=New York |publisher=Viking Press |isbn=978-0670025121 |url=https://archive.org/details/1775goodyearforr0000phil/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=phillips2012}}
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* {{cite book |last=Rakove |first=Jack N. |author-link=Jack N. Rakove |author-mask= |title=Revolutionaries: Inventing an American Nation |publisher=William Heinemann |year=2010 |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionariesi0000rako |isbn=978-0434010578 |ref=rakove2010}}
* {{cite book |last=Renehan |first=Edward  |title=The Treaty of Paris: The Precursor to a New Nation |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1438104300 |url=https://archive.org/details/treatyofparispre0000rene |ref=renehan2007}}
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* {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Cokie |author-link=Cokie Roberts |title=Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation |publisher=Harper Large Print |date=2004 |location=New York |isbn=0060533315 |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingmothersw0000robe |ref=roberts2004}}
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* {{cite book |last=Scaife |first=Lauriston L.  |title=Milton and the Suffolk resolves |publisher=Milton Historical Society |year=1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/miltonsuffolkres00scai/page/n1/mode/2up?q=suffolk+resolves |ref=scaife1921}}
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* {{cite book |last=Sehat |first=David |title=The Jefferson rule : how the founding fathers became infallible and our politics inflexible |volume= |publisher=New York : Simon & Schuster |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4767-7977-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/jeffersonrulehow0000seha_n3f6 |ref=sehat2015 }}
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* {{cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Laurens R.  |title=Jews and the American Revolution: Haym Salomon and Others  |publisher=McFarland |year=1987 |isbn=978-0899502205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RF92AAAAMAAJ |ref=schwartz1987}}
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* {{cite book |last=Serfilippi |first=Jessie |title=An Odious and Immoral aThing  |publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation |date=November 2020 |url=https://parks.ny.gov/documents/historic-sites/SchuylerMansionAlexanderHamiltonsHiddenHistoryasanEnslaver.pdf  |ref=serfilippi2020}}
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* {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=David O. |title=Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America |author-link=David O. Stewart |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2015 |isbn=978-1451688597 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=poGMCwAAQBAJ |ref=stewart2015}}
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* {{cite book |last=Umbreit |first=Kenneth Bernard |title=Founding Fathers: Men Who Shaped Our Tradition |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1941 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYMTAQAAMAAJ |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=umbreit1941}}
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* {{cite book |last=Unger |first=Harlow |title=James Monroe: The Last Founding Father |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-0306818080 |url=https://archive.org/details/lastfoundingfath0000unge |ref=unger2009}}
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* {{cite book|last=Van Doren |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Van Doren |title=The Great Rehearsal: The Story of the Making and Ratifying of the Constitution of the United States |publisher=Viking Press |year=1986 |orig-date=1st published 1948 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/greatrehearsalth00vand/page/n3/mode/2up|isbn=978-0140089653 |ref=vandoren1986}}
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* {{cite book|last=Walsh |first=James J. |title=Education of the Founding Fathers of the Republic: Scholasticism in the Original Colleges |publisher=Fordham University Press |year=1935 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/educationoffound0000wals/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=walsh1935}}
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* {{cite book |last=Warren |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Warren (U.S. author) |title=The Making of the Constitution |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |year=1928 |location=Boston |url=https://archive.org/details/makingofconstitu0000warr/page/n5/mode/2up |ref=warren1928}}
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* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Gordon S. |author-link=Gordon S. Wood |title=The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1969 |url=https://archive.org/details/creationofameric0000wood/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=978-0807847237 |ref=wood1969}}
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* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Gordon S. |author-mask=2 |year=2006 |title=Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founding Fathers Different |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-1594200939 |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionarycha00gord/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=wood2006}}
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* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=William D. |title=Critical Reflections on Black History |year=2002 |page=125 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |location=[[Westport, Connecticut]] |isbn=978-0275974435 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYs4YUVGtewC |ref=wright2002}}
<!-- Y -->
* {{cite book |last=Yafa |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Yafa |title=Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZoxe0aO9AEC |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin |page=75 |isbn=978-0143037224 |ref=yafa2006}}
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* {{cite book |editor1-last=Young |editor1-first=Alfred F. |editor1-link=Alfred F. Young |editor2-last=Nash |editor2-first=Gary B. |editor2-link=Gary B. Nash |editor3-last=Raphael |editor3-first=Ray |editor3-link=Ray Raphael |title=Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2011 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionaryfou0000unse/page/n3/mode/2up |isbn=978-0-307-27110-5 |ref=young2011}}
{{refend}}

===Journal articles===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Altman |first=John A. |title=The Articles and the Constitution: Similar in Nature, Different in Design |journal=Pennsylvania Legacies  |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |volume=3 |issue=1 |date=May 2003 |pages=20–21 |jstor=27764871 |ref=altman2003}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Bellia |first1=Anthony J. |last2=Clark |first2=Bradford R. |title=The International Law Origins of American Federalism |journal=Columbia Law Review |pages=835–940 |publisher= Columbia Law Review Association |volume=120 |issue=4 |date=May 2020 |jstor=26915803 |ref=bellia2020}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Bowling |first1=Kenneth R. |title=Good-by "Charle": The Lee-Adams Interest and the Political Demise of Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, 1774–1789 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |date=1976 |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=314–335 |jstor=20091077 |ref=bowling1976}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=Julian P. |date=January 1950 |author-link=Julian P. Boyd |title=The Disputed Authorship of the Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, 1775 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20088116 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=51–73|jstor=20088116 |ref=boydauthorship}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Richard D. |title=The Founding Fathers of 1776 and 1787: A Collective View |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |date=July 1976 |volume=33| issue=3 |pages=465–480 |doi=10.2307/1921543 |jstor=1921543 |ref=brown1976}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Buchanan |first=John |title=Founding Fighters: The Battlefield Leaders Who Made American Independence (review) |journal=The Journal of Military History |volume=71 |number=2 |date=April 2007 |pages=522–524 |doi=10.1353/jmh.2007.0098 |s2cid=159710300 |ref=buchanan2007}}
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* {{cite thesis |last=Cooney |first=Charles W. |date=July 10, 1967 |type=Master of Arts |title=The American revolution and the Post-Revolutionary Generation of American Historians |publisher=Marquette University |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |url=https://www.marquette.edu/library/theses/already_uploaded_to_IR/coone_c_1967.pdf |ref=cooney1967}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=de Roulhac Hamilton |first1=J.G. |date=1933 |title=Southern Members of the Inns of Court |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23514971.pdf |journal=The North Carolina Historical Review |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=273–286 |jstor=23514971 |access-date=October 4, 2022 |ref=NCReview}}
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* {{Cite journal |title=Founding Father Thomas Paine: He Genuinely Abhorred Slavery |journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education |issue=48 |pages=45 |date=2005 |jstor=25073236 |ref=journal2005}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Freehling |first=William W. |title=The Founding Fathers and Slavery |date=February 1972 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=77 |pages=81–93 |number=1 |doi=10.2307/1856595 |jstor=1856595 |ref=freehling1972}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Friedenwald |first=Herbert |title=The Continental Congress |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_pennsylvania-magazine-of-history-and-biography_1895_19_2/page/196 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |pages=197–207 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |volume=19 |issue=2 |year=1895 |jstor=20083644 |ref=friedenwald1895}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Greene |first=Jack P. |title=The Social Origins of the American Revolution: An Evaluation and an Interpretation |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=88 |issue=1 |date=March 1973 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.2307/2148646 |jstor=2148646 |ref=greene1973}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Lutz |first=Donald S.  |title=The Articles of Confederation as the Background to the Federal Republic |journal=Publius |pages=55–70 |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=20 |issue=1 |date=Winter 1990  |jstor=3330362  |doi=  10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a037862 |ref=lutz1990}}
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* {{cite journal |last=McWilliams |first=J. |title=The Faces of Ethan Allen: 1760–1860 |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=257–282 |doi=10.2307/364502 |date=June 1976 |jstor=364502 |ref=mcwilliams1976}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Murison  |first=Justine S.  |title=Anachronism, Literary Historicism, and Miraculous Plagues |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |pages=821–823 |publisher= Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture |volume=70 |issue=4 |date=October 2013 |jstor= 10.5309/willmaryquar.70.4.0821|doi=  10.5309/willmaryquar.70.4.0821 |ref=murison2013}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Padover |first1=Saul K. |date=1958 |title=The World of the Founding Fathers |journal=Social Research |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=191–214 |jstor=40982556 |ref=padover1958}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Ramage |first1=C.J.|date=1922 |title=Randolph|journal=The Virginia Law Register|volume=8 |issue=6 |pages=415–418 |doi=10.2307/1105871 |jstor=1105871 |ref=ramage1922}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Gordon-Reed  |first=Annette  |title=Engaging Jefferson: Blacks and the Founding Father |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |pages=171–182 |publisher=Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture |volume=57 |issue=1 |date=January 2000   |jstor=2674364 |doi=  10.2307/2674364|pmid=18273995 |ref=reed2000}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Swindler |first=William F. |title=Our First Constitution: The Articles of Confederation |journal=American Bar Association Journal |pages=166–169 |publisher=American Bar Association |volume=67 |issue=2 |date=February 1981  |jstor=20746978  |ref=swindler1981}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=R. E. |title=Thomas Willing (1731–1821): Philadelphia Financier and Forgotten Founding Father |journal=Pennsylvania History |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=525–560 |jstor=27773931 |date=Autumn 1996 |ref=wright1996}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Young |first=Rowland L. |title=The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union |journal=American Bar Association Journal |pages=1572–1575 |publisher=American Bar Association |volume=63 |issue=11 |date=November 1977 |jstor=20745080 |ref=young1977}}
{{refend}}

===Online sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
<!-- NOTE: Please try to maintain alphabetical order by Author/Last Name...if there is no author, use Publisher's name (institution or organization) as Last Name and delete Publisher...see entries below for examples -->
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* {{cite web |last=Adams |first=John Quincy |title=Executive Order [on the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams] |date=July 11, 1826 |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-the-deaths-thomas-jefferson-and-john-adams |others=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley |website=The American Presidency Project |access-date=June 9, 2022 |publisher=University of California Santa Barbara |ref=ex'order1826 }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/qadams.asp |title=Inaugural Address of John Quincy Adams |last=Adams |first=John Quincy |date=March 4, 1825 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu |publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]] |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=quincy1825 }}
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* {{cite web |title=Declaration of Independence |last=[[Architect of the Capitol]] |url=https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/declaration-independence |access-date=June 27, 2022 |ref=key }}
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* {{cite web|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/harding.asp|title=Inaugural Address of Warren G. Harding|last=Harding|first=Warren G.|date=March 4, 1921|website=avalon.law.yale.edu|publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]]|access-date=June 9, 2022|ref=harding1921}}
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* {{cite web |url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/first-continental-congress/ |last=Horan |first=Katherine |title=First Continental Congress |website=mountvernon.org |publisher=George Washington's Mount Vernon |access-date=March 4, 2022 |ref=firstcongress }}
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* {{cite web|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jefinau2.asp|title=Thomas Jefferson Second Inaugural Address|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas|date=March 4, 1805|website=avalon.law.yale.edu|publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]]|access-date=June 9, 2022|ref=jefferson1805}}
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* {{cite web|url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/12/how-do-you-define-founding-fathers/|title=How Do You Define Founding Fathers?|date=December 1, 2015|website=allthingsliberty.com|last=Journal of the American Revolution|access-date=March 3, 2022|ref=allthingsliberty, essay}}
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* {{cite web |url=https://www.gothamcenter.org/robert-livingston-papers |last=Livingston |first=Robert R. |title=The Robert Livingston Papers |website=gothamcenter.org |publisher=The Gotham Center for New York City History |access-date=June 10, 2022 |ref=gothamcenter }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://www.mass.gov/guides/john-adams-the-massachusetts-constitution#-why-study-the-massachusetts-constitution- |title=John Adams & the Massachusetts Constitution |website=mass.gov |last=Massachusetts Court System |access-date=March 4, 2022 |ref=mass'gov }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/mckin1.asp |title=First Inaugural Address of William McKinley |last=McKinley |first=William |date=March 4, 1897 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu |publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]] |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=mckinley1897 }}
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* {{cite web |title=The Story of the Suffolk Resolves |publisher=Milton Historical Commission |last1=Morris |first1=Charles R. |last2=Webster |first2=Mary Phillips |date=1973 |location=Milton, Massachusetts |url=http://www.miltonhistoricalsociety.org/DigitalArchives/1973%20The%20Story%20of%20the%20Suffolk%20Resolves.pdf |access-date=July 26, 2022 |ref=suffolk1973 }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://dlc.library.columbia.edu/jay/jay_constitution |title=Essay: John Jay and the Constitution |last=Morris |first=Richard B. |website=columbia.edu |publisher=[[Columbia University Libraries]] |access-date=March 4, 2022 |ref=morris2022 }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript |title=Constitution of the United States: A Transcription |date=September 17, 1787 |website=archives.gov |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |access-date=March 4, 2022 |ref=founding'gov }}
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* {{cite web |title=Meet the Framers of the Constitution |website=archives.gov |date=November 2, 2015 |last=[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] |access-date=March 3, 2022 |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers |ref=framers.gov }}
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* {{cite web |title=Signers of the Declaration of Independence |website=archives.gov |date=November 6, 2015 |last=[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] |access-date=March 3, 2022 |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/signers-factsheet |ref=signers.gov }}
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* {{cite web |url=http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2327 |title=Confederation Congress |last=Ohio Historical Society |access-date=October 23, 2010 |ref=condederation2010 |archive-date=April 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425142427/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2327 |url-status=dead }}
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* {{cite web |last=Polk |first=James |date=March 4, 1845 |title=Inaugural Address of James Knox Polk |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/polk.asp |website=avalon.law.yale.edu |publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]] |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=polk1845 }}
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* {{cite web |title=Letter to George Washington |last=Randolph |first=Peyton |author-link=Peyton Randolph |publisher=[[Founders Online]] |date=September 6, 1775 |access-date=June 26, 2022 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-01-02-0314 |ref=randolph2022 }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/reagan1.asp |title=First Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan |last=Reagan |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Reagan |date=January 21, 1981 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu |publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]] |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=reagan1981 }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/reagan2.asp |title=Second Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan |last=Reagan |first=Ronald |date=January 21, 1985 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu |publisher=The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]] |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=reagan1985 }}
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* {{cite web |last=Sneff |first=Emily |title=December Highlight: Founding Fathers? |date=December 4, 2016 |website=harvard.edu |publisher=Declaration Resources Project, [[Harvard University]] |access-date=March 3, 2022 |url=https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/december-founders |ref=sneff2016 }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-28 |title=Martin Van Buren: Inaugural Address |last=Van Buren |first=Martin |date=March 4, 1837 |website=presidency.ucsb.edu |publisher=The American Presidency Project, [[University of California at Santa Barbara]] |access-date=June 9, 2022 |ref=vanburen1837 }}
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* {{cite web |first= |last= |title=The Dickinson Story: The Birth of a New College |publisher=Pennsylvania, Dickinson College |year= |accessdate=November 10, 2022 |url=https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20048/history_of_the_college/1404/the_dickinson_story |ref=dickinson }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
===Books===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Ackerman |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Ackerman |title=The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall, and the Rise of Presidential Democracy |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |year=2005 |location=Cambridge, MA |url=https://archive.org/details/failureoffoundi00acke |isbn=0-674-01866-4 |ref=ackerman2005}}
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* {{cite book|last=Adair |first=Douglass |author-link=Douglass Adair |title=Fame and the Founding Fathers: Essays |publisher=Liberty Fund, Inc. |year=1998 |location=Indianapolis, IN |url=https://archive.org/details/famefoundingfath0000adai_n1s2/page/n7/mode/2up |isbn=0865971927}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bailyn |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Bailyn |title=To Begin the World Anew: The genius and ambiguities of the American founders |publisher=Knopf |year=2003 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/tobeginworldanew00bail |isbn=0375413774 |ref=bailyn2003}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bailyn |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Bailyn |title=The Origins of American Politics |publisher=Vintage Books |date=1968 |location=New York |author-mask=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/originsofamerica0000unse_o4k0/ |isbn= |ref=bailyn1968}}
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* {{cite book |last1=Barlow |first1=J. Jackson |last2=Levy |first2=Leonard Williams |title=The American Founding: Essays on the Formation of the Constitution |location=New York |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0313256103 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanfounding00barl |ref=barlow1988}}
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* {{cite book |last1=Bickford |first1=Charlene Bangs |first2=Kenneth R. |last2=Bowling |title=Birth of the Nation: The First Federal Congress, 1789–1791 |publisher=Madison House |year=1989 |location=Madison, WI |url=https://archive.org/details/birthofnationfir00bick/page/n11/mode/2up |isbn=978-0945612148}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bordewich |first=Fergus M. |author-link=Fergus M. Bordewich |title=The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and A Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2016 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/firstcongresshow0000bord/page/n7/mode/2up |isbn=978-1451691931 |ref=bordewich2016}}
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* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Roger H. |url=https://archive.org/details/redeemingrepubli0000brow |title=Redeeming the Republic: Federalists, Taxation, and the Origins of the Constitution |year=1993 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0801863554 |ref=brown1993}}
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*  [[Joseph Ellis|Ellis, Joseph]], ''Founding Fathers : the Essential Guide to the Men who Made America'' (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007)—the introduction states: "The following 10, presented alphabetically, represent the 'gallery of greats' that has stood the test of time: John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Marshall, George Mason, and George Washington. There is a nearly unanimous consensus that George Washington was the Foundingest Father of them all."—The book has short bios of 46 "founding Fathers" (and mothers). [https://archive.org/details/foundingfatherse0000unse/page/n13/mode/2up?q=10 online] 
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* Fischer, David Hackett. ''African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals'' (2022) [https://www.amazon.com/African-Founders-Enslaved-Expanded-American/dp/1982145099/ excerpt]; also see [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/881597 online review]
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* Flower, Milton Embick, ''[https://archive.org/details/johndickinsoncon0000flow John Dickinson, Conservative Revolutionary]'', University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (1983)
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* {{cite book |last=Foner |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Foner |title=The Second Founding: How The Civil War And Reconstruction Remade The Constitution |date=2019 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-35852-0 |ref=foner2019}} [https://www.amazon.com/Second-Founding-Reconstruction-Remade-Constitution/dp/0393652572?asin=0393652572&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 excerpt]
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* {{cite book|last=Gibson |first=Alan |title=Interpreting the Founding: Guide to the Enduring Debates over the Origins and Foundations of the American Republic |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=2006 |location=Lawrence, KS |url=https://archive.org/details/interpretingfoun0000gibs/page/n3/mode/2up |isbn=978-0700617050 |ref=gibson2006}}
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* Gilhooley, Simon J. ''The Antebellum Origins of the Modern Constitution: Slavery and the Spirit of the American Founding'' (Cambridge University Press, 2020).
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* Graebner, Norman A., Richard Dean Burns, and Joseph M. Siracusa. ''Foreign affairs and the founding fathers: From confederation to constitution, 1776–1787'' (Praeger, 2011).
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* Green, Steven K. (2015). ''Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding.'' Oxford University Press.
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* Harris, Matthew; Kidd, Thomas, eds. (2012). ''The founding fathers and the debate over religion in revolutionary America: a history in documents''. (Oxford University Press).
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* {{cite book |last=Harris |first=P.M.G. |chapter=The Social Origins of American Leaders: The Demographic Foundations |title=Perspectives in American History |volume=3 |year=1969 |pages=159–364 harris1969}}
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* {{cite book |last=Holton |first=Woody |author-link=Woody Holton |title=Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia |publisher=University of North Carolina Press (published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia) |year=1999 |location=Chapel Hill, NC |url=https://archive.org/details/forcedfoundersin00holt/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=0-8078-2501-8}}
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* Koch, Adrienne (1961).  ''[https://archive.org/details/powermoralsfound0000adri Power, Morals, and the Founding Fathers: Essays in the Interpretation of the American Enlightenment]''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
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* Kostyal, K. M. (2014). ''Founding Fathers: The Fight for Freedom and the Birth of American Liberty''
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* {{cite book|last=Labaree |first=Leonard Woods |author-link=Leonard Woods Labaree |title=Conservatism in Early American History |publisher=New York University |date=1948 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/conservatisminea0000leon/ |isbn= |ref=labaree1948}}
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* {{cite book|last=Lefer |first=David |author-link=David Lefer |title=The Founding Conservatives: How a Group of Unsung Heroes Saved the American Revolution |publisher=Sentinel |year=2013 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingconserva0000lefe |isbn=978-1595230690 |ref=lefer2013}}
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* {{cite book |last=McDonald |first=Forrest |author-link=Forrest McDonald |title=Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution |url=https://archive.org/details/novusordosecloru0000mcdo |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence |year=1985 |isbn=978-0700603114 |ref=mcdonald1985}}
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* Moreland-Capuia, Alisha. "The Role of Fear in the Founding of the United States: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective." in ''The Trauma of Racism: Exploring the Systems and People Fear Built'' (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021) pp.&nbsp;13–33.
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*  Newman, Richard S. ''Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers''  (2008). [https://archive.org/details/freedomsprophetb0000newm online] 
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* {{cite book |last=Read |first=James H. |title=Power Versus Liberty: Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson |year=2000 |publisher=University Press of Virginia |location=Charlottesville |isbn=978-0813919119 |url=https://archive.org/details/powerversusliber0000read/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=read2000}}
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* Trees, Andrew S. ''[https://archive.org/details/foundingfathersp0000tree The Founding Fathers and the Politics of Character]'', Princeton University Press (2005)
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* Unger, Harlow Giles. ''First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call to Independence'' (2017)
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* Unger, Harlow Giles. ''Dr. Benjamin Rush: The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation'' (2018)
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* Unger, Harlow Giles. ''Lion of Liberty: Patrick Henry and the Call to a New Nation'' (Da Capo Press, 2010).
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* Unger, Harlow Giles. ''Thomas Paine and the clarion call for American independence'' (Da Capo Press, 2019).
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* Unger, Harlow Giles. ''John Marshall: The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation.'' (Da Capo Press, 2014).
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* Unger, Harlow Giles. ''John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot'' (John Wiley & Sons, 2000).
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* Valsania, Maurizio. ''The French Enlightenment in America: Essays on the Times of the Founding Fathers'' (U of Georgia Press, 2021).
{{refend}}

===Journal articles===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bailyn |first1=Bernard |title=Political Experience and Enlightenment Ideas in Eighteenth-Century America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1843427 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=339–351 |date=January 1962 |doi=10.2307/1843427 |jstor=1843427 |author-mask=2 |access-date=October 19, 2022 |ref=bailyn1962|url-access=subscription }}
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* Burnard, Trevor. "The Founding Fathers in Early American Historiography: A View from Abroad." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 62#4 (2005), pp.&nbsp;745–76 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3491447 online]
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* Dreisbach, Daniel L. ''Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers'' (2017) [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/710817/summary online review]
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* Mason, Matthew. "A Missed Opportunity? The Founding, Postcolonial Realities, and the Abolition of Slavery." ''Slavery & Abolition'' 35.2 (2014): 199–213.
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* Newman, Richard S. and Roy E. Finkenbine. "Black Founders in the New Republic" ''William and Mary Quarterly'' (2007) 64#1 pp.&nbsp;83–94 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4491598 online]
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* Previdi, Robert. "Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'', Vol. 29, 1999
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* Squiers, Anthony. "The Apotheosis of the Founding Fathers and Signs of Filial Piety." in ''The Politics of the Sacred in America: The Role of Civil Religion in Political Practice'' (2018) pp: 75–96.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://founders.archives.gov/ Founders Online: Correspondence and Other Writings of Seven Major Shapers of the United States]
* [https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers# Meet the Framers of the Constitution], National Archives
* [https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_Menus/fed.asp The Federalist Papers], The Avalon Project, [[Lillian Goldman Law Library]], [[Yale University]]
* [https://www.archives.gov/files/founding-docs/declaration_signers_gallery_facts.pdf Signers of the Declaration of Independence], National Archives
* [http://www.npshistory.com/publications/nhl/theme-studies/signers-declaration.pdf Signers of the Declaration: Individual Biographies] (PDF), National Park Service
* [http://www.snopes.com/history/american/pricepaid.asp The Fates of Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Debunking the Myths], published June 28, 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070114055143/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/3/2006_3_31.shtml "What Would the Founding Fathers Do Today?"] ''American Heritage'', 2006
<!-- LINK APPEARS TO BE DEAD * [http://www.foundingfatherquotes.com "Founding Father Quotes, Biographies, and Writings"] -->
* [https://www.politifact.com/article/2015/jul/02/founding-fathers-ordinary-folk/ Were the Founding Fathers 'Ordinary People'?], [[PolitiFact]]

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{{United States topics}}

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[[Category:1910s neologisms]]
[[Category:Age of Enlightenment]]
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[[Category:Patriots in the American Revolution]]
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