6 Awesome Things About the Founders

Published on July 10th, 2015 | by Caleb Franz

It’s that time of year again. We put on red, white, and blue bathing suits, fired up the grill, and celebrated ‘Murica. Fortunately for us, the founders paid a lot of the price in order for us to celebrate our independence in such a fashion. They struggled to ensure future generations can live in freedom, but they were pretty awesome at doing it.

So because we just had Independence day, here are 6 awesome things the founding fathers did:

6.) Thomas Jefferson wore many hats: Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States. For most American’s that is as much as they know about the philosopher of freedom. He is also known as a renaissance man, but most don’t realize the extent of that. To put it simply, Jefferson was known to be a(n) agriculturalist, anthropologist, architect, astronomer, bibliophile, botanist, diplomat, educator, ethnologist, farmer, geographer, gourmet, horseman, horticulturist, inventor, lawyer, mathematician, meteorologist, musician, naturalist, numismatist, paleontologist, philosopher, scientist, statesman, and writer.

In case that isn’t impressive enough, he spoke fluent German, Greek, Spanish, French, and Latin outside of English. Even with all this he still never thought he should take a break from learning. He had a 6,000 volume library which he kept and read until he was forced to sell it to help get out of debt.

5.) Ben Franklin proudly farted: Yes, you read that correctly. Benjamin Franklin was not afraid to let one rip. He wrote several writings on why one should never be ashamed when passing gas. He even made the quote “Fart for Freedom, Fart for Liberty — and Fart Proudly.”

So Ben Franklin was also known to eat alone whenever he made beans for dinner.

4.) John Hancock signs his John Hancock: John Hancock was known as the ‘pretty boy’ of the group of founders who signed the Declaration. But even he had his moment that earned him instant respect. When signing the Declaration of Independence, Hancock made his signature considerably larger than everyone else’s. Why? So that even old King George and anyone in parliament wouldn’t need their spectacles to read it and they can “double the reward” on his head.

He was basically giving the entire British government the middle finger.

3.) America’s Founding Spy: Many know the American revolution as a time of defiance. But what many do not know is that it was also a time for espionage. There were several notable spies during this time but one that many may be surprised to here was Paul Revere. Revere helped establish the first on record patriot intelligence network according to the CIA. It was a Boston based operative known as the “mechanics”.

2.) Jefferson’s coffee love: As stated above, Jefferson was a man of many tastes, especially when it comes to drinks. Jefferson was well known for his love of wine, but what might not be as well known was that he loved coffee, a lot. He preferred beans imported from East and West Indies and stored his coffee in 60lb barrels in his cellar. It was served every day for breakfast and likely after dinner. In 1824 he proclaimed that “coffee is the finest dink of the civilized world.”

If you have a Starbucks addiction, just think, you are in the same boat as Thomas Jefferson.

1.) Washington was bulletproof: During the French and Indian War, George Washington was at a battle in the Ohio valley. During that battle he had two horses blown out from underneath him. Afterward he found out that he was the only officer on the field that had not been wounded. What’s more is, after he removed his coat he found several bullet holes that went straight throw and even one that went through his hat. With all of this he still remained unharmed.

You could say everyone around him was pretty freaked out.

Tags: american history, ben franklin, caleb franz, founding fathers, fun facts, george washington, History, john hancock, thomas jefferson, washington

Originally published at hypeline.org.