The Founding Fathers of The United States and Their Backgrounds

July 4th, 2020, by Brillian A/The Aboveeidea

Both the fourth of July and the founding fathers are the suns of the US. So, an American historian, Richard B. Morris in Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), said that there are seven figures as key Founding Fathers, they are John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington based on the critical and substantive roles they played in the formation about the country’s new government.

However, there are many other figures who have also been cited as Founding Fathers — or Mothers. These include John Hancock, best known for his flashy signature on the Declaration of Independence; Gouverneur Morris, who wrote much of the Constitution; Thomas Paine, the British-born author of Common Sense; Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith whose “midnight ride” warned of approaching redcoats; George Mason, who helped craft the Constitution but ultimately refused to sign it; Charles Carroll, the lone Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence; Patrick Henry, who famously declared “Give me liberty, or give me death!”; John Marshall, a Revolutionary War veteran and longtime chief justice of the Supreme Court; and Abigail Adams, who implored her husband, John, to “remember the ladies” while shaping the new country, according to History.

So, these are more information of the founding fathers of the United States.

Alexander Hamilton

Born on January 11, 1755, in Charlestown, Nevis, British Leeward Island, Alexander Hamilton emigrated from the British West Indies to New York, when he was a teenager. Rising to prominence as an aide-de-camp to Washington during the Revolutionary War, he became an impassioned supporter of a strong central government.

He wrote the majority of the highly persuasive Federalist Papers, which argued for the Constitution’s ratification. He wrote them after attending the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Washington then tapped him to serve as the first U.S. treasury secretary, a position he used to push for the creation of a national bank. Later immortalized on the $10 bill, Hamilton was killed in an 1804 duel with his bitter rival Aaron Burr, the sitting vice president, according to History.

Benjamin Franklin

Born in Boston on January 17, 1706, Benjamin Franklin was a skilled author, printer, scientist, inventor, and diplomat despite a formal education that ended at age 10. He was the early America’s foremost Renaissance man. He worked constantly on civic projects to improve his adopted city of Philadelphia when not designing bifocals, harnessing electricity, playing music or publishing Poor Richard’s Almanack,

In the beginning stages of the American Revolution, Franklin was appointed to the five-member committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He then traveled to France, where he secured French assistance for the war effort and helped negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the official end to the conflict. Just prior to his death, Franklin served as a sort of elder statesman at the Constitutional Convention, according to Biography.

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George Washington

He was born on 22 February 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. FYI, George Washington fought for the British, serving as a commander in the French and Indian War, before he fought against it — British. A prosperous Virginia farmer who owned hundreds of slaves, he came to resent the various taxes and restrictions being imposed on the colonies by the British crown, according to History.

Once the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he was placed in charge of the Continental Army. Washington lost more battles than he won. Nonetheless, he kept his ragtag troops together even through a freezing winter at Valley Forge and, with the help of his French allies, was able to expel the British by 1783.

Washington then returned to Virginia with the intention of continuing his career as a farmer. But he was persuaded to re-enter politics as head of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, believing that a stronger federal government was needed to preserve the nation. In 1789, Washington was elected as the first president of the United States. He is truly known as “the Father of his Country”, according to History.

James Madison

Born on March 16, 1751, in Port Conway, Virginia, he is a close friend of Jefferson, James Madison likewise grew up on a Virginia plantation and served in the state legislature. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he proved to be perhaps the most influential delegate, developing a plan to divide the federal government into three branches-legislative, executive, and judicial-each with checks on its power. This plan, which was largely adopted, earned him the moniker “Father of the Constitution.”

Madison next co-authored the Federalist Papers and, as a U.S. congressman, became the driving force behind the Bill of Rights. He was elected president in 1808 after serving as Jefferson’s secretary of state, according to Biography.

John Adams

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts. A distinguished Massachusetts lawyer, John Adams became a relatively early proponent of the revolutionary cause. Just like Franklin, he served on the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence, journeyed overseas to secure French military aid and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris. He chaired other key committees as well and even found time to draft the Massachusetts Constitution (which is still in use).

According to History, Adams returned home in 1788 and subsequently became vice president under Washington after about 10 years of diplomatic service abroad. Then, following Washington’s two terms, he was then elected president, serving from 1797 to 1801. In a striking coincidence, Adams and his friend-turned-rival-turned-friend Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

John Jay

He was born in New York City, on December 12, 1745. Not nearly as recognized as his major Founder cohorts, John Jay nonetheless played a pivotal role in the creation of the United States. A lawyer, he originally preferred reconciling with Britain rather than fighting for independence. Once war broke out, however, he wholeheartedly joined the side of the colonists, serving, among other roles, as a diplomat to Spain and linking up with Franklin and Adams to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, according to History.

Upon returning to the United States, Jay served as secretary of foreign affairs under the Articles of Confederation and authored a few of the Federalist Papers. In 1789, he became the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and six years later he was elected governor of New York

Samuel Adams

He was born on September 27, 1722, in Boston, Massachusetts. The second cousin of John Adams, Samuel Adams was a political firebrand who drummed up immense opposition to British policies in Boston, a hotbed of the resistance. Believing that the colonists were subject to “taxation without representation,” he joined the Sons of Liberty, an underground dissident group that at times resorted to tarring and feathering British loyalists, according to History.

Adams likely planned the 1773 Boston Tea Party, and in 1775 his attempted arrest helped spark the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first skirmish of the Revolutionary War. Unlike many of the Founders, Adams was staunchly anti-slavery. He signed the Declaration of Independence and went on to serve as governor of Massachusetts.

Thomas Jefferson

He was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743, Old Style, Julian calendar). Well educated and prosperous, Thomas Jefferson was a Virginia lawyer and politician who came to believe the British Parliament held no authority over the 13 colonies. In 1776, he was given the immense task of writing the Declaration of Independence, in which he famously declared that “all men are created equal” and “that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,” such as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, according to History. As secretary of state under Washington, Jefferson clashed constantly with Hamilton over foreign policy and the role of government. He later served as vice president to John Adams prior to becoming president, himself, in 1801.

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

George Washington

Originally published at http://aboveeidea.home.blog on July 4, 2020.