Founding Fathers of the United States
Founding Fathers of the United States refers to the leaders, writers, soldiers, diplomats, and civic organizers who guided the American colonies from protest to independence and helped frame the nation’s political foundations. Core achievements include independence (1776), victory in the American Revolutionary War, and the drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Core group
- George Washington – commander in chief; presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention
- John Adams – independence advocate; diplomat; 2nd U.S. president
- Thomas Jefferson – principal author of the Declaration; 3rd U.S. president
- James Madison – “Father of the Constitution”; 4th U.S. president
- Benjamin Franklin – diplomat, scientist, civic founder
- Alexander Hamilton – constitutional theorist; first Secretary of the Treasury
- John Jay – co-author of The Federalist Papers; first Chief Justice
Prominent patriots and signers
- Samuel Adams – organizer, Committees of Correspondence, Boston Tea Party
- John Hancock – president of the Second Continental Congress; bold Declaration signature
- Patrick Henry – “Give me liberty, or give me death!”; Virginia leadership
- Thomas Paine – pamphleteer; Common Sense and The American Crisis
- John Dickinson – “Penman of the Revolution”; Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
- Roger Sherman – only man to sign the Declaration, Articles, and Constitution
- George Mason – Virginia Declaration of Rights; champion of a federal Bill of Rights
- Thomas McKean – jurist and statesman; roles in Delaware and Pennsylvania
Key documents
- Declaration of Independence
- Articles of Confederation
- United States Constitution
- Bill of Rights
- The Federalist Papers