The Founding Fathers

George WashingtonLeadership Qualities• Tall, commanding

presence• Symbol of American

virtue• Charismatic warrior and

politician• Abigail Adams said, “He

has the dignity which forbids familiarity mixed with an easy affability which creates love and reverence.”

...continuedPublic Life• Land surveyor• Early military experience• Virginia House of

Burgesses• Delegate to the

Continental Congress• Commander in chief of

Continental Army• Presiding officer of the

Constitutional Convention

• First US president and “Father of His Country”

Thomas Paine• Immigrated to colonies

shortly before Revolution• Wrote Common Sense, a

call to revolution, in 1776• Wrote ideas of revolution

in simple language for all to understand

• His pamphlet, The Crisis, inspired the army to fight

• Unsuccessful in a variety of jobs, he died a penniless drunkard

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”

Thomas JeffersonA Renaissance Man• Political philosopher• Architect• Musician• Book collector• Scientist• Horticulturist• Diplomat & Linguist• Inventor• Politician• Referred to his years as

president as “splendid misery.”

Jefferson’s Tombstone

Here was buriedThomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence

Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious

FreedomAnd Father of the

University of Virginia

“…and not one word more.”

Benjamin Franklin• As a printer he

established the Pennslyvania Gazette and wrote Poor Richard’s Almanack

• Invented the lightning rod, Franklin stove, and bifocal glasses

• An accomplished musician, he played the violin, harp, and guitar

• As a scientist he was interested in electricity and the weather

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• As a statesman and diplomat he signed all four important documents of the Revolutionary era:– Declaration of

Independence– Alliance with France– Treaty of Paris– US Constitution

• As an economist, he said “waste neither time nor money”

Samuel AdamsMajor early leader of the

American Revolution:• Led protest against

Stamp Act• Founded the Sons of

Liberty• Organized the Boston Tea

Party• Served in the Continental

Congress• Signed the Declaration of

Independence

Alexander Hamilton• Aide-de-camp to

Washington• Experience at Valley

Forge brought him to feel that a strong central government was needed

• At the Annapolis Convention he drafted a call for the Constitutional Convention where he made the longest speech

• Co-authored with Madison the Federalist Papers

• States’ rights issue divided Madison and Hamilton

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• Dramatic orator with personal appeal• As Secretary of the Treasury he was responsible for

establishing a policy of national credit and credibility– Pay all foreign debts– Pay domestic debts– Assume state debts

• According to a contemporary, “the mighty mind of Hamilton would at times bear down all opposition by its comprehensive grasp and the strength of his reasoning power.”

Patrick Henry• A passionate and fiery

orator who proposed the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions

• As a lawyer he argued for broader suffrage

• Served in the 1st Continental Congress and as Governor of Virginia

• Strongly opposed the Constitution, favoring strong state governments and a weak federal government

James Madison• Served in the Virginia

House of Delegates• Served in the Continental

Congress• “Father of the

Constitution”• Sponsor of the Bill of

Rights• Co-Author of the

Federalist Papers• Secretary of State under

Jefferson• 4th president of the

United States

John Adams• Harvard law graduate• Led Massachusetts

movement for revolution • Served in Continental

Congresses• Diplomatic service in

Holland, France, Britain• Negotiated Treaty of Paris• 1st vice president and

2nd president

“My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”

Treaty 0f Paris, 1783

George Mason• One of the wealthiest

Virginia planters• Protested Stamp Act• Protested Intolerable Acts

in the Fairfax County Resolves

• US Bill of Rights based on Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights

• Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, but refused to sign the final document

George III• Known as the king who

lost the American colonies and went mad

• Surrounded by poor ministers whose primary concern was their own interests

• Opposed until the end the colonists’ revolt

• Many of the colonists’ grievances were against acts of Parliament not actions of the king

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• John Adams said of the British: “The pride and vanity of that nation is a disease; it is a delirium; it has been flattered and inflamed so long by themselves and others that it perverts everything.”

• About the loss of America, George III said: “...that knavery seems to be so much the striking feature of its inhabitants that it may not be in the end an evil that they become aliens to this Kingdom.”

John Jay

• President of the Continental Congress 1778-1779• Co-writer of the federalist

papers • Authored the Jay treaty 1794• First Chief Justice of the U.S.

1789-1795• Governor of New York 1795-

1801• Opponent of slavery –

emancipated slaves in New York

James Monroe• Studied law under Thomas Jefferson• Delegate in the Continental Congress• Ardent Anti-federalist who fought against

ratification of the Constitution• Senator

• Governor of Virginia• Helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase 1803• 5th President of the U.S. Declared the Monroe doctrine – continued attempts by Europe to colonize in the western hemisphere would be seen as an act of aggression against the U.S.

Benjamin Rush• A member of the Sons of

Liberty• Consulted with Thomas Paine

in the writing of “Common Sense”

• Surgeon General in the Continental Army

• Signed the declaration of Independence

• Served in the Continental Congress

• Helped reconcile the friendship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

John Hancock• As President of the Continental Congress he

was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence

• First and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

• According to legend, Hancock signed his name largely and clearly so that King George could read it without his spectacles, but this fanciful story did not appear until many years later

John Witherspoon

• Only active clergyman and president of a University to sign.

• Appointed congressional chaplain by John Hancock.

• Taught moral philosophy at Princeton and was a staunch believer in natural law.

• Helped draft the Articles of the Confederation.• Famous descendent – Reese Witherspoon!

• Signatory of Declaration of Independence as a New Jersey representative• President of Princeton

John Peter Muhlenberg• Pennsylvania Congressman• Pennsylvania Senator• Flair for the dramatic – On January 21, 1776 in

the Lutheran church in Virginia he took his sermon text from the third chapter Ecclesiastes, which starts with "To every thing there is a season..."; after reading the eighth verse, "a time of war, and a time of peace," he declared, "And this is the time of war," removing his clerical robe to reveal his Colonel's uniform.

• Appointed Colonel of the Virginia 8th at the request of George Washington.

Charles Carroll• Participated in burning the Peggy Stewart – a

tea ship – to protest the tea tax.• Only Catholic signer of Declaration of

Independence.• Oldest and last surviving signatory – died at age

95• Delegate to Continental Congress

• Senator from Maryland• Participated in printed debates for war

in the Maryland Gazette under the pseudonym “First Citizen”• One of the richest men in America he

donated a great deal of money to the war effort

Jonathan Trumbull Sr.• Governor of Connecticut• Only Colonial Governor to

continue in office through the revolution.

• Only Colonial Governor to side with the revolution

• Friend and Advisor of George Washington

• Blatantly refused to help British General Thomas Gage.