Founding Fathers

From dKosopedia

Category: United States of America

The term used to describe the handful of statesmen particularly involved in the United States' secession from Great Britain, the ordering of the Republic, and the creation of the Constitution and the institutions thereunder which survive to this day. The term is also used more broadly to describe the political class of the time, in particular those who had something to do with the creation of the Constitution and the early running of the country.

There can be no definitive list of to whom this casual term applies, but certainly the following are included (other than Washington, presented in alphabetical order):

• George Washington (Commander of the Revolutionary army, 1st President, "Father of Our Country")
• John Adams (1st Vice President, 2d President)
• Benjamin Franklin (Inventor, publisher, statesman, Ambassador to France)
• Alexander Hamilton (Co-authored The Federalist Papers, Secretary of the Treasury, killed in a duel by Aaron Burr)
• Thomas Jefferson (Authored Declaration of Independence, Secretary of State, 3d President)
• James Madison (Co-authored The Federalist Papers, authored the Bill of Rights, 4th President)

These men were also active in the Continental Congress and/or the Constitutional Convention.

Others who might be classified as Founding Fathers:

• Aaron Burr (Jefferson's first Vice President who later led an abortive insurrection against the young nation)
• John Jay (Minor co-author of The Federalist Papers, President of the Continental Congress, 1st, largely passive, Chief Justice of the United States)
• John Marshall (Secretary of State, 4th Chief Justice, began the tradition of a powerful Supreme Court)
• James Monroe (5th President)