Founding Fathers of the United States

Founding Fathers of the United States
1760s–1820s
The Committee of Five (Adams, Livingston, Sherman, Jefferson, and Franklin) present their draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on June 28, 1776, as depicted in John Trumbull's 1819 portrait.
Location	The Thirteen Colonies
Including	Signers of the Declaration of Independence (1776), Articles of Confederation (1781), and United States Constitution (1789)
Leader(s)	John Adams Samuel Adams Benjamin Franklin Alexander Hamilton John Hancock John Jay Thomas Jefferson Patrick Henry Richard Henry Lee Robert R. Livingston James Madison George Mason Robert Morris Peyton Randolph Roger Sherman George Washington
Key events	Stamp Act Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts American Revolutionary War Lee Resolution Declaration of Independence Treaty of Paris United States Constitution Bill of Rights

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The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation.

The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States - all adopted in the colonial capital of Philadelphia - certain military personnel who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and others who greatly assisted in the nation's formation. Many of them were wealthy slave-owners before and after the country's founding. The single person most identified as "Father" of the United States is George Washington, a general in the American Revolution and the nation's first president. In 1973, historian Richard B. Morris identified seven figures as key founders, based on what he called the "triple tests" of leadership, longevity, and statesmanship: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Washington.^[2]

Most of the Founding Fathers were of English ancestry, though many had family roots extending across various regions of the British Isles, including Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Additionally, some traced their lineage back to the early Dutch settlers of New York (New Netherland) during the colonial era, while others were descendants of French Huguenots who settled in the colonies, escaping religious persecution in France.^[3][4][5]