Who Were Americas Founding Fathers?

Who were the Founding Fathers, and what were Americas founding fathers like? Historians may disagree about a complete list, but most would agree that these men were founding fathers of America.

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John Adams
Samuel Adams
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
John Hancock
Patrick Henry
John Jay
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Thomas Paine
George Washington

These men are famous and important people in American history. They were men who shaped America. Some were signers of the Declaration of Independence. Some were involved in writing, signing and adopting the US Constitution and are considered the founding fathers of the Constitution. All were an important part of the American Revolution.

We can learn much from reading about Americas Founding Fathers. We can learn about the great passion of great leaders in U.S. history. Leaders who conquered their fears to build a United States of America - the great democratic republic "experiment". Founding Father quotes are often still relevant today.

Here's a great clip highlighting some of the debate that was going on during this turbulent time in America. This clip is from the excellent HBO series "John Adams ".

Fun Fact:

Although often referred to as a "democracy",the United States is actually
a "republic". We elect representatives to cast
their votes in our best interest.

Fun Facts about Americas Founding Fathers

George Washington was born on February 11, 1732, but in 1751 Great Britain changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. An act of Parliament added eleven days to make the adjustment complete and in 1752 Washington celebrated his birthday on February 22!

Of Americas Founding Fathers who became president, only George Washington did not go to college.

On March 4, 1793, President George Washington gave the shortest inaugural speech ever. Since he only had one tooth at the time of his second inauguration, and his dentures were very painful, his speech was only 135 words long. It took Washington only 90 seconds to give his speech.

George Washington was the only president never to live in the White House, nor did he ever live in Washington, DC.

Vice President Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel,on July 11, 1804. Hamilton died from the wound on July 12th.

The "New York Post" was established in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton.

Three founders died on July 4th - John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4, 1826 (exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Monroe died five years later on July 4, 1831.

Benjamin Franklin invented several things in his lifetime. Some of his inventions include: bifocals,urinary catheter, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, odometer, and a tool called a long arm (to grasp objects too high for him to reach).

Ben Franklin organized the first volunteer fire company in Philadelphia, in 1736. It was called The Union Fire Company. (source: PBS.org)

Patrick Henry made his "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.

James Madison of Virginia was responsible for proposing the resolution to create the various Cabinet positions within the Executive Branch of our government and twelve amendments to the Constitution of which ten became the Bill of Rights.

In 1804, Thomas Jefferson was the President who sent Lewis and Clark to explore the Western United States.

Thomas Jefferson returned from France with a French cook. He was fascinated with some of the food he had experienced while abroad, such as ice cream, macaroni and macaroons. He purchased a macaroni machine in the 1780's from Italy.

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Search for books and videos about the founding fathers (and founding mothers!) on Amazon, if you'd like to delve a little deeper into American history!

Read about the American Revolutionary War in stories, written by home schoolers.

More on the Founding Fathers

You can see a list of the Declaration of Independence signers and read the Declaration of Independence text by clicking the link. And be sure to visit our Founding Fathers Fun Facts for more fun facts about the Founding Fathers!

In addition, you can click on the names below to go to our fun facts pages on some of the Founding Fathers...

Who is your favorite Founding Father? Do you have any fun facts about our Founding Fathers to share? Let us know by commenting at the bottom of this page!

For more fun facts about Americas founding fathers, you might like the book Founding Fathers Fun Facts: And Other U.S. Trivia.

We have a little ebook titled "101 American History Fun Facts " that you'd probably enjoy too! It's only 99 cents, and has some interesting and fun facts from American history inside.