The Founding Fathers of the United States, referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders by Americans, were a group of late-eighteenth-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirt
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 1818 portrait.
George Washington, a key Founding Father, was commanding general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and a Revolutionary hero, presided over the Constitutional Convention and became the nation's first president in April 1789.
Thomas Jefferson, a key Founding Father, was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, which Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis says contains "the most potent and consequential words in U.S. history".
Benjamin FranklinEarly advocate of colonial unity, was a foundational figure in defining the US ethos and exemplifying the emerging nation's ideals.
Alexander Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 under the presidency of George Washington.
Founding Fathers of the United States
…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. Most of the Founding Fathers had ancestry traceable back to England, though many had family…
Posthumous portrait by John Trumbull, 1806, from a life bust by Giuseppe Ceracchi, 1794
Alexander Hamilton in the Uniform of the New York Artillery, a portrait by Alonzo Chappel
Portrait of Hamilton authoring the first draft of the U.S. Constitution in 1787
A statue of Hamilton on the south patio of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.