Who were the Founding Fathers?

Today we examine a phrase that is thrown about a lot . But what exactly is a Founding Father? And more importantly, who are considered our country’s Founding Fathers?

The dictionary definition of a Founding Father is “a member of the convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787″. This, however, would exclude Thomas Jefferson, who is as deserving of the term as any other. Many historians include some or all of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Some historians distinguish between the Signers and the Framers when speaking .

Lets look at who did what.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence:

1. John Hancock
2. Josiah Bartlett
3. William Whipple
4. Matthew Thornton
5. Sam Adams
6. John Adams
7. Robert Treat Paine
8. Elbridge Gerry
9. Stephen Hopkins
10. William Ellery
11. Roger Sherman
12. Samuel Huntington
13. William Williams
14. Oliver Wolcott
15. William Floyd
16. Philip Livingston
17. Francis Lewis
18. Lewis Morris
19. Richard Stockton
20. John Witherspoon
21. Francis Hopkinson
22. John Hart
23. Abraham Clark
24. Robert Morris
25. Benjamin Rush
26. John Morton
27. George Clymer
28. James Smith
29. George Taylor
30. James Wilson
31. George Ross
32. George Ross
33. Ceasar Rodney
34. Thomas McKean
35. Samuel Chase
36. William Paca
37. Thomas Stone
38. Charles Carroll of Carrollton
39. George Wythe
40. Richard Henry Lee
41. Thomas Jefferson
42. Benjamin Harrison
43. Thomas Nelsen, Jr.
44. Francis Lightfoot Lee
45. Carter Braxton
46. William Hooper
47. Joseph Hewes
48. John Penn
49. Edward Rutledge
50. Thomas Heyward, Jr.
51. Thomas Lynch, Jr.
52. Arthur Middleton
53. Button Gwinnett
54. Lyman Hall
55. George Walton

Signers of the United States Constitution:

1. George Washington
2. George Read
3. Gunning Bedford, Jr.
4. John Dickinson
5. Richard Bassett
6. Jacob Broom
7. James McHenry
8. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
9. Daniel Carroll
10. John Blair
11. James Madison, Jr.
12. William Mount
13. Richard Dobbs Spaight
14. Hugh Williamson
15. John Rutlege
16. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
17. Charles Pinckney
18. Pierce Butler
19. William Few
20. Abraham Baldwin
21. John Langdon
22. Nicholas Gilman
23. Nathaniel Gorham
24. Rufus King
25. William Samuel Johnson
26. Roger Sherman
27. Alexander Hamilton
28. William Livingston
29. David Brearley
30. William Paterson
31. Jonathan Dayton
32. Benjamin Franklin
33. Thomas Mifflin
34. Robert Morris
35. George Clymer
36. Thomas Fitzsimons
37. Jared Ingersoll
38. James Wilson
39. Gouveneur Morris

Only two people signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution:

• Roger Sherman of Connecticut (also signed the Articles of Association and the Articles of Confederation)
• Robert Morris of Pennsylvania

Which of these are considered to be truly the Founding Fathers? I thought it would be interesting to boil it down to a Top Ten. There are five who might be considered fairly uninamous by most historians. They are:

1. Benjamin Franklin
2. George Washington
3. John Adams
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. James Madison

From there its a little less concrete. Britannica lists their Top 10:

1. John Adams
2. Sam Adams
3. Ben Franklin
4. Alexander Hamilton
5. Patrick Henry
6. Thomas Jefferson
7. James Madison
8. John Marshall
9. George Mason
10. George Washington

American History offers their Top 10:

1. George Washington
2. John Adams
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. James Madison
5. Benjamin Franklin
6. Samual Adams
7. Thomas Paine
8. Patrick Henry
9. Alexander Hamilton
10. Gouverneur Morris

The “Others” (LOST joke, sorry) – The following signed neither the Constitution nor the Declaration of Independence, but are still considered Founding Father material (if not actual Founding Fathers) for their efforts:

1. Ethan Allen
2. Egbert Benson
3. Richard Bland
4. Aaron Burr
5. George Clinton – the artist behind the greatest funk song of all-time deserves to be on this list
6. Patrick Henry – was incendiary on the mic; usually considered Top 10 by most
7. John Jay
8. Henry Knox
9. Henry Lee III
10. Thomas Sim Lee
11. Robert R. Livingston
12. John Marshall
13. Philip Mazzei
14. James Monroe – often overshadowed by Jefferson and Madison – pretty big footsteps to follow; also a frequent Top 10
15. James Otis, Jr
16. Thomas Paine – his “Common Sense” lands him on most Top 10 lists
17. Peyton Randolph
18. William Rickman
19. Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette
20. Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
21. Charles Thomson

*Link Alert* For more on the Founding Fathers including an image gallery, quotes, and even Thomas Jefferson posters, click here.

Source: Wikipedia 1,2; Britannica; American History;