Fathers Day Cards for King of the Family
About the Founding Fathers
George Washington
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
George Bricklayer
Gouverneur Morris
Roger Sherman
James Wilson
Edmund Randolph
George Washington (1732-1799)
Highest Political Part: President (1789-1797)
Other Accomplishments: Led the colonial forces in the Revolutionary War
The staid portraits of George Washington accurately reflect the personality of the father of the nation. He was a human being of few words, whose political ascension was attributable to his strength of character, rather than his intellect.
A huge man for his day, Washington stood vi' 3 1/2" tall with enormous hands. Washington had pockmarked skin as a result of a teenage case of smallpox. He was quiet and reserved in public simply in his free fourth dimension enjoyed many lighthearted hobbies, including playing cards and dancing. He married Martha Custis, the richest widow in Virginia.
He had lost well-nigh all his teeth past the time he was president, leaving him with badly sunken cheeks that were blimp with cotton for portraits. Reverse to popular belief, George Washington never had wooden teeth! His teeth were made mostly of lead fitted with human, cattle, and hippopotamus teeth. Some were carved from elephant and walrus tusks.
In his will, he freed all 300 of his slaves permanently.
The pop tale of Washington and the cherry tree, historians say, was almost certainly untrue.
His Politics: Washington was a Federalist, so he favored a potent key government. He also had a strong affinity for aristocrats. During the Constitutional Convention, he spent much of his time at the mansion of Robert Morris, the richest man in America. His closest political ally was Alexander Hamilton, whose policies inevitably leaned toward the upper classes.
Washington was the only president to win unanimous approval (all of the votes cast) by the electoral higher. He did information technology twice.
In office, Washington served the nation best by keeping the government stable. He advocated a potent national defense, and kept the country out of the escalating tension between England and France.
His health failing, Washington begged out of the presidency after one term. Men from both sides of the political fence urged him to remain in office, however, then he stayed on. His 2d countdown accost may reveal his enthusiasm for the second term. At 135 words, it is the shortest countdown address in history.
Closest Crony Amid the Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton
What He Said: "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence—it is a force! Like burn, it is a unsafe retainer and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
James Madison (1751-1836)
Highest Political Office: President (1809-1817)
Other Accomplishments: Helped draft Virginia'southward state constitution when he was 25. That document later became the model for the U.S. Constitution. Served equally Jefferson'due south Secretarial assistant of State.
Madison was a soft-spoken and tiny man—virtually 5'four" and less than 100 pounds. Even his nickname was diminutive: "Jemmy." He was too small to serve in the Revolutionary War, and turned to politics instead.
Madison, "the Father of the Constitution"—the most important legal document in modern history—never received a law degree.
Fifty-fifty in his 40s, Madison was a alone and single man. That changed when Aaron Burr introduced him to Dolley Todd. The couple married when Madison was 43, and never had children.
Dolley Madison earned a place in history when she stole away from the White House with crucial government documents and a portrait of George Washington as the British stormed the capital letter during the War of 1812.
Madison was the concluding Founding Male parent to dice at the age of lxxx-v in June, 1836.
His Politics: His presidency was marred by the State of war of 1812—the merely war in which U.Southward. soil was overrun by enemy forces. The war was precipitated by the widespread sentiment that the U.Southward. was destined to conquer Canada, then a British territory.
Aside from the war that nearly cost him his reelection, Madison's two terms were also memorable for the fact that both of his vice presidents died while in part.
Closest Crony Among the Founding Fathers: Jefferson and Madison were close friends throughout their lives: Madison was Jefferson's protégé. Afterwards their presidencies, each spent many days at the other's estate. Jefferson named ane of the bedrooms at Monticello "Mr. Madison's room."
What He Said: On the War of 1812: "I flung forrard the flag of the country, certain that the people would printing onward and defend information technology." Under the new Constitution, the nation'southward powers will be "derived from the superior power of the people."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Highest Political Role: President (1801-1809)
Other Accomplishments: Wrote the Annunciation of Independence, served as Minister to France (a pivotal diplomatic position) every bit the Constitution was beingness drafted.
Jefferson was nicknamed "Long Tom" because he stood 6' 2 1/2" tall, with long, slender limbs. He had carrot-red hair that paled with age. A fiddle role player, Jefferson wooed his married woman with violin serenades. Jefferson eschewed the uniforms of nobility, choosing instead to dress himself in sometimes dirty and tattered clothing.
Although his wife died at the age of 33, Jefferson never remarried. He did, still, allegedly father 5 children by Emerge Hemings, one of his slaves.
Jefferson suffered from migraine headaches throughout his life, and bathed his feet in cold water daily to avoid colds.
Jefferson was the quintessential Renaissance human being and has been described every bit a(n): lawyer, linguist, diplomat, astronomer, naturalist, political philosopher, educator, statesman, president, "farmer," musician, scientist, inventor, agriculturalist, horseman, geographer, theologian and paleontologist. Jefferson was fluent in Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and was a supporter of equal rights and instruction for women, the right of all to accept a free public education, a free library system and the creation of decimal system of weights and measures. He is also considered one of the preeminent architects in the history of the country.
His Politics: Jefferson was a Republican, which at that fourth dimension was the party of the common homo. He envisioned a nation built on agriculture, not industry. The formal name for the "Republican" Political party of Jefferson was the Autonomous-Republican Party from which our present mean solar day Democratic party evolved. (The Republican political party of today was created in 1854 by the joining of anti-slavery Democrats, the Gratis Soil Party and factions of the Whig Party.) The formal name of the opposing party (led past Alexander Hamilton) was the Federalist Party.
Jefferson was renowned for being a terrible public speaker due to a speech impediment, although he is certainly regarded as ane of the most facile writers ever to agree the role of the presidency. He alone wrote the first draft of the Annunciation of Independence.
He doubled the country size of the The states when he made the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon. Napoleon needed greenbacks to conquer Europe; Jefferson wanted the country to safeguard confronting a time to come French invasion and to encourage his vision of American being a land of small independent (yeoman) farmers. The selling toll: $15 million.
Later on his two terms as president, Jefferson retired to his Virginia estate, Monticello. He spent much of his time pursuing his dream of establishing a academy. That dream was realized when he founded the University of Virginia.
Closest Crony Amongst the Founding Fathers: Although his closest friend amidst the founding fathers was James Madison, Jefferson's well-nigh memorable friendship was with John Adams. The friendship adult when they both worked on the committee that was responsible for the Announcement of Independence. Their friendship turned to a bitter rivalry, however, when they joined opposing political parties. They reconciled afterward both finished their presidencies, and they kept upward a steady correspondence. They both died on July 4, 1826 - the 50th anniversary of the Annunciation of Independence. On the day he died, Adams opened his eyes and whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson lives," he said. Jefferson had died earlier that day.
What He Said: "A piffling rebellion now and and so is a good thing." "Scientific discipline is my passion, politics my duty."
John Adams (1735-1826)
Highest Political Part: President (1797-1801)
Other Accomplishments: Starting time vice-president. Helped draft the Annunciation of Independence and negotiate the peace agreement with Great Uk to end the Revolutionary War. Served as Minister to U.k..
Nicknamed "Atlas of American Independence," John Adams was a brusque (5'7"), plump homo with an ego as big as his waistline. He felt it was beneath him to milkshake hands with anyone; he bowed instead. Adams was non alone in this practice, all the same. George Washington also preferred to bow rather than shake hands.
Born and raised in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts, Adams was a lawyer by trade. He was the longest living American president. He died at the age of 90, in Quincy. Adams was the starting time president to occupy the White House. The nation moved its majuscule from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., during his administration.
His Politics: Adams was a Federalist, and, as such, he held a more than elitist view of government than his Republican rivals.
The first truly defense-minded president, Adams built the U.South. Navy to the point where it could compete with that of whatever nation.
Probably his most enduring political legacy was that he appointed John Marshall as Supreme Courtroom Principal Justice. His virtually ignominious political legacy was his signing of the "Conflicting and Sedition Acts," which made information technology a criminal offence to criticize the regime (violators could exist imprisoned).
Adams was nigh proud of the fact that he avoided state of war with France at the turn of the century, in the face of strong public stance in favor of war. This, along with his perceived overspending on defense, led to his defeat in his re-election campaign.
Closest Crony Amongst the Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson was, past turns, both his closest crony and near loathed political enemy. They ended their lives every bit friends, dying on the same mean solar day, fifty years afterwards the signing of the Annunciation of Independence (see fascinating facts about Thomas Jefferson).
What He Said: "Let the man mind loose. Information technology must be loosed. It will exist loose. Superstition and despotism cannot confine information technology."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Highest Political Office: Minister to France
Other Accomplishments: Franklin was one of the three Americans to sign the peace treaty with England that concluded the Revolutionary War. He besides helped write the Announcement of Independence, and was the oldest consul at the Constitutional Convention.
Of the Founding Fathers, Franklin was easily the most unusual character. He made enough coin from his publishing business—primarily on receipts from Poor Richard'due south Almanac—to retire at age 42. He so devoted his life to writing, science, and politics.
Among his many inventions, Franklin created bifocal spectacles. He did and then considering he didn't like to acquit ii pairs of glasses with him.
Franklin had 1 illegitimate son, William, who became the Governor of New Jersey. William supported the British in the Revolution. That move resulted in the permanent estrangement of father and son.
His Politics: Franklin'due south political activism had peaked long earlier the American party arrangement fully evolved, but he was philosophically closer to the tenets of the Democratic-Republican party.
He was suspicious of strong central governments and governors, exist they kings or presidents. Indeed, Franklin advocated a three-person presidential committee rather than having a single president. Of the proposal to have a one-human president, he said, "The government is likely to be well-administered for a course of years, and tin can only finish in despotism." Nonetheless, in Franklin'southward will, he bequeathed his walking stick to president Washington.
Franklin had a restless and ravenous mind. He eschewed normal work patterns, preferring instead to ready his own pace, and ignoring appointments if he was interested enough in a conversation. He too possessed the largest private library in America. Non all of his ideas won wide acceptance. A case in point: Franklin's selection for the national bird was the turkey.
Closest Crony Amidst the Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson. When Franklin died, Jefferson implored President Washington to hold a day of mourning. Washington aghast, not wishing to set a precedent.
What He Said: "Our Constitution is in actual operation. Everything appears to promise that it will terminal. Only in this world zero is sure but death and taxes." At the conclusion of the Ramble Convention Franklin observed the symbol of the sun at the top of George Washington's chair and mused: "I have the happiness to know it is a ascent sunday and not a setting lord's day"
Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)
Highest Political Part: Treasury Secretary
Other Accomplishments: Along with Madison and John Jay, authored the Federalist Papers, rallying support for the new Constitution. Led the effort to convene the Constitutional Convention when the nation was verging on anarchy.
Hamilton called for a coming together of all 13 states at Annapolis, Maryland in September, 1786 to talk over the economic state of affairs in the country at that time. Still, merely five states sent representatives. There were not enough states for a quorum and the conference had no real dominance. Undaunted, Hamilton then requested permission from the Congress of the Confederation (under the Articles of Confederation) to invite representatives from the thirteen states to assemble in Philadelphia with the express purpose of "revising" the Articles of Confederation. Behind closed doors and with no real say-so, the delegates decided to write an entirely new constitution.
Hamilton was consumed by his passion for a nation built around a strong and fiscally stable central government. He was built-in out of matrimony in the West Indies, and moved to the colonies at the age of 17. His father, a Scottish trader, went bankrupt when Hamilton was 15, and the boy went to work in a counting house to help support the family.
Fresh out of Columbia Academy, he organized artillery regiments in New York for the Revolutionary War, and from 1779 to 1781 he was Washington's chief aide. When Washington assumed the presidency, he named Hamilton as Secretarial assistant of the Treasury.
Ironically, earlier Washington was elected president, Hamilton was i of a grouping of politicians who felt that the U.South. needed a king. The group wrote to Prussia's Prince Henry and asked if he wanted the chore. Earlier he replied, the group changed its mind.
His Politics: Hamilton was the 1 who most advocated an elitist political vision. He believed that the intellectual aristocracy should rule the nation.
Hamilton's political legacy is embodied in the Federal Depository financial institution. He led the effort to constitute the start such banking concern, which he saw as critical for sustaining the government'due south fragile finances. His opponents saw the bank as an evil tool for expanding the power of the federal government, at the expense of the states. Hamilton is regarded as the "Male parent of the National Debt" because he felt that a national debt was really a "blessing." The more money the government owed to the people of the country, the more the people had a stake in the success of the country!
When Jefferson ran for president in 1800, he and Aaron Burr (both Republicans) tied. The election went to the Federalist-controlled Firm. Hamilton, founder of the Federalist party, convinced his colleagues to elect Jefferson over Burr. Burr then campaigned for governor of New York. Again, Hamilton swayed voters against Burr. Finally, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Fatally wounded past his rival, Hamilton died one day later.
Closest Crony Among the Founding Fathers: George Washington
What He Said: "The sacred rights of flesh are non to exist rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human being nature, by the hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured past mortal power."
George Bricklayer (1725-1792)
Highest Political Office: Fellow member, Virginia Ramble Convention (1776) Delegate, Constitutional Convention (1787)
Other Accomplishments: Helped create the Virginia Beak of Rights and Virginia Constitution.
Although George Mason refused to sign the Constitution, his ideas yet had a major effect on the fabric of American political idea. He was one of the richest planters in Virginia and was involved early on in his life with western land speculation. Mason served for a brief time in the Virginia House of Burgesses along with his close friend, George Washington. He was more concerned with the types of public duties that did not bring the kind of recognition that his contemporaries were interested in. However, he was i of the most fundamental thinkers of the American Revolution and formed a close philosophical brotherhood with Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, and George Washington.
His Politics: Thomas Jefferson'due south Declaration of Independence was influenced greatly by Mason's work on the Virginia bill of rights, and Stonemason's ideas also had an impact on the development of the Bill of Rights to the The states Constitution. He eventually opposed the Constitution considering of the compromise apropos slavery (known every bit the three/five Compromise) and the failure of the delegates to include a Nib of Rights. These objections to the Constitution became the focal point for the anti-federalists during the ratification process. He was chosen the offset Senator from Virginia only refused the seat in 1789. Mason has been called the American example of the Enlightenment.
Closest Crony Amid the Founding Fathers: George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson
What He Said: "It is easy to foresee that there will be much difficulty in organizing a government upon this great scale, and at the aforementioned time reserving to the land legislatures a sufficient portion of power for promoting and securing the prosperity and happiness of their respective citizens. Notwithstanding, with a proper degree of coolness, liberality, and candour (very rare commodities by the adieu) I doubt not simply that it may be effected."
Gouverneur Morris (1725-1816)
Highest Political Office: U.Southward. Government minister to England (1790-1791); U.Southward. Minister to France (1792-1794); United States Senator (1800-1803)
Other Accomplishments: Signer of the Manufactures of Confederation; Member, Continental Congress (1777-1778); Assistant Minister of Finance (1781-1785); Member of the Constitutional Convention (1787); Chairman of the Erie Canal Commission (1810-1813).
During his lifetime, Gouverneur Morris was a successful politician, diplomat and writer. He was a strong supporter of the federal constitution although he was not a strong supporter of the "power" of the people (he initially opposed the American Revolution considering he felt it was controlled by the "mob"). He had a wooden leg due to a carriage accident.
His Politics: He was in favor of senators beingness chosen for life, significant property qualifications to vote, straight election of the president by the aristocracy qualified voters, and representation in Congress based on taxation. "The mob brainstorm to think and reason. Poor reptiles! They bask in the lord's day, and ere noon they will bite, depend on it. The gentry begin to fear this." It has been recorded that Gouverneur Morris spoke more than anyone at the Ramble Convention (173 times). He was made the chairman of the Commission of Mode and was responsible for the "wording" of the Constitution. He took twenty-3 proposed resolutions and condensed them into the 7 major articles independent in the Constitution. Morris declined Alexander Hamilton's asking to aid write the Federalist Papers, and during the "fight" for ratification he played no pregnant part. Later Alexander Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr in 1804, Morris prepared the eulogy.
Closest Crony Among the Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton, George Washington
What He Said: "I cannot excogitate of a government in which in that location tin can exist two supremes."
"I came here (to the Constitutional Convention) equally a representative of America. I flatter myself that I came here in some caste as a representative of the whole human race."
Roger Sherman (1721-1793)
Highest Political Office: United States House of Representatives (1788-1791); United States Senator (1791-1793).
Other Accomplishments: Member, Continental Congress (1774-1781, 1783 and 1784); Helped draft the Declaration of Independence; Helped draft the Articles of Confederation; Was responsible for the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) at the Constitutional Convention.
Sherman was a self-fabricated man, married twice and fathered 15 children. Before the Revolutionary War he held positions in the Connecticut government in all iii branches (legislative, executive, and judicial). He was a political conservative, merely strongly favored the American Revolution one time it began. Sherman was in support of the colonial boycotts of the 1760's and was in charge of the New Haven committees of correspondence (organizations that promoted inter-colonial communication). He was not known as a gifted speaker, merely he toiled hard in diverse committees in order to make sound and lasting policy. However, at the Constitutional Convention he did speak 138 times on diverse bug, and just James Madison, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris spoke more often. Roger Sherman was the 2nd oldest consul at that place (correct behind 81 year quondam Benjamin Franklin). Thomas Jefferson one time remarked, "There is Mr. Sherman of Connecticut, who never said a foolish matter in his life."
His Politics: He was in favor of the President being appointed past the Legislature for a three yr term of office. However, his most important accomplishment was the compromise on representation in Congress he suggested that bankrupt the "deadlock" between large and small states. This compromise was called the "Great Compromise", and it showed the delegates that they could and should compromise in order to accomplish the writing of a new constitution. Thus, the Constitution has been characterized historically as a "parcel of compromises". He was, however, opposed to a split "bill of rights" to be added to the Constitution. Past the time Sherman served in the United States Congress he was an advocate of the Federalist philosophy. He ended up supporting Alexander Hamilton'due south financial program of assumption of land debts, the establishment of a national bank, and enactment of a tariff to help the young nation to stabilize its economy.
Closest Crony Among the Founding Fathers: William Johnson
What He Said: "The question is, not what rights naturally belong to man, but how they may exist most equally and effectually guarded in society."
"When you are in a minority, talk; when y'all are in a majority, vote."
James Wilson (1742-1798)
Highest Political Role: Acquaintance Justice, Us Supreme Court
Other Accomplishments: Member, Continental Congress (1775-1777; 1782; 1783; 1785-1787); Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Showtime Professor of Law at Philadelphia College (1790).
James Wilson was an early supporter of the American Revolution and gained much notoriety with the publication of his "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament". However, he became very bourgeois in his later years and was the target of public indignation. He was born in Scotland, came to New York during the time of the Stamp Deed (1765), and eventually studied police force nether John Dickinson in Pennsylvania. He eventually became the showtime professor of constabulary at the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.
It was said of James Wilson that "when Wilson speaks, he wastes no time and considers no man'due south feelings."
His Politics: He emerged as a political leader after the American Revolutionary War, and as a member of the Congress of the Confederation (1783; 1785-1786) under the Manufactures of Confederation was strongly in favor of an amendment to allow the government the ability to revenue enhancement.
He was a stiff supporter of a republican form of government in which the people choose the representatives in government, and was in favor of the "power" of the people during a time menstruum when many of the political visionaries did not believe in republic. The democracy that nosotros know today did not actually take shape until the 1820'southward with the appearance of Andrew Jackson. Wilson felt that people and their individual rights took priority over those of property rights, and was opposed to slavery. He besides believed in the concept of "federalism" in which in that location was a sectionalization of power between the states and national authorities. However, the concluding authority ultimately went to the central government. At the Ramble Convention he was a leader of the many floor debates and a fellow member of the committee chosen to draft the Constitution. He and then led the fight for ratification in Pennsylvania, which became the 2d state to approve the new Constitution.
Closest Crony Among the Founding Fathers: John Rutledge
What He Said: "The government ought to possess not but starting time the force just secondly the mind or sense of the people at large. The legislature ought to be the virtually exact transcript of the whole society."
"Why should a national authorities exist unpopular? Will a citizen of Delaware exist degraded by becoming a citizen of the Us?"
"Federal liberty is to states what ceremonious liberty is to individuals ... I do not run into the danger of the states beingness devoured by the national government." On the reverse, I wish to keep them from devouring the national authorities."
Edmund Randolph (1753-1813)
Highest Political Office: U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of State
Other Accomplishments: Helped draft the constitution for the state of Virginia; Fellow member, Continental Congress (1779-1782); Governor or Virginia (1786-1788); Member, Virginia Ratification Convention; master counsel for Aaron Burr during his treason trial (1807).
Edmund Randolph graduated from the College of William and Mary and practiced constabulary until the American Revolutionary War disrupted his personal and professional life. At the outbreak of the war in 1775, his father, mother, and sisters moved back to England. Randolph supported the rebellion and served for a short fourth dimension as an aid to General George Washington, but soon returned to Virginia to become the youngest member of the convention to write Virginia's state constitution. He then became the mayor of Williamsburg and later the "land's" attorney general.
His Politics: Randolph's political experience as well involved becoming a member of the Continental Congress, Governor of Virginia, and a consul to the Annapolis Convention of 1786.
He was chosen to be a consul to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787, and is best known for presenting a proposal supporting the big states known equally the Virginia Plan. The plan chosen for a bicameral legislative body and each country represented by population with the offset house (representatives) elected by the people and the 2nd firm (senators) elected by the first house. The Virginia Plan eventually became part of the Great Compromise or Connecticut Compromise submitted by Roger Sherman. He as well wanted a commission of three to act as president. Randolph also served on the Committee on Detail that prepared a first draft of the new constitution. Notwithstanding, considering of philosophical differences over the final Constitution, he refused to sign it. He did eventually support its ratification when the agreement was made to include amendments to protect the rights of individuals and the states (Bill of Rights). Randolph referred to the Constitution as "the anchor of our political salvation".
Closest Crony Amid the Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson
What He Said: "There are swell reasons when persons with limited powers are justified in exceeding them, and a person would be contemptible not to take chances it."
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