Who were the Founding Fathers?

Founding Fathers

The Founding Fathers were a group of well-educated men who led America in the early stages of her history. These men risked their lives for the freedom of Americans. This began with achieving independence of the thirteen colonies from England, and continued on with the formation of a government for the new nation once the Revolutionary War had been won.

As for specific people, the Founding generation included: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Thomas Paine, Roger Sherman, John Jay, James Wilson, and Gouvernor Morris. It would be impossible to construct a list which would be accepted by all historians.

If one considers any of the people who participated in the forming of this Republic or of evicting the King to be "Founding Fathers," then naturally the Framers of the Constitution are a subset of the Founders, since they gave us the format and structure for the Republic. Of course, the number who might be deemed Founding Fathers would be larger than the list of Framers, a case in point being Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who were not present at the writing of the Constitution, but were surely Founding Fathers.