Achievements of the Founding Fathers of the United States
Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 and died in 1790. Franklin is considered by many people to be brilliant and a little crazy at the same time. Most people know him for inventing electricity by standing outside in a thunderstorm with a kite to get an electric current. However Franklin was instrumental at the Constitutional Convention and writing the Constitution. He was the tenth child in his family born and one of seventeen siblings. He also published an autobiographical book on his own life. Benjamin Franklin also invented many other devices such as the Benjamin stove, bifocals, the glass harmonica and many other inventions. Franklin also played an important role in politics in Philadelphia and made the city into an important center for trade and politics.
The second great Constitutional writer and Ameican leader was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was born in 1743 and died in 1826. He wrote the Declaration of Independence and was highly regarded as one of the most brillaint men in the states. He was the third president of the United States after George Washington and John Adams. He was the United States’ first Secretary of State, served as Vice President and President. In policy making Jefferson expanded the borders of the country enormously by signing off on the Louisiana Purchase which was discovered by the adventures of Louis and Clark. The Louisiana Purchase was bought from Napoleon Bonaparte who desperately needed money to fight his wars in Europe. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the U.S.
In addition to politics, Jefferson was a architect and loved mechanical engineering. One of his hobbies was botany and studying plants. He loved architecture and paleontology.
Then there is George Washington who was the first president of the United States. He was born in 1732 and died in 1799. Washington was a war time hero and helped defeat the British who had superior numbers of men and superior military training and weapons. Still with Washington’s expert skill in the military and as a general on the battlefield, he led America to victory. He is considered to be the greatest president and greatest Commander-in -Chief. Washington was beloved by everyone and he was unanimously elected both terms in office and ran unopposed.
Washington set many precendents including the two terms of office which wasn’t broken until F.D.R. won three terms of office. Washington feared that political parties would bring down the nation but here we are centuries later with two main political parties.
The second president of the United States was John Adams. He was born in 1735 and died in 1826. He was very influential in the Continental Congress and declaring independence from Britain. In 1780 he wrote and drafted the Massachusetts Constitution. He served as the first Vice President under George Washington. John Adams was a man of great integrity and made policy decisions that weren’t always popular but were principled and morally right at the time.
Alexander Hamilton was born in 1755 in the West Indies and died in 1804. Hamilton is laregely credited with writing the Federalist papers which were about the seperation of powers in the government. Hamilton also wrote about factions within the government and making sure that views of minority groups were represented in the government. In 1801 he founded the New York Post and started writing about the merits of the Constitution and government.
The final Constitutional founder was James Madison who was also a U.S. president. He helped write the Federalist papers with Alexander Hamilton. Madison was a strong believer in separating the church and state affairs. He also advocated for a sysem of checks and balances and helped Jefferson negotiate theLouisiana Purchase with France.
