Our Founding Fathers
I’m still on cloud nine from the results of the recent election. I had resigned myself to another four or more years of Democratic torture. Incredibly, Donald Trump and the Republicans pulled off a monumental win!
I recently traveled to Philadelphia for a concrete conference and committee meetings. While I was there, I visited the incredibly historic sites where our founding fathers conceived our great nation. I walked the grounds where the men that shaped our nation walked. I saw the building where they debated, discussed, and ultimately agreed on the direction of our new nation.
Here are a few interesting facts about some of the men that founded our country:
Thomas Jefferson created the draft version of the Declaration of Independence. He could read and write in six languages. He introduced macaroni and cheese to the colonies. Jefferson died on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration, July 4, 1826.
John Adams was a gifted politician. He wanted Jefferson to be added to the group that drafted the Declaration of Independence because he needed a Virginian on the Committee. Eventually, Adams became Jefferson’s political enemy, although they would reconcile in their old age. Adams also died on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration.
John Hancock was one of America’s richest men in 1776. The son of a poor minister, he inherited a fortune from his uncle, a shipper and merchant. Known for his outsized signature, he was the first to sign the Declaration. Hancock was one of the few American Patriots who had a bounty placed on his head by King George III.
Benjamin Franklin had little formal education but went from printer’s apprentice to wealthy and world-renowned writer, publisher, and inventor. He was the most famous American in the world at the time of the signing of the Declaration. His many scientific and practical inventions include the stove that bears his name, fire insurance, bifocals, and the lightning rod.
Charles Carroll was unique as the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence. Carroll later helped found the B&O railroad (of “MONOPOLY” board game fame). Carroll was also the last surviving signer, dying in 1832 at the ripe old age of 95.
James Wilson is probably the most important signer of the Declaration many of us have never heard of. An attorney from Scotland, he was instrumental in drafting the Constitution. Wilson was one of the first Justices appointed to the Supreme Court.
George Washington didn’t sign the Declaration in July because he was busy commanding the Continental Army. When he was elected president, Washington owned the largest whiskey distillery in the country. When he died in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte gave a eulogy and ordered a requiem that would last ten days. He only had a single tooth of his own left at his death. His dentures were made from ivory, bone and even human teeth.
James Madison was the smallest President ever. He was 5’4” and only weighed about 100 lbs.
Alexander Hamilton wasn’t born in the American colonies. He was born on the island Nevis in the West Indies. Hamilton founded the New York Post. Hamilton famously died in a duel with Aaron Burr in Weehawken, NJ. His eldest son, Philip, also died in a duel just three years earlier, also in Weehawken, NJ.
Robert Morris, was known as the “Financier of the Revolution.” Without Morris, the colonies would have failed to secede from British rule. Upon his retirement, Morris embarked on risky investments and was incarcerated in a Philadelphia debtor’s prison for 3.5 years. In his final years, his wealth was gone and he lived on a small pension that his cousin had arranged for his wife, Mary.
The events and circumstances that brought these brilliant men together at that exact time in history are truly a God-given miracle. It is because of these patriots that our nation endures to this day.
To Your Success,
