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Introduction
The founders of the United States of America had an astute understanding of their dependence on the citizens of the state. A variety of historian’s revealed that the leaders that had founded the United States of America had a variable degree of trust in the natural benevolence and sympathy of the common man and believed that this quality of theirs would win every other aptitude of theirs. These leaders, military leaders, politicians, writers and rebels. They had a variety of personality, background and status behind them. But all of this had played its part into forming a great nation that exists at the pinnacle of this world. This paper analyzes a myriad of founding fathers and compares and contrasts them on the basis of certain traits.
Discussion
The first and most prominent of these founding fathers were George Washington. Before he became the revolutionary hero that he is known for today he too had a past. He was a British subject and even served as a general in the Indian and French wars. He was also a prosperous Virginia farmer and had under name hundreds of slaves. As time grew on he started resenting the taxes and the restrictions that the British were putting on the colonies. He was placed in charge of the continental army during the time the revolutionary war broke out (Wilson, pp.353-356). At this time he suffered a disastrous defeat on the field of Battle of Brooklyn. However, this was not the end of it he continuously suffered more defeats but never lost hope. Even though the freezing winters, he kept his ragtag group of soldiers together and was able to expel the British by 1783, at valley forge. After he had defeated the British, he was brought back as a politician despite showing an inclination towards becoming a farmer. To him, a stronger federal government was necessary in order to preserve the nation and this became his ideology. He worked hard was resilient and this showed in his political career as well. Eventually, he became the first president of the United States of America
Alexander hamilton, unlike George Washington, did not belong to a noble family and was an illegitimate orphan and a poor one at that. He had emigrated as a teenager from the British west indies to New York. He rose through the ranks as an aide-de-camp to General Washington himself. At this time the revolutionary war was at full swing and he was one of the few impassioned supporters of the central government being strong. He was the writer of the major issues of the Federalists Papers and this was after he had attended the constitutional convention in the year 1787 (Nereson, pp. 1045-1059). These papers argued that the constitution needed ratification and this was one of the reasons why Washington made him the first United States treasury secretary. His ideology of the state was that it always improves and transforms for the better of its people. This is why he was of the that having a centralist government would provide more benefit to the people than a non-centralist government.
Benjamin Franklin was known as the Renaissance man of early America. He only had a formal education at the age of 10 but he was skilled at painting, writing, science, invention and diplomacy. He had worked tirelessly not only for the benefit of the American nation but also for humanity as well. His designed bifocals, him harnessing the power of electricity, playing music or even publishing a novel by the name of Poor Richard Almanack were some of his greatest accomplishments. He continued to work on improving his adopted city of Pennsylvania, so he constant involved himself in civic projects (Doenecke, pp. 222-225). During the start of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin was chosen to be part of the committee that had to work on the Declaration of Independence. This committee consisted of five members. He then travelled to France, where he secured the assistance of the french in war. They even helped to negotiate in the Treaty of Paris, that had taken place in the year 1783. To Benjamin Franklin, he wanted the laws and regulations to evolve over time. To him in order for a system to be better, it constantly needed to innovate itself. He compared this to a man, who if wants to stay relevant needs to constantly develop and innovate himself to stay with the times.
John Adams was a distinguished lawyer hailing from Massachusetts and was a relative proponent of the revolutionary cause. He also was part of the same committee Benjamin Franklin was that was responsible for writing the Declaration of independence. He was also a member of the party that travelled overseas in order to secure the support of the French military aid and was a great help in the negotiating process for the Treaty of Paris. He also was the chair of many other committees as well but one of his greatest accomplishments was the creation of the Massachusetts constitution.
Conclusion
The founding fathers of the United States of America were among one of the most distinguished people that had ever lived. Their strength, valor and intellect had led the country to independence and eventually towards their prosperity. Each of these had their own views about the state and had their own qualities that they showed within their workings. Like George Washington was a strong-minded, Jefferson was innovative, Hamilton was relentless and Adams was one of a kind. They all served their country in their own way and never hindred the progress of the country with their own agendas.
Works Cited
Doenecke, Justus D. "The Founding Fathers and the Debate over Religion in Revolutionary America: A History in Documents." (2015): 222-225.
Nereson, Ariel. "Hamilton's America: An Unfinished Symphony with a Stutter (Beat)." American Quarterly 68.4 (2016): 1045-1059.
Wilson, Lisa. "Founders as Fathers: The Private Lives and Politics of the American Revolutionaries by Lorri Glover." The William and Mary Quarterly 73.2 (2016): 353-356.
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