Actually, I dislike that term, 'founding fathers'. It sounds too surreal and cult-ish, as if these men were sent down from Olympus on a mission. I prefer "Architects of this Government" (a Republic, not a democracy, by the way), or "Signers of the Declaration", or some such thing.
So who were these 56 men who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor? All at the risk of failure, and being found guilty of treason against the British Crown & then hanged! Who were these men who lived in these fledgling British colonies, and had no army, no navy, and no national treasury?
Were they just a bunch of privileged, slave owning white guys with nefarious visions of conquest to hold vast fortunes in one hand while thumping the Bible with the other? (the above cartoon is a joke, for those edjumacated in gub'mint schools.)
True, some of them were wealthy, but many of them were not. And most lost everything, due to the war with Britain, by the time it was all over.
Despite what the obtuse, leftist-utopian revisionists would have you believe, most were devout men of the Christian Faith. Many have generous writings in published books & private dairies proclaiming this Faith in Jesus Christ.
And in these vast libraries of first hand accounts by those who did it, our Constitution is attributed to the Christian Bible, in general, and a 2 volume book called "A Treatise on Civil Government", in particular which references the Christian Bible no less than 1700 times! That was the blue print for this government. It's a historical fact for those who wish to take off their revisionist blinders.
So who were these 56 guys?
~27 of them had seminary degrees (not bad for a bunch of 'deists' & 'atheists'.)
~eight were immigrants - not born in this land.
~the average age was 45. (Not young by eighteenth-century standards.)
~Nine died during the revolution.
The eighteenth century was an age of admirable generalists—men like Franklin and Jefferson who could turn with equal skill to many fields. Insofar as they had predominant occupations, however, more—twentyfive—were lawyers than anything else. Next most numerous were merchants (twelve) and landowners (nine). There were four physicians, two farmers, and two fulltime politicians with no other occupation. Franklin was the only printer. There was also only one clergyman, although two others, Robert Treat Paine and Lyman Hall, had been clerics, Paine later turning to the law as nearer his real interests, and Hall to medicine after having been deposed from his Connecticut parish for “confessed immorality.” Fifteen per cent of the signers, however, were sons of clergymen. Twelve of the lawyers were jurists, and so were two of the physicians, three of the merchants, one of the farmers, and one of the politicians—nineteen judges altogether.
Read it all.
Finally, I leave you with this audio program by David Barton, American Historian, particularly on these 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. He personally owns many of their original works & writings pertaining to this period.
This audio runs about 30 minutes & requires real audio player, but it is well worth the time. A fascinating monologue with many personal details about these men. Part one. Part two.
Right now, I'm off to pick my kid up from the airport. She's coming home on leave for two weeks! Long time readers of this blog (thanx mom!) know that this is her fourth year of service, and she's been stop-lossed. (wasn't that a democrat bill clinton directive?? hmmm???)
Right now, she's currently with the Tenth Mountain Div. In Ft. Drumm, NY. After her leave, it's back to Iraq for her third tour. She's up for it, and her P.L. is happy to have her manning that 50 Cal again, but I'm just worried about my lil girl.
See ya'll later!
