A report on John Adams and Founding Fathers of the United States

John Adams by Gilbert Stuart c. undefined 1800–1815

Declaration of Independence, an 1819 painting by John Trumbull, depicts the Committee of Five (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston) presenting their draft to the Second Continental Congress on June 28, 1776

Adams's birthplace now in Quincy, Massachusetts

Signature page of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 that was negotiated on behalf of the United States by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay

Boston Massacre of 1770 by Alonzo Chappel

The Albany Congress of 1754 was a conference attended by seven colonies, which presaged later efforts at cooperation. The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 included representatives from nine colonies.

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence depicts the Committee of Five presenting its draft to Congress. Adams is depicted in the center with his hand on his hip.

Portraits and autograph signatures of the framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The Assembly Room in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy (1940)

Adams frequently clashed with Benjamin Franklin over how to manage French relations.

Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West (Adams in front).

Benjamin Franklin, an early advocate of colonial unity, was a foundational figure in defining the US ethos and exemplified the emerging nation's ideals.

Robert R. Livingston, member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Portrait of Adams by John Trumbull, 1793

Alexander Hamilton served as Washington's senior aide-de-camp during most of the Revolutionary War; wrote 51 of the 85 articles comprising the Federalist Papers; and created much of the administrative framework of the government.

Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1795. Washington rarely consulted Vice President Adams, who often felt marginalized and overshadowed by Washington's prestige.

John Jay was president of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779 and negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Adams and Franklin.

James Madison, called the "Father of the Constitution" by his contemporaries

President's House, Philadelphia. Adams occupied this Philadelphia mansion from March 1797 to May 1800.

Peyton Randolph, as president of the Continental Congress, presided over creation of the Continental Association.

A political cartoon depicts the XYZ Affair – America is a female being plundered by Frenchmen. (1798)

Richard Henry Lee, who introduced the Lee Resolution in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain

Thomas Jefferson, Adams's vice president, attempted to undermine many of his actions as president and eventually defeated him for reelection.

John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, renowned for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence

Alexander Hamilton's desire for high military rank and his push for war with France put him into conflict with Adams.

John Dickinson authored the first draft of the Articles of Confederation in 1776 while serving in the Continental Congress as a delegate from Pennsylvania, and signed them late the following year, after being elected to Congress as a delegate from Delaware.

Henry Laurens was president of the Continental Congress when the Articles were passed on November 15, 1777.

John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and one of Adams's few dependable allies

Roger Sherman, a member of the Committee of Five, the only person who signed all four U.S. founding documents.

John Adams, c. 1816, by Samuel Morse (Brooklyn Museum)

Robert Morris, president of Pennsylvania's Committee of Safety and one of the founders of the financial system of the United States.

Tombs of John and Abigail Adams (far) and John Quincy and Louisa Adams (near), in family crypt at United First Parish Church

George Washington and his valet slave William Lee, by John Trumbull, 1780

Abigail Adams, close advisor to her husband John Adams

John Adams by Gilbert Stuart (1823). This portrait was the last made of Adams, done at the request of John Quincy.

George Mason, author of the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights and co-father of the United States Bill of Rights

First Continental Congress at prayer, by T. H. Matteson, 1848

John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801.

- John Adams

Most historians recognize prominent leaders of the revolutionary era such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.

- Founding Fathers of the United States

25 related topics with Alpha

Thomas Jefferson

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Wren Building, College of William & Mary where Jefferson studied

House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Jefferson served 1769–1775

U.S. Declaration of Independence – 1823 facsimile of the engrossed copy

Governor's Palace, Governor Jefferson's residence in Williamsburg

Independence Hall Assembly Room where Jefferson served in Congress

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson while in London in 1786 at 44 by Mather Brown

Thomas Jefferson in 1791 at 48 by Charles Willson Peale

Jefferson in 1799 at 57, painted by Charles Peale Polk

President Thomas Jefferson Peale 1805 Reproduction

Barbary Coast of North Africa 1806. Left is Morocco at Gibraltar, center is Tunis, and right is Tripoli.

The 1803 Louisiana Purchase totaled 827,987 sqmi, doubling the size of the United States.

Corps of Discovery, October 1805 (by Charles Marion Russell, 1905)

Black Hoof, leader of the Shawnee, accepted Jefferson's Indian assimilation policies.

1802 portrait of Aaron Burr by John Vanderlyn

HMS Leopard (right) firing upon USS Chesapeake

A political cartoon showing merchants dodging the "Ograbme", which is "Embargo" spelled backwards (1807)

Portrait of Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart, 1821.

The University of Virginia, Jefferson's "Academical Village"

In 1804, Abigail Adams attempted to reconcile Jefferson and Adams.

Lafayette in 1824, portrait by Ary Scheffer, hanging in U.S. House of Representatives

Thomas Jefferson at age 78. Portrait by Thomas Sully hanging at West Point, commissioned by Faculty and Cadets, 1821.

The Jefferson Bible featuring only the words of Jesus from the evangelists, in parallel Greek, Latin, French and English

Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, national bank proponent and Jefferson's adversary

Jefferson's 1795 Farm Book, page 30, lists 163 slaves at Monticello.

Jefferson depicted as a rooster, and Hemings as a hen

Virginia State Capitol, designed by Jefferson (wings added later)

Mount Rushmore National Memorial (left to right): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln

Thomas Jefferson Memorial Statue, by Rudulph Evans (1947)

alt=Commemorative stone erected at Thomas Jefferson's birthplace in Shadwell, Virginia, on April 13, 1929.|Jefferson's Birthplace

Albert Gallatin Jefferson's Treasury economic architect Stuart 1803

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809.

He was previously the second vice president of the United States under John Adams and the first United States secretary of state under George Washington.

Portrait based on the unfinished Athenaeum Portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1796

George Washington

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Ferry Farm, the residence of the Washington family on the Rappahannock River

Lieutenant Colonel Washington holds night council at Fort Necessity

Washington the Soldier: Lieutenant Colonel Washington on horseback during the Battle of the Monongahela (oil, Reǵnier, 1834)

Colonel George Washington, by Charles Willson Peale, 1772

Martha Washington based on a 1757 portrait by John Wollaston

General Washington, Commander of the Continental Army by Charles Willson Peale (1776)

Washington taking command of the Continental Army, just before the siege.

Battle of Long Island
Alonzo Chappel (1858)

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (1851)

The Passage of the Delaware, by Thomas Sully, 1819 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776
by John Trumbull

Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge, by John Ward Dunsmore (1907)

Washington Rallying the Troops at Monmouth, Emanuel Leutze (1851–1854)

An engraving of Washington, likely made after his tenure in the army.

French King Louis XVI allied with Washington and Patriot American colonists

Siege of Yorktown, Generals Washington and Rochambeau give last orders before the attack

General George Washington Resigning His Commission, by John Trumbull, 1824

Shays' Rebellion confirmed for Washington the need to overhaul the Articles of Confederation.

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940. Washington is the presiding officer standing at right.

President George Washington, Gilbert Stuart (1795)

The President's House in Philadelphia was Washington's residence from 1790 to 1797

Seneca chief Red Jacket was Washington's peace emissary with the Northwestern Confederacy.

Battle of Fallen Timbers by R. F. Zogbaum, 1896. The Ohio Country was ceded to America in its aftermath.

USS Constitution: Commissioned and named by President Washington in 1794

Washington's Farewell Address (September 19, 1796)

Washington on his Deathbed
Junius Brutus Stearns 1799

Miniature of George Washington by Robert Field (1800)

The sarcophagi of George (right) and Martha Washington at the present tomb's entrance

The Washington Family by Edward Savage (c. 1789–1796) George and Martha Washington with her grandchildren. National Art Gallery

George Washington's bookplate with the Coat of arms of the Washington family

George Washington as Master of his Lodge, 1793

Washington as Farmer at Mount Vernon
Junius Brutus Stearns, 1851

Runaway advertisement for Oney Judge, enslaved servant in Washington's presidential household

In 1794, Washington privately expressed to Tobias Lear, his secretary, that he found slavery to be repugnant.

Washington, the Constable by Gilbert Stuart (1797)

A drawing from a Japanese manuscript of Washington fighting a tiger.

George Washington Presidential one-dollar coin

George Washington (February 22, 1732December 14, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, and Samuel and John Adams nominated Washington to become its commander-in-chief.

United States Declaration of Independence

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Pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776.

Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration, as painted by Rembrandt Peale

The 13 states at the Declaration of Independence

Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776, an idealized depiction of Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson working on the Declaration was widely reprinted (by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1900).

Portable writing desk that Jefferson used to draft and finalize the Declaration of Independence

"Declaration House", the reconstructed boarding house at Market and S. 7th Street in Philadelphia, where Jefferson wrote the Declaration

The opening of the original printing of the Declaration, printed on July 4, 1776, under Jefferson's supervision. The engrossed copy was made later (shown at the top of this article). The opening lines differ between the two versions.

English political philosopher John Locke (1632–1704)

The signed copy of the Declaration is now badly faded because of poor preserving practices in the 19th century. It is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

The Syng inkstand, which was used at both the 1776 signing of the Declaration and the 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution, is on display in Philadelphia

On July 4, 1776, Continental Congress President John Hancock's signature authenticated the United States Declaration of Independence.

Johannes Adam Simon Oertel's painting Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y.C., ca. 1859, depicts citizens destroying a statue of King George after the Declaration was read in New York City on July 9, 1776.

William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence, manumitted his slave, believing that he could not both fight for liberty and own slaves.

The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives building

John Trumbull's famous 1818 painting is often identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her two sons (1848)

The declaration was signed by 56 of America's Founding Fathers, congressional representatives from New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

John Adams, a leader in pushing for independence, had persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress edited.

James Madison

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Madison at Princeton, portrait by James Sharples

Congressional delegate Madison, age 32 by Charles Willson Peale

page one of the original copy
of the U.S. Constitution

Gouverneur Morris signs the Constitution before George Washington. Madison sits next to Robert Morris, in front of Benjamin Franklin. Painting by John Henry Hintermeister, 1925.

Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic-Republican Party with Madison.

Montpelier, Madison's tobacco plantation in Virginia

James Madison engraving by David Edwin from between 1809 and 1817

USS Constitution defeats HMS Guerriere, a significant event during the war. U.S. nautical victories boosted American morale.

The British set ablaze the U.S. Capital on August 24, 1814.

Portrait of James Madison c. 1821, by Gilbert Stuart

A life-sized statue of Madison at James Madison University.

Due to his support for religious liberty, James Madison (upper left) is honored alongside early U.S. Baptist figures in a stained glass window in National Baptist Memorial Church, Washington, D.C.

James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817.

In the 1782 presidential election, both major parties supported Washington for re-election, but the Democratic–Republicans sought to unseat Vice President John Adams.

Alexander Hamilton

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Coat of arms of the Hamiltons of Grange in Ayrshire, Scotland.

The Hamilton House, Charlestown, Nevis. The current structure was rebuilt from the ruins of the house where it was thought that Alexander Hamilton was born and lived as a young child.

Kings College c. 1756, adjacent to the New York Commons where City Hall Park is today

Alexander Hamilton in the Uniform of the New York Artillery, by Alonzo Chappel (1828–1887)

Aides-de-camp's office inside Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge. General Washington's staff officers worked in this room, writing and copying the letters and orders of the Continental Army.

The Storming of Redoubt #10, an 1840 painting by Eugene Lami

Detail of Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, showing Colonels Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens, and Walter Stewart

Miniature of Hamilton attributed to Charles Shirreff, c. 1790

A Turban Head eagle, one of the first gold coins minted under the Coinage Act of 1792

A painting of a Revenue Marine cutter, which may be of either the Massachusetts (1791), or its replacement, the Massachusetts II

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by Walter Robertson. Circa 1794

A statue of Hamilton by Franklin Simmons, overlooking the Great Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson, New Jersey, where Hamilton envisioned using the falls to power new factories

Aaron Burr, Hamilton and Philip Schuyler strolling on Wall Street, New York, 1790

Alexander Hamilton by William J. Weaver, ca. 1794-1806

A statue of Hamilton in the United States Capitol rotunda

Detail of 1802 portrait by Ezra Ames, painted after death of Hamilton's eldest son Philip

Hamilton's tomb in Trinity Church's first burial grounds at Wall Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan

Drawing (c. 1902) of the Burr–Hamilton duel, from a painting by J. Mund

This July 25, 1804 article reflected extreme lamentation over Hamilton's death, and described the plan for his funeral procession and other tributes, including a 30-day wearing of a commemorative black armband ("crape") by members of the Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania of which Hamilton had been President General.

Elizabeth Schuyler, portrait by Ralph Earl

Distinctive unit insignia of the United States Army 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment (i.e. Alexander Hamilton Battery). The crest at center is that of Clan Hamilton, with the addition of 13 gold acorns representing the original 13 states.

USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) seal. The two colors on the coat of arms represent the aspects of Alexander Hamilton's life: military and civilian. The white demarcation line is a virtual diagram of the trenches converging on the British redoubt #10 at Yorktown. Surmounting the crossed bayonets symbolizing Hamilton's taking of the redoubt is a Doric column which represents Hamilton's service as a statesman. The crest shows an ermine cinquefoil, which is the principal charge on the Hamilton family coat of arms and is worn by a unicorn, taken from the hand-carved powder horn Hamilton is believed to have owned. The motto, "Vigilant Sentinel," is derived from a quote in Federalist No. 12: "A few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrance of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the law."

A starboard view of the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine USS Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617) underway.

Alexander Hamilton on the Series 2004A U.S. $10 bill

The Hamilton Grange National Memorial in St. Nicholas Park

A statue of Hamilton outside Hamilton Hall, overlooking Hamilton Lawn at Columbia University in New York City

Image of the statue of Alexander Hamilton created by William Ordway Partridge, commissioned for the Hamilton Club of Brooklyn. The statue later stood in front of Hamilton Grange when the house was located at 287 Convent Ave.

A view of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge from the south

Lin-Manuel Miranda performs the title role in the 2015 musical Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was an American revolutionary, statesman and Founding Father of the United States.

He called for mobilization under President John Adams in 1798–99 against French First Republic military aggression, and was commissioned Commanding General of the U.S. Army, which he reconstituted, modernized, and readied for war.

Constitutional Convention (United States)

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The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787.

James Madison, the author of the Virginia Plan

Edmund Randolph, the Governor of Virginia, introduced the Virginia Plan

James Wilson's ideas shaped the American presidency more than any other delegate

U.S. Postage, Issue of 1937, depicting Delegates at the signing of the Constitution, engraving after a painting by Junius Brutus Stearns

Quaker John Dickinson argued forcefully against slavery during the convention. Once Delaware's largest slaveholder, he had freed all of his slaves by 1787.

These and other issues greatly worried many of the Founders that the Union as it existed up to that point was in danger of breaking apart.

John Adams was in Britain, serving as minister to that country, but he wrote home to encourage the delegates.

John Jay

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Drawing of Sarah Jay by Robert Edge Pine.

Jay's childhood home in Rye, New York is a New York State Historic Site and Westchester County Park

Jay's retirement home near Katonah, New York is a New York State Historic Site

The Treaty of Paris, by Benjamin West (1783) (Jay stands farthest to the left). The British delegation refused to pose for the painting, leaving it unfinished.

Jay as he appears at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Certificate of Election of Jay as Governor of New York (June 6, 1795)

John Jay 15¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp, 1958.

Rye, New York Post Office Dedication Stamp and cancellation, September 5, 1936

John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, Founding Father, abolitionist, negotiator, and signatory of the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

In the waning days of President John Adams' administration, Jay was confirmed by the Senate for another term as chief justice, but he declined the position and retired to his farm in Westchester County, New York.

Benjamin Franklin

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La scuola della economia e della morale sketch of Franklin, 1825

Benjamin Franklin (center) at work on a printing press. Reproduction of a Charles Mills painting by the Detroit Publishing Company.

William Franklin (1730-1813), son of Benjamin Franklin

Franklin's The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle (January 1741)

This Join, or Die by Franklin urged the colonies to join the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War). It later served as a symbol of colonial freedom during the American Revolution.

In 1751, Franklin co-founded Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, one of the first hospitals in the United States (depicted in this engaving by William Strickland, 1755)

First U. S. postage stamp, issue of 1847, honoring Benjamin Franklin.

Pass, signed by Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin, gave William Goddard the authority to travel as needed to investigate and inspect postal routes and protect the mail.

Pennsylvania colonial currency printed by Franklin and David Hall in 1764

Franklin in London, 1767, wearing a blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected at the French court in later years. Painting by David Martin, displayed in the White House.

John Trumbull depicts the Committee of Five presenting their work to the Congress.

Franklin, in his fur hat, charmed the French with what they perceived as rustic New World genius.

While in France, Franklin designed and commissioned Augustin Dupré to engrave the medallion Libertas Americana, minted in Paris in 1783.

Franklin's return to Philadelphia, 1785, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Gouverneur Morris signs the Constitution before Washington. Franklin is behind Morris. Painting by Hintermeister, 1925.

Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky c. 1816 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, by Benjamin West

Franklin and Electricity vignette engraved by the BEP (c. 1860)

An illustration from Franklin's paper on "Water-spouts and Whirlwinds"

A bust of Franklin by Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1778

Voltaire blessing Franklin's grandson, in the name of God and Liberty, by Pedro Américo, 1889–90

Dr Richard Price, the radical minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church, holding a letter from Franklin

Franklin bust in the Archives Department of Columbia University in New York City

Franklin on the Series 2009 hundred dollar bill

Marble memorial statue, Benjamin Franklin National Memorial

Life-size bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin (seated with cane) in the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin ( – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first United States Postmaster General.

John Adams noted that he was a mirror in which people saw their own religion: "The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker."

Robert R. Livingston

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The Committee of Five stands at the center of John Trumbull's 1817 painting Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson is depicted presenting the draft Declaration to the Congress with Benjamin Franklin at his side. Behind them are, from left to right, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Livingston.

Livingston depicted on the 1953 postage stamp commemorating the signing of the Louisiana Purchase

Margaret Beekman Livingston, mother of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston

Robert Lucian Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States.

He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Roger Sherman.

Committee of Five

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Group of five members who drafted and presented to the full Congress what would become the United States Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776.

The Committee of Five is depicted on the pediment of the Jefferson Memorial in a sculpture by Adolph Alexander Weinman

Sherman, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and Livingston

Congress Voting Independence, by Robert Edge Pine (1784–1788), depicts the Committee of Five in the center

Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776, Jean Leon Gerome Ferris' idealized 1900 depiction of (left to right) Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson of the Committee of Five working on the Declaration.

The Committee of Five presents their work to the Continental Congress on June 28, 1776. Painting by John Trumbull (1819)

The Committee of Five, pictured on an 1869 U.S. 24-cent postage stamp, also appear on the present two-dollar bill.

The Committee was composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.

Benjamin Franklin, representative of Pennsylvania, known as one of the most famous intellectuals of the Founding Fathers, whose academic writings and press publications had a very significant influence in the American Revolution