Contributions of Our Founding Fathers: An Informative Essay

Since the birth of our nation, the Founding Fathers have been respected and held in the highest regard. Throughout our nation there are countless exhibits and monuments dedicated to honoring their legacies and also serve to demonstrate the long- term dignity of our society. The Founding Fathers exceptional leadership shaped our country into what it is currently. They produced treasured documents, led our nation to freedom from tyranny and provided the foundations of our government. The Founding Fathers were not just a remarkable group but a group of genesis.

To understand the Founding Fathers it's important to understand the role each of them played in the founding of our nation. Arguably the most infamous of the Founding Fathers was George Washington. George Washington served many roles throughout his life from serving in the British military as a commander in the French and Indian War. Washington afterwards came to deeply resent the taxation and restrictions imposed the British monarch. Once the Revolutionary Wa comenst he became senior command of the Continental Army. Soon after Washington's forces nearly suffered a catastrophic loss at the Battle of Brooklyn. The Battle of Brooklyn is also known as the Battle of Long Island and by the end of the fighting the British had slaughtered 2,000 soldiers from the Continental Army and captured New York City. After enduring heavy losses and casualties the tides began to change when Washington switched tactics and evoked the use of Guerilla warfare and prolonged warfare. The war continued on and became exhausting for the British forces eventually leading to their defeat in 1783. William Kladsky in his article from the Washington Library notes "Historians have praised Washington for his choice and supervision of the generals, how he encouraged morale, and held together the army. His close coordination with governors and state militias, his cooperative relations with Congress, and his professional attention to supplies, logistics, and training all contributed to the success of the Continental Army". After the war Washington intended to resume his career as a farmer but at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia he was convinced to enter the political realm. In 1789 Washington was elected the first president of the United States of America.

Thomas Jefferson was a lawyer and a politician from Virginia. Jefferson believed the British monarchy had no authority over the 13 colonies. In 1776 Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence and in the document Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal" and "that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights," such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Jefferson then went on to serve as Vice President under John Adams and in 1801 was elected as the third president of the United States of America. James Madison was a close friend of Jefferson and developed the most influential delegate which was the governmental concept of having 3 separate co-equal branches of government, the judicial branch, the legislative branch and the executive branch. Madison also authored the Federalist Papers and is credited as being the main author of the constitution. Later on Madison served as the fourth president of the United States of America.

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To further analyze how remarkable the Founding Fathers were it's important to fathom just how important the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are in establishing our nation. The Declaration of Independence was the first document written by a nation's people asserting that they shall not be ruled under a tyrannical government and as people they have a right to formulate and choose their own form of government. Predating the initial drafting of the document a series of events led to the tip of the iceberg. Which included the colonists feeling unfairly taxed, watched like a hawk, and the British ignored their grievances. The British on the other hand found the colonists unwillingly to pay their fair share. To further the animosity on December 16, 1773 around 342 chests of tea belonging to the British was thrown into the Boston Harbor by Patriots who were disguised as Mohawk Indians. In fact Samuel Adams a harsh opponent of the taxation was the Patriot leader and organized the Boston Tea party. By June 1776 the Continental Congress had begun the drafting process of the document. On July 4,1776, the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. As noted on History.com "By July 9, 1776, a copy of the Declaration of Independence had reached New York City. With hundreds of British naval ships occupying New York Harbor, revolutionary spirit and military tensions were running high. George Washington, commander of the Continental forces in New York, read the document aloud in front of City Hall. A raucous crowd cheered the inspiring words, and later that day tore down a nearby statue of George III. The statue was subsequently melted down and shaped into more than 42,000 musket balls for the fledgling American army".

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights also work to demonstrate how remarkable the Founding Fathers were. The Constitution of the United States starts out the preamble with the phrase "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America".

The Constitution establishes the United States first national government and fundamental laws with the objective being to provide citizens with protected basic rights and freedoms. The Constitution also works to limit the power of the government with a system of checks and balances. It was signed by delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. The Bill of Rights comprises first ten amendments in the Constitution. As described in the book Insite: Out of Many by John Faragher, Mari Jo Buhle, Daniel H. Czitrom and Susan H. Armitage "In June 1789, James Madison, elected to the first Congress as a representative from Virginia, set about transforming these proposed amendments into a coherent series of proposals. Congress approved 12 and sent them to the states, and 10 survived the ratification process to become the Bill of Rights in 1791". The first ten amendments guarantee indispensable rights and civil liberties including the right to right to free speech, the right to keep and bear arms, the protection from unlawful search and seizure, the protection from being held without due process and six other vital amendments.

From examining the roles Founding Fathers had in founding our nation and the documents they produced which are held in the highest it's evident that the Founding Fathers gave their lives for the ideologies they held to be true. The Founding Fathers were not just truly remarkable but a group of genesis who poured down the foundations for the furture.

Works Cited

1. Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life. New York, NY: Penguin, 2010.
2. Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2007.
3. Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763- 1789. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005.
4. Faragher, John M., Mari Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, Susan Armitage. Out of Many.. "9 Things You May Not Know About the Declaration of Indepence." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 July 2012, https://www.history.com/.

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