Prelude to independence
Imperfect visionaries: The legacy
of the Founders
America's Founding Fathers didn't look much like revolutionaries. They were proper gentlemen in breeches and powdered wigs. And they were far from faultless.
In fact, when they gathered to discuss their quarrel with Britain in meetings beginning in 1774, most of the 56 representatives from the 13 colonies, did not want independence. They were merchants, farmers, and tradesmen, not revolutionaries.
They were not above cutting deals and bad mouthing each other, particularly John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Still, they worked on, even as their work put their own lives at risk.
Eventually, even as they proclaimed this a place where all men are created equal, they ignored the rights of women and slaves. But the revolution made possible the anti-slavery and women's rights movements of the next century and all of our thinking about equality ever since.
They refused to follow the footsteps of other nations and create a country divided into classes of "ordinary people" and "gentlemen." They would not accept that birth dictated place as it did in all other countries. Their thinking informs American opinion even today. A YouGov survey found that 63 percent of Americans oppose a U.S. monarchy, an attitude that crosses the political divide.
Both Jefferson and Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of independence. But today their spirits live on and are honored. Their legacy: the longest-lasting republic in the history of world.
