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| Our Founders |
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Born in England, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. He argued against institutionalized religion and Christian doctrines.
Benjamin Franklin-Printer/Scientist
He was an early proponent of colonial unity/Postal system/opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious
George Washington-Farmer/Soldier
Supported a strong central government
John Adams-Lawyer
Influential in the writing of many state constitutions
Thomas Jefferson-planter/Lawyer
Supported the separation of church and state/doubled the size of the federal government...
"I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another; for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents. And I am for encouraging the progress of science in all its branches; and not for raising a hue and cry against the sacred name of philosophy; for awing the human mind by stories of raw-head and bloody bones to a distrust of its own vision, and to repose implicitly on that of others; to go backwards instead of forwards to look for improvement; to believe that government, religion, morality, and every other science were in the highest perfection in ages of the darkest ignorance, and that nothing can ever be devised more perfect than what was established by our forefathers." Thomas Jefferson, 1799
Thomas Jefferson Qoutes on government
John Jay-Statesman/revolutionary
State's leading opponent of slavery
James Madison-Lawyer
Belief was that the new republic needed checks and balances to protect individual rights from the tyranny of the majority
Alexander Hamilton-Lawyer/Military officer
Emphasized strong central government
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