The Most Influential Founding Fathers

**1. James Madison **The Father of the Constitution. Shows the payoff for taking copious notes. The ugly side: He owned more than 100 enslaved people.

2. Thomas Jefferson And at number two, the author of the American theory of law-based, anti-divine rule. A second hit: the Virginia statute on religious freedom. Slave ownership: more than 600.

“I am not much of a fan of the Founding Fathers terminology (I use Founding Generation), as in a democratic republic it seems to me that the government depended on more than the men inside the various legislative chambers.”—Mary Sarah Bilder, Boston College Law School

T-3. Alexander Hamilton The anti-Jefferson, the leader of the high-born Federalists, co-author of the vital Federalist Papers, and architect of our financial system. Good life’s work.

**T-3. George Washington ** His decision in 1783 to stop off in Annapolis and resign his military commission stands as maybe the most important act in early American history. It made the United States a republic. Slave ownership: more than 300.

5. Benjamin Franklin Stunning polymath, skilled (and randy) diplomat, committed abolitionist in his later years after benefiting from the slave trade earlier in his life; also the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Treaty of Paris.

6. John Adams He first rose to prominence opposing the hated Stamp Act. In convincing Jefferson to be the lead author of the declaration, he said: “I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise.”

7. Thomas Paine The English-born Founder whose early pamphlets like “Common Sense” made the popular case for revolution. Also a vigorous foe of slavery and advocate for an early version of the welfare state.

8. James Wilson Who? This Pennsylvanian was a vital and active delegate to the Constitutional Convention and an important proponent of ratification. He was also one of Washington’s original six appointees to the Supreme Court.