Founding Fathers are persons instrumental not only in the establishment (founding) of a political institution, but also in the origination of the idea of the institution. It is applied especially to those men involved with the creation and early development of the United States of America, such as the signers of its Declaration of Independence and the framers of its Constitution, in which case it refers to such individuals as George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. But it can be applied to other countries as well.
Some modern Americans regard the term "Founding Fathers" as inaccurate, believing it diminishes the role of women. For this reason, some use the term "Founders of the Republic" or simply "Founders."
Along with the United States, several countries recognize a group of men as their historic national founders. Canada has its Fathers of Confederation (see Canadian Confederation).
All 55 delegates who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 are regarded as FoundingFathers, in fact, they are often regarded as the FoundingFathers because it is this group that actually debated, drafted and signed the U.S. Constitution, which is the basis for the country's political and legal system.
Along with taking up arms and supporting military action against the British, a large proportion of Quaker FoundingFather officially renounced or were expelled from the ardently pacifistic denomination they had been raised in and joined another denomination (usually Episcopalianism).
Of course, virtually all of the "FoundingFathers" had multiple roles in the formation of the country, in the broad sense that takes into account military leadership, financial sponsorship, various miscellaneous state and federal positions, etc. But there were many individuals who had multiple roles among categorie of FoundingFathers ennumerated on this page.
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