When you picture the men who founded America as a country, what comes to mind? Does a familiar picture that you saw in all of your history books of older gentlemen in powdered wigs standing around the Declaration of Independence come to mind? Before reading Founding Fathers Reconsidered, I had that picture in mind just like the rest of our generation. I did not realize how much they really differed in every aspect of everything which included; physical aspects, mindset, and the fact that they were not the perfect worshipped figures that our history books paint them to be. They did the best that they could do for their time, but we should remember that they are still just human like us. Firstly, they differed in physical traits than what we
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In fact, “the founding fathers often disagreed, even fought bitterly, about every step [they took] to achieve independence, nationhood, and constitutional government” (40). Not all of them shared the same religion. Some were Protestant and some were Catholics and deists, but they managed to get past those issues for the good of our country. They also shared different opinions on Enlightenment. Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Rush “saw it as a welcome chance for the radical act of uprooting oppressive ways of all kinds” (36). They saw Enlightenment as a bad thing, whereas John Adams and Alexander Hamilton thought it “an opportunity for a gigantic project of sorting human wisdom—identifying and conserving what was worth conserving in the best of the past while setting aside what had to be revised or replaced” (37). Enlightenment was a time of confusion for all people, their ideas and beliefs being constantly challenged, so I can see how they would be split in their opinions. They also often had disagreements between each other on a smaller scale. For example, John Adams said that Benjamin Franklin “too lazy, dilatory, subservient, and bedazzled by France to safeguard American independence” (46). They were not afraid to speak their minds even if it meant offending or blaming someone
In fact, “the founding fathers often disagreed, even fought bitterly, about every step [they took] to achieve independence, nationhood, and constitutional government” (40). Not all of them shared the same religion. Some were Protestant and some were Catholics and deists, but they managed to get past those issues for the good of our country. They also shared different opinions on Enlightenment. Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Rush “saw it as a welcome chance for the radical act of uprooting oppressive ways of all kinds” (36). They saw Enlightenment as a bad thing, whereas John Adams and Alexander Hamilton thought it “an opportunity for a gigantic project of sorting human wisdom—identifying and conserving what was worth conserving in the best of the past while setting aside what had to be revised or replaced” (37). Enlightenment was a time of confusion for all people, their ideas and beliefs being constantly challenged, so I can see how they would be split in their opinions. They also often had disagreements between each other on a smaller scale. For example, John Adams said that Benjamin Franklin “too lazy, dilatory, subservient, and bedazzled by France to safeguard American independence” (46). They were not afraid to speak their minds even if it meant offending or blaming someone