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| | ==The "Founding Fathers"== | | ==The "Founding Fathers"== |
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| − | "Founding Father" is a term in the dictionary, first coined by historians in 1886, which refers to the men who were most important in the founding of the United States. The term "Framers" is more common today to refer specifically to those who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which drafted the U.S. Constitution. | + | "Founding Father" is a term in the dictionary, first coined by historians in 1886, which refers to the men who were most important in the founding of the United States, such as signing the Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution, or leading in other ways. The term "Framers" is used to refer specifically to those who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia, which drafted the U.S. Constitution. |
| | [[File:Declaration of Independence.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Agreeing on the Declaration of Independence, as painted later by the artist John Trumbull]] | | [[File:Declaration of Independence.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Agreeing on the Declaration of Independence, as painted later by the artist John Trumbull]] |
| − | The Founding Fathers, ranked roughly by their importance, include (their colony is in parenthesis): | + | The Founding Fathers, ranked roughly by their importance, include the following (their colony is in parenthesis): |
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| | #George Washington (Virginia) | | #George Washington (Virginia) |
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| | In terms of religious belief, most of the Founding Fathers were Presbyterian. "Deism" -- a belief that God created the world but never intervenes and instead only His natural laws govern it -- was the view of [[Thomas Paine]] and some other colonists in the late 1700s. | | In terms of religious belief, most of the Founding Fathers were Presbyterian. "Deism" -- a belief that God created the world but never intervenes and instead only His natural laws govern it -- was the view of [[Thomas Paine]] and some other colonists in the late 1700s. |
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| | ==The Articles of Confederation == | | ==The Articles of Confederation == |
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