Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.
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Founders Online

Welcome to Founders Online

Brought to you by a generous grant from the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, Founders Online is a repository of information about twelve of America's Founders. Using audio clips, biographical essays, classroom activities, videos, and even Flash-based games, this section of the BillofRightsInstitute.org site highlights some of the most well-known Founders, and also sheds light on lesser-known ones. Please select any of the Founders here to vist their page, or select from the resources below you are interested in.

Founding Resources

Individual Founders

Learn more about the individual contributions of twelve of the Founders. Select the name of the Founder from the quick navigation links below to view their resource page or scroll down the page for a listing of all the resources available by Founder.

John Adams | Samuel Adams | Alexander Hamilton | Patrick Henry
Thomas
Jefferson | James Madison | GeorgeMason | Gouverneur Morris
James Otis | Thomas Paine | George Washington | John Witherspoon


John Adams - Massachusetts
(1735-1826)

artist – Asher B. Durand after Gilbert Stuart
Collection of the New-York Historical Society

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Resources



Samuel Adams - Massachusetts
(1722-1803)

artist – John Singleton Copely
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

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Alexander Hamilton - New York
(1757-1804)

artist – John Trumbull
Collection of the New-York Historical Society

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Patrick Henry - Virginia
(1736-1799)

artist - George Bagby Matthews
Portrait courtesy of the U.S. Senate Collection

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Thomas Jefferson - Virginia
(1743-1826)

artist – Charles Willson Peale
Independence National Historic Park

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James Madison - Virginia
(1751-1836)

artist – Gilbert Stuart
Reproduction is by permission of Hampden-Sydney College

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George Mason - Virginia
(1725-1792)

artist – Dominic Boudet
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Gift of David K.E. Bruce. Photo: Ron Jennings. © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

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Gouverneur Morris - Pennsylvania
(1752-1816)

artist – Edward Dalton Marchant
Independence National Historic Park

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James Otis - Massachusetts
(1725-1783)

artist – Robert S. Chase
Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House

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Thomas Paine - Pennsylvania
(1737-1809)

artist – Auguste Milliere
National Portrait Gallery, London

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George Washington - Virginia
(1732-1799)

artist – J. Peale after C.W. Peale
Independence National Historic Park

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John Witherspoon - New Jersey
(1723-1794)

artist – Charles Willson Peale
Independence National Historic Park

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Resources