George Washington:

 

• He insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.
•  Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon.
• Realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787.

 

 

Thomas Jefferson:

• Drafted the declaration of independence
• Established freedom enacted in 1786
• Resigned president Washington’s cabinet in 1793

 

John Adams

·      One of the most influential Founding Fathers of The United States.

·      Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution.

·      He played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence, and assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776.

·      Adams began his career as a lawyer. He successfully defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre (1770) with only two of the eight found guilty of manslaughter believing that it was important to ensure that innocents were protected.

·      He kept America out of war with France and normalizes relations between the two countries.

 

 

James Madison

·      One of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The "Father of the Constitution," he was the principal author of the document.

In 1788, he wrote over a third of the Federalist Papers, still the                 most influential commentary on the Constitution.

·      The first president to have served in the United States Congress, he was a leader in the 1st United States Congress, drafting many basic laws, and was responsible for the first ten amendments to the Constitution

1815, he supported the creation of the second National, a strong military, and a high tariff to protect the new factories.

 

 

James Monroe

 

·      President Monroe issued a statement later known as the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the US no longer be considered for future colonization by any European power.

• James Monroe served one term as governor of Virginia.
• "The Era of Good Feelings", a time when the United States focused on expansion and ignored the troubles of the European nations.
• He is famous for the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which proclaimed U.S. hostility toward any European intervention in the Americas.