Founding Fathers Quiz

• Wentworth Cheswell (1746-1817) was a respected patriot and grandson of the first African American landowner in New Hampshire.

• Cheswell was an influential town leader, judge, historian, schoolmaster, archeologist, and soldier in the American Revolution.

• He served as a schoolteacher and town messenger for the Committee of Safety after attending Dummer Academy.

• As an enlisted man, he served under Colonel John Langdon in the Company of Light Horse Volunteers at the Saratoga campaign.

• Cheswell was active in public life in New Hampshire and had 13 children with his wife.

• John Dickinson (1732-1808) was born in Maryland and later moved to Delaware.

• Dickinson practiced law in Philadelphia and served in the Delaware and Pennsylvania assemblies.

• He is believed to be the author of Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767-1768), which advocated resistance to British policies while urging reconciliation.

• Dickinson wrote America’s first patriotic song, “The Liberty Song.”

• In 1775, Dickinson and Thomas Jefferson wrote Declaration of the Causes of Taking Up Arms, assuring the British King that the colonists were not seeking independence.

• He objected to the strong wording of the Declaration of Independence and left Philadelphia when Congress moved to approve the Lee Resolution.

• After independence was declared, Dickinson helped draft the Articles of Confederation.

• He served as governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania.

• In 1783, Dickinson College in Pennsylvania was named after him.

• Dickinson chaired the Annapolis Convention in 1786 and led Delaware's delegation to the Constitutional Convention.

• He authored the Letters of Fabius in support of the Constitution during the ratification debates.

• Dickinson is known as the “Penman of the Revolution” for his defense of American liberty.

• Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) was born near Philadelphia and studied medicine in Pennsylvania, Scotland, England, and France.

• In 1769, he became the first professor of chemistry at the College of Philadelphia.

• Rush treated the poor and expanded his practice, gaining a good reputation in the city.

• John and Abigail Adams were among his patients during the yellow fever epidemics of the 1790s.

• He supported vaccinations but faced criticism for continuing bloodletting practices.

• Rush encouraged Thomas Paine to write on behalf of independence and suggested the title Common Sense.

• He signed the Declaration of Independence and served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army.

• Appalled by the conditions of military hospitals, he questioned General George Washington and resigned after Congress rejected his plea for officer appointments.

• Rush attended the Constitutional Convention and helped secure ratification of the Constitution in Pennsylvania with James Wilson.

• He advocated for social reform, including vaccinations, abolition, and public education for all, including women.

• John Adams appointed Rush as Treasurer of the US Mint in 1799, a position he held until 1813.

• Rush played a key role in reconciling John Adams and Thomas Jefferson through correspondence.

• John Witherspoon was elected to the Continental Congress, voted for, and signed the Declaration of Independence.

• He served in the Continental Congress throughout the war and aided in drafting the Articles of Confederation.

• Witherspoon, a delegate from New Jersey at the Constitutional Convention, voted for its adoption and advocated for its ratification in New Jersey.

• Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) was born in the West Indies.

• He became active in New York’s Patriot movement after being sent to America by a local businessman.

• George Washington made Hamilton a lieutenant colonel and asked him to join his personal staff.

• Hamilton was admitted to the bar in 1782.

• In 1783, he served in the Confederation Congress, advocating for a stronger central government with James Madison.

• At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Hamilton proposed a strong executive branch with a lifetime president.

• He promoted ratification of the Constitution in New York and co-authored The Federalist Papers with Madison and John Jay, writing 52 of the 85 essays.

• Hamilton argued for a strong government in Federalist No. 70, stating its importance for securing liberty.

• In Federalist No. 84, he argued that a bill of rights was unnecessary since the government only had the powers specifically listed.

• Hamilton served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington.

• He advocated for a national bank, opposed by Thomas Jefferson and others who feared growing federal power.

• The first party system in America formed around Hamilton and Jefferson.

• After 1795, Hamilton defended freedom of the press in People v. Croswell (1803), arguing that truth could be used as a defense for libel.

• James Madison joined the Continental Congress in 1780 and realized the Articles of Confederation were inadequate.

• He was a leader at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and authored the Virginia Plan, advocating for checks and balances and balancing state and federal powers.

• Madison took detailed notes throughout the convention and is known as the “Father of the Constitution.”

• He co-authored the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay to support ratification.

• Madison led the debate to approve the Constitution in Virginia, opposing Anti-Federalist leader Patrick Henry.

• He proposed seventeen amendments, twelve of which were sent to the states, and ten were approved, becoming the Bill of Rights.

• In 1789, Madison was elected to the US House of Representatives and supported George Washington.

• He split from Washington politically over Hamilton’s plan for a national bank, moving closer to Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party.

• After leaving Congress in 1797, Madison and Jefferson wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts.

• Madison served as Jefferson’s Secretary of State and became President in 1809.

• As President, he led the nation into the War of 1812, gaining respect for the new republic overseas.

• George Mason (1725-1792) was born in Virginia and served as George Washington’s supply officer in the French and Indian War.

• He supported independence and primarily authored the Virginia Constitution and Virginia Declaration of Rights in June 1776.

• Mason’s words, based on John Locke’s ideas and natural rights theory, influenced Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence.

• The colonists became used to self-government during their early history due to Britain’s “salutary neglect.”

• Taxation and attention from Great Britain increased after the French and Indian War, angering the colonists.

• The Treaty of Paris in 1783 concluded the war and resulted in American independence from Great Britain.

Shay's Rebellion

• In 1786, about 700 debt-ridden farmers led by Daniel Shays rebelled in western Massachusetts.
• They attacked courthouses to prevent farm foreclosures due to state taxes.
• The Massachusetts militia stopped the mob violence.
• Many Americans viewed it as evidence that the Articles of Confederation was not working.
• Leaders called for a convention to address the issues of the Articles, leading to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Constitutional Convention

• In February 1787, the Congress of the Articles of Confederation called for a convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.
• Twelve states selected delegates.
• Fifty-five men attended some or all of the convention.
• The convention was supposed to start on May 14 but started May 25 because not enough delegates had arrived.
• James Madison and other delegates from Virginia and Pennsylvania prepared a plan of government before the convention began.
• The delegates chose General George Washington as the President of the Convention.
• The delegates decided to write a new constitution that was a very different system of government from that which the nation had under the Articles.
• Massacred more than 250 Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Klondike Gold Rush

• Between 1896 and 1899, approximately 100,000 prospectors were trying to find gold in the Klondike region of northwestern Canada.
• The economies of Seattle and San Francisco were flourishing because prospectors began their way to the Yukon territory from there.
• The gold rush came to an end because most prospectors did not find gold and the Spanish-American War broke out.
• Gold and silver were then discovered in the United States, including Colorado, the Black Hills of North Dakota, and the territory of Alaska.

Reservation System

• By the 1890s, most Indian Wars were over and Native Americans were forced to live on reservations.
• The government designed the reservation system to keep the peace by keeping Native Americans isolated.
• The Native Americans couldn't maintain their customs because the land set aside for the reservations was undesirable.
• Native American reservations were under the power of the U.S. government.
• Native Americans depended on the federal government for food, shelter, and clothing.
• The government attempted to help Native Americans assimilate into American life, but there were mixed results.

Native American Boarding Schools

• Missionaries established Native American boarding schools to help Native American youth assimilate into American culture.
• Richard Pratt, a former army officer founded the Carlisle School in 1879.
• Pratt believed that education could help Native American children adapt to American culture.

Test your knowledge of the United States Founding Fathers with this quiz! Topics include Wentworth Cheswell, John Dickinson, John Witherspoon, and Alexander Hamilton. Learn more interesting facts about the people who shaped the USA.