Founding Fathers

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze, 1851

America’s 250th Anniversary

To mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding on July 4, 1776, Smithsonian magazine is highlighting the people, places and events that shaped the United States’ fight for independence from Great Britain

A 19th-century lithograph of Patrick Henry's "give me liberty or give me death" speech

Discover Patrick Henry's Legacy, Beyond His Revolutionary 'Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death' Speech

Delivered 250 years ago, the famous oration marked the height of Henry's influence. But the politician also served in key roles in Virginia's state government after the American Revolution

This copy of the Declaration was printed by Robert Luist Fowle of New Hampshire.

This Rare Printing of the Declaration of Independence Could Sell for $4 Million

Made by a printer in New Hampshire, this 1776 broadside edition was created to disseminate America's founding document to the public

The bald eagle is finally being recognized as America's national bird.

The Bald Eagle Just Became America's National Bird. What Took So Long?

An eagle enthusiast has been lobbying for the designation for years. On Christmas Eve, President Biden signed legislation making it official

By age 16, “being on some occasion made ashamed of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school,” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “I took Cocker’s book of arithmetic and went through the whole by myself with great ease.”

After Failing Math Twice, a Young Benjamin Franklin Turned to This Popular 17th-Century Textbook

A 19th-century scholar claimed that "Cocker's Arithmetick" had "probably made as much stir and noise in the English world as any [book]—next to the Bible"

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At a Bold Meeting 250 Years Ago, the Continental Congress Set America in Motion

While far less famous than the coalition that met in 1775, this group of founders found agreement in their disagreements and laid the groundwork for a revolution

Benjamin Franklin lived in London for much of the time between 1757 and 1775.

Why Were There So Many Skeletons Hidden in Benjamin Franklin's Basement?

During restorations in the 1990s, more than 1,200 pieces of bone surfaced beneath the founding father's London home

Moore loaned the scrap to the museum for two years.

This History Buff Found a Scrap of George Washington's Tent at Goodwill

The fragment, which was part of Washington's dining marquee during the Revolutionary War, is now on display at a museum in Philadelphia

These rare early copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will go under the hammer on June 26.

You Could Own Rare Copies of the Nation's Founding Documents, Just in Time for the Fourth of July

Sotheby's is auctioning early printings of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as a 1790 Rhode Island broadside

Looming large on Philadelphia’s Broad Street, a ten-foot-high statue—a gift to the city from the Pennsylvania Freemasons—shows young Benjamin Franklin at his printing press.

Benjamin Franklin Was the Nation’s First Newsman

Before he helped launch a revolution, Benjamin Franklin was colonial America’s leading editor and printer of novels, almanacs, soap wrappers, and everything in between

Michael Douglas stars as Benjamin Franklin in the new Apple TV+ series "Franklin."

The Real Story Behind Apple TV+'s 'Franklin'

A new limited series starring Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin revisits the founding father's years as the American ambassador to France

The Library Company reading room on Juniper Street in Philadelphia c. 1935, one of the group’s main locations from 1880 to 1935.

How Ben Franklin Invented the Library as We Know It

Books were rare and expensive in colonial America, but the founding father had an idea

A late-19th-century photograph of John Mason's mansion on Analostan Island, now called Theodore Roosevelt Island

This Peaceful Nature Sanctuary in Washington, D.C. Sits on the Ruins of a Plantation

Before Theodore Roosevelt Island was transformed into a tribute to the nation's "conservation president," a prominent Virginia family relied on enslaved laborers to build and tend to its summer home there

The rare George Washington portrait could sell for as much as $2.5 million in January.

The Met Is Selling This Rare Portrait of George Washington

Artist Gilbert Stuart painted the work after the president sat for him in late 1795

This statue of Christopher Columbus resides at Columbus Circle in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C. 

Breaking Down the United States' Historical Obsession With Christopher Columbus

Columbus became Columbus in the American Revolution—when the colonials sought out an origin story that didn’t involve the British

An illustration of William Morgan's abduction

The Masonic Murder That Inspired the First Third Party in American Politics

Public outcry over whistleblower William Morgan's disappearance gave rise to the Anti-Masonic Party, which nominated a candidate for president in 1832

George Washington used the light of this brass candle stand while laboring over his farewell address in 1796.

How George Washington Wrote His Farewell Address

A candle stand used by the first president illuminates his extraordinary last days in office

“I try not to claim that Washington definitely countenanced” the burning of New York City, says historian Benjamin L. Carp. “However, I do think the evidence is suggestive.”

Did George Washington Order Rebels to Burn New York City in 1776?

A new book points out that the general was happy when the city burned and expressed regret that more of it was not destroyed during the fire

In 1804, jurors in New Jersey indicted Vice President Aaron Burr for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Burr’s friends persuaded state officials to drop the charges, but their success had nothing to do with any immunity that Burr enjoyed as an executive officer.

What the Nation's Founders Said About the Indictment of a Former President

Alexander Hamilton wrote that a commander in chief removed from office would be "liable to prosecution and punishment"

Robert Garcia, a newly elected congressman from California, selected several items with personal significance to use at his swearing-in ceremony.

This Congressman Was Sworn Into Office With Rare Superman Comic

California’s Robert Garcia says the superhero embodies values like truth and justice

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