Founding Fathers

By the “dawn’s early light,” Key saw the huge garrison flag, now on view at the National Museum of American History, waving above Fort McHenry and he realized that the Americans had survived the battle and stopped the enemy advance.

Where’s the Debate on Francis Scott Key’s Slave-Holding Legacy?

During his lifetime, abolitionists ridiculed Key’s words, sneering that America was more like the “Land of the Free and Home of the Oppressed”

The library's current location isn't where Hamilton and Burr read books, but the membership library still owns books that they checked out.

This Library Has Books Checked Out by Hamilton and Burr

The New York Society Library was wide enough for both men

A life-sized bronze statue of Alexander Hamilton by sculptor Kim Crowley will be on display during the "Summer of Hamilton."

Get Ready for the “Summer of Hamilton”

A new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society focuses on the "$10 Founding Father"

In 1781, Arnold ordered British troops to burn New London, Connecticut.

Why Benedict Arnold Turned Traitor Against the American Revolution

The story behind the most famous betrayal in U.S. history shows the complicated politics of the nation's earliest days

Jefferson, Washington and Hamilton came together during Washington’s tenure as president and worked, fought, compromised—and wrote—in the struggle to establish a nation.

The Laptops That Powered the American Revolution

Always on the go, the Founding Fathers waged their war of words from the mahogany mobile devices of their time

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, circa 1787.

Why Elizabeth Hamilton Is Deserving of a Musical of Her Own

How the founding father’s wife kept their love alive in the face of tragedy

Illustration of the slave revolt in Haiti, and what slaveholders in the United States feared.

The History of the United States’ First Refugee Crisis

Fleeing the Haitian revolution, whites and free blacks were viewed with suspicion by American slaveholders, including Thomas Jefferson

The manuscript found in the attic

An Intern Saved a Museum by Finding This Revolutionary War Treasure in the Attic

The obvious lesson: never throw anything away

Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Genius Behind "Hamilton," Broadway's Newest Hit

Composer, lyricist and performer, Miranda wows audiences and upends U.S. history with his dazzlingly fresh hip-hop musical

Why Marquis de Lafayette Is Still America's Best Friend

A conversation with Sarah Vowell about her new book, the American Revolution and what we can learn from the Founding Fathers

James Monroe (L) and Alexander Hamilton (R) nearly dueled each other, but an unlikely political ally stepped in

That Time When Alexander Hamilton Almost Dueled James Monroe

And it was an unlikely ally who put a stop to their petty dispute

George Washington's bedpan

The Strange Saga of George Washington’s Bedpan

Even the most mundane of objects associated with the Founding Father have a story

Benjamin Franklin reading letters, which may or may not have been written by his female friends.

The Founding Fathers and the Women, Not Their Wives, Whom They Wrote To

These words today would raise suspicion if written between married men and their female friends

James and Dolley Madison portraits, painted by Gilbert Stuar

The Surprising Raucous Home Life of the Madisons

One of America’s founding families kept their true selves for the friends and family

Captain Loebl of the US Coast Guard, Sector New York cuts the birthday cake for Alexander Hamilton at the Museum of American Finance

Crashing Alexander Hamilton's Birthday Weekend

Each year, admirers of the oft-neglected Founding Father gather for a multi-day birthday celebration ranging across Manhattan.

The Franklin Papers includes 4,522 documents, including angry letters the founding father never sent.

It’s Ben Franklin’s Birthday—Want to Rummage Through His Papers?

4,522 documents, letters and notes that Franklin wrote or received

The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson

A new portrait of the founding father challenges the long-held perception of Thomas Jefferson as a benevolent slaveholder

George Washington, shown here in an 1853 lithograph, oversees his slaves at Mount Vernon.

Founding Fathers and Slaveholders

To what degree do the attitudes of Washington and Jefferson toward slavery diminish their achievements?

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