Founding Father's Videos | Marathons

it's hard to imagine there would have been a United States of America without George Washington he was there at the birth of the nation he successfully guided it through war and nurtured it in peace how did he do it not by being a great General a potent political theorist or even a clever politician he was none of those things and yet he was admired by generals political theorists and politicians why because he was a man great men trusted Thomas Jefferson John Adams Benjamin Franklin James Madison and so many others looked up to him literally he was one of the tallest men of his era at 6'3 add courage integrity and wisdom and you have a truly impressive figure let's start with his courage that was never in doubt if anything he had too much of it bold to the point of rashness as a young man he fought for the British against the French over control of the Ohio Valley then the Western most point of the American wilderness throughout that conflict known as the French and Indian War and the American Revolution Washington was always in the thick of the action his AIDS often struggled to keep him from surging too far ahead of his own troops in one battle his coat was pierced four times by musket fire horses were shot out from under him amazingly some would say miraculously he was never wounded not so much as a flesh wound by the time the revolution broke out in April of 1775 Washington was firmly committed to the cause of American independence he arrived in Philadelphia in May of that year to offer his services to the Continental Congress he was quickly made commander of the new Rebel Army there was only one problem there was no Army to speak of there was just a rag tag collection of State militias how was Washington going to defeat the greatest military force in the world with that it was a problem the general struggled with for eight and a half years that he managed to hold the Army together organized it into a disciplined fighting force and guide it to victory was Testament to his fortitude his patience and his personal bravery of his Integrity one need only look at what he did when the war ended exactly what he had promised to do when the War Began he resigned his military command and went home to Mount Vernon by stepping down Washington raised himself up as the embodiment of Republican heroism it is said that King George III asked the london-based American painter Benjamin West what Washington was likely to do when peace came West replied that Washington would probably returned to his farm the King was astounded if he does that his majesty declared he will be the greatest man in the world this story may be apocryphal but the Newberg rebellion and how Washington handled it is not with experience had come wisdom as the revolution wound down a group of officers refused to give up their arms until they were paid if they didn't get their money which Congress didn't have they would take control of the Govern government it was not an idle threat no less a figure that Alexander Hamilton was in a panic Washington no great oror sought to diffuse their anger they had risked everything to create a republican Society he told the officers to abandon the cause now when true victory was so close would mean all their sacrifices would have been in vain however convincing the speech may have been it was a simple gesture that carried the day he concluded his remarks by reading to them a letter sent to him from a member of Congress suddenly he stopped from his pocket he pulled a pair of spectacles none of the officers had ever seen him wear them putting the glasses on Washington said gentlemen you must pardon me I have grown gray in the service of my country and now find myself going blind he finished reading the letter and left the hall without another the word the gesture sincerely offered with just the Right Touch of stagecraft pierced the hearts of his men many were moved to tears they immediately passed a resolution declaring their loyalty to civilian government George Washington had saved the revolution once again it wouldn't be the last time during the writing of the Constitution and during his eight years as President Washington was repeatedly called upon to hold the fractious Young Nation together he never failed to do so we commonly refer to George Washington now as the father of our country it's hard to imagine Any Nation ever had a better one I'm John Road haml author of George Washington The Wonder of the age for Prager University it would only be a slight exaggeration to say that Alexander Hamilton invented the United States of America George Washington was The Guiding star Thomas Jefferson the Visionary Benjamin Franklin the sage but Hamilton was the pragmatist the man who got it done this most self-made of self-made men took a country with no past and planned its future he was born on January 11th 1755 on the island of nevas this was not the Caribbean of your Cruise Fantasy quite the contrary as Ron chernau writes in his biography of Hamilton while other founding fathers were reared in tidy New England Villages or cited on baronial Virginia States Hamilton grew up in a tropical hellhole sugar Plantation slave auctions were a regular feature of Island life the spectacle buyers swinging branding irons as they surveyed the human merchandise made a permanent impression on Hamilton he was a fierce abolitionist his entire life abandoned by his father at an early age his mother died of yellow fever when he was 14 leaving the teenage boy destitute a local judge had to buy him shoes so that he could attend her funeral he soon took a job as a clerk for a local Merchant before long he was running the business coordinating shipments of mules and codfish calculating currency exchanges and Advising sea captains on how to deal with pirates it was an unmatchable apprenticeship in Trade Credit and Commerce in 1773 he arrived in New York to attend King's College the Forerunner of today's Columbia University swept up in the Revolutionary fervor of his adopted country he dropped out to join the Continental Army he quickly came to the attention of George Washington who made him a staff officer the sunless Washington called the fatherless Hamilton my boy fellow officers later remembered call Colonel Hamilton as Washington's instinctive utterance when important news arrived as Washington's trusted Aid he was involved in every aspect of running the war including actual fighting where he distinguished himself on multiple occasions but more than anything it was his dealings with the weak and indecisive Continental Congress that shaped his political views the problem with Congress in Hamilton's view was that too few members took the idea of nationhood seriously they quarreled over their narrow interests rather than uniting over the national interests as the war was winding down Hamilton laid out the choice before the country in a widely read six-part essay we could become a noble and magnificent federal republic he wrote closely Linked In the pursuit of a common interest or we could stumble ahead as a number of petty states with the appearance only of Union it was clear where Hamilton stood the speed by which the United States became a unified Nation with a cohesive federal government is largely a result of his tireless efforts before during and after the Constitutional Convention Washington named Hamilton still only 34 to be the first Secretary of the Treasury he served in the post for almost 6 years his task was nothing short of Herculean put the country drowning in war debt and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy on a sound financial footing he succeeded and in doing so set the course for America to become the world's most prosperous Nation historian Leonard white writes that Hamilton was not only the Great administrative Genius of his generation but one of the great administrators of all time there's no telling what Hamilton might have achieved had he lived a longer life instead he died one of the most pointless deaths in American history as hard as it is to Fathom today he was killed in a duel with the vice president of the United States Aaron Burr a man with whom he had a long and bitter political Feud Hamilton fired his pistol harmlessly into the air he never intended to kill Burr to Hamilton it was an affair of Honor but to Burr it was something else the vice president took careful aim shot and mortally wounded his rival who spent some 30 hours in agony before succumbing Hamilton was 49 Hamilton lived in a time when the Great danger to the National project was a government that was too weak we live in a time when many believe that the great danger to the nation is from a national government grown too strong the ideal Hamilton would have told us is somewhere in between but perhaps America will have to wait for another Hamilton to achieve that happy medium I'm Joseph tarkovski senior fellow at the Claremont Institute for Prager University self-made men existed before America but they were rare after the American Revolution they became much more common they came from everywhere they are still coming Benjamin Franklin was and Remains the Prototype one of his recent biographers Walter isacson put it this way he was the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become Franklin's life no less than his ideas conveyed the indomitable Spirit of both invention and just as important self-invention that Define Americans and make them almost instantly distinguishable even today by people around the world born in Boston in 1705 the youngest son in a family of 17 children Franklin was at various times America's leading scientist inventor Diplomat writer and publisher it's hard to imagine one person could accomplish so much in one life he conducted early experiments in electricity devised by focal glasses designed a new type of stove organized lending libraries formed Philadelphia's first fire department and founded the college that became the University of Pennsylvania his own formal education was two years of high school his informal education what he taught himself and learned from others never ended his Poor Richard's Almanac which dispensed practical daily wisdom and Wise Cracks in equal measure was the most popular publication of its day if there was something important going on Franklin was in the middle of it he was The Guiding Spirit of the American founding he desperately tried to keep America out of a war with Britain offering the British government every kind of compromise to avoid the conflict but when his efforts were rejected and he realized separation from the mother country was inevitable he threw his heart and soul into the revolutionary cause the struggle for Independence as the American Envoy in France during the war he was more responsible than any other person and bringing the French to the American side without this Alliance it's unlikely the rebels would have won it's more likely in fact that they would have lost and all the founders including Franklin would have been tried convicted and executed as traitors to the British crown when the new country won its freedom Franklin then in his eighth decade and near the end of his life was again on Center Stage helping to guide the quarreling delegates toward a new constitution a Novis Ordo sorum a new order for the ages he called it at a low point in the great Philadelphia debate over the nation's founding document when everyone including Washington was willing to give it up as a bad job Franklin single-handedly saved the Enterprise and revived the spirits of the delegates by summoning them to an inspirational prayer and it was Franklin who summed up the event for posterity when asked what kind of government the convention had created he equipped a republic if you can keep it Franklin viewed America itself as a great invention a new kind of nation for a new kind of man even so isacon concludes the most interesting thing that Franklin invented and continually reinvented was himself His Brilliant autobiography reveals apath who was endlessly curious and endlessly unpleasantly prised by life he was also never quite satisfied in a way that is again quintessentially American he sought to make it whatever it was he was working on better so he saw construction workers with axes building a fort and timed them to see how long it took inquired into the art by which Native Indians conceal their fires conducted experiments and published his observations on electricity Franklin took this curiosity and turned it on himself self he viewed his own life not simply as a story of change but rather as a continuing quest for self-improvement he describes in his autobiography how he made a list of what he termed the Seven Virtues Temperance industry sincerity and so on and then enumerated them in a single column down the left hand side of a page at the top he listed the seven days of the week his plan was to take the first virtue and practice it for one week straight he noted his progress each day with a check mark if he could practice a virtue for seven days without elapse he reasoned he would internalize it it would become part of his character and as his life suggests it worked this wise self-deprecating life-loving man was an American original and yet he was also the progenitor of an American type one who follows his own path Benjamin Franklin types from all over the world came and droves to America because this was the place where they could best pursue their passion in America class didn't matter country of origin didn't matter level of Education didn't matter all that mattered was Talent hard work and luck in America you could make of yourself what you will and you still can just as Benjamin Franklin did he is the original embodiment of the American idea of the self-directed life an idea that still defines the American Experience I'm denes dza for Prager University this video was made possible through a generous donation from the hn and Francis C Berger Foundation everybody knows what happened on July 4th 1776 America was born but 3 days earlier on July 1st Independence hung in the balance that was a great case to be made not to secede from Great Britain the colonists had no Army no Navy and almost no money England had a lot of all three it would have made perfect sense to bend to the will of the crown pay some extra taxes and call it a day there were plenty of people in Philadelphia prepared to make that case they could have easily prevailed yet they didn't they didn't because of the words of one man John Adams at a key moment in the Congressional debate when the forces against Independence appeared to have the upper hand Adams Rose to his feet without notes and without any preparation he made the case for independence by the time he sat down the case had been won we don't have a transcript of what he said if we did Adams might rank even higher than he does now among the founding fathers Thomas Jefferson said years later that the speech was so powerful and thought thought and expression that it moved us from our seats Adams was Jefferson said our Colossus on the floor if Washington was the sword of the American Revolution and Jefferson the pen then Adams was its engine brilliant demanding meticulous but often erasable he was not an easy man to love at some point in his life he irritated if not alienated everyone with whom he worked yet these same people would invariably come to appreciate him that included Washington and especially Jefferson with whom he sometimes fought bitterly ironically for all his cantankerousness his marriage to Abigail Adams stands as one of the great love stories of American History their correspondence spanning five decades is a vibrant living history of the nation's early years Abigail frankly described her husband as short thick and fat that but what he lacked in good looks and physical stature he made up in intellect personal integrity and Clarity of thought born in 1735 near Boston Adams relentlessly pushed himself to rise early work hard and live a moral life he strove in the language of the day for a life of virtue over Vice he first came to public attention in 1765 when he issued a stirring rebuke of the much- hated Stamp Act for the the next 18 years he fought unceasingly against British tyranny and for American Liberty dedicating his life his fortune and his sacred honor to the struggle these were not idle words in his 40s by the time of the Revolution he didn't fight in the war instead he crossed the Atlantic four times on diplomatic missions braving winter storms diseases such as pneumonia and disent and British warships capture would have meant summary execution in Europe as beit his character he was all business he helped Benjamin Franklin bring the French into the war on the American side and he arranged critical loans from Dutch Banks when the war ended it was Adams along with Franklin and John J Who negotiated the treaty in which England officially recognized the new United States for all these efforts Adams was paid virtually nothing but Fortune was never his aim creating a new better Freer country than the world had ever known was all that he cared about as one delegate to the Continental Congress said the man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of Independence is Mr John Adams following the war Adams served two terms as vice president under George Washington and then one term as the second President of the United States taking over for Washington was a thankless task every one deferred to the great General to put it mildly Adams was not granted the same courtesy still the new president was able to distinguish his time in high office with two significant achievements one marked by something he did do the other by something he did not do what he did was convince the Congress to build a Navy given the strong opposition to any kind of standing military this was no mean feat but Adams was adamant that the United unit States could not become a great nation without a great Navy he pushed through the legislation that made it possible what he did not do was get the country involved in the war in Europe France insisted that America join it in its fight against England France had come to America's Aid during the fight for independence the French argued here was America's chance to repay the debt Adams firmly declined the infant nation was in no position to wage war for or against anyone as the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approached a 91-year-old Adams was asked to provide a toast for the upcoming celebration he offered two words Independence forever it turned out to be his last public utterance how fitting I'm Brad Thompson professor of political science at Clemson University and author of America's Revolutionary mind for Prager University there's a reason why Thomas Jefferson's face is on our cornage while his sculpted head is on Mount Rushmore and where there is a magnificent Memorial in his honor in Washington DC as British historian Paul Johnson put it in a history of the American people no one did more than Jefferson to create the United States of America born on April 13 1743 in Shadwell Virginia Jefferson early on displayed an intellectual curiosity that would never be quenced he divided books on history science math and philosophy while learning Latin Greek and French he would eventually amance a personal library of 6,500 volumes declaring I cannot live without books there was virtually no subject which he didn't find fascinating and didn't try to master most most of the time he succeeded he graduated from college in just two years with a plan to practice law at age 25 he won a seat in Virginia's House of Burgesses Virginia's Colonial equivalent of a House of Representatives entering politics just as the American colonies were beginning to challenge British rule although Jefferson was not a gifted speaker he was a genius with words this gift did not go in notice John Adams and Benjamin Franklin no rhetorical slouches themselves asked him to write the first draft of America's Declaration of Independence their confidence was richly rewarded Jefferson's assertions that all men are created equal and that Nature's God the Creator had granted them in alienable rights formed the cornerstones of the American experiment Jefferson was not yet 34 in 1790 President Washington appointed him to be the new nation first Secretary of State one of the two key posts in Washington's cabinet the other post was Secretary of the Treasury to which Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton the two became bitter Rivals Jefferson distrusted Hamilton's belief in a powerful central government Hamilton thought Jefferson was an impractical dreamer both misunderstood the other this was probably inevitable given their strong convictions and considerable Egos and although it's true that Jefferson was a lofty political theorist he was also a cunning politician his Hardball tactics angered or alienated people who had once been close allies most notably John Adams after defeating Adams in a contentious election in 1800 Jefferson served two terms as America's third president a tenure historians still consider among the most consequential and successful in American history history he reduced the scope and reach of the federal government cutting taxes loow spending and retiring half of the national debt this was the small government Jefferson in action but he had no problem exercising vigorous executive Authority when he felt it was necessary nowhere is this better expressed than his greatest accomplishment as president the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France for 15 $1 million for Just 4 cents an acre in one Fell Swoop Jefferson orchestrated a deal that doubled the size of the United States incorporating territories of what are now 15 states while also eliminating the presence of a powerful European Empire from North America after completing two terms Jefferson following Washington's example stepped down from the first office he spent the last 17 years of his life at his beloved home Montello an estate he built not far from his birthplace there he not only founded the University of Virginia but repaired his relationship with his long lost friend John Adams they began a fabled correspondence that continued nearly to the end of their lives remarkably if one is so inclined one might even say providentially Jefferson and Adams died on the same day July 4 1826 the 50th anniversary of the signing of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was a complex man who must be judged in the context of his time this is of course best understood in his relationship to slavery he grew up in a world that took slave ownership for granted he owned slaves as his father had before him yet he uphor the very idea of slavery on numerous occasions he acknowledged that he violated his fundamental belief that all men are created equal and yet it's also true that Jefferson pointed the way out of that heinous Institution for this we are forever in his dead Abraham Lincoln knew this of the Declaration of Independence Lincoln wrote Thomas Jefferson gave Liberty not alone to the people of this country but hope to the world for all future time time I'm Carol Swain for Prager University from the time he joined the Continental Congress in 1780 through his second term as the fourth President of the United States James Madison was in the middle of everything when it came to the Constitution he understood it better than any single person because nobody contributed more to its creation when it came to selling that document to the American people he made the most persuasive arguments when 10 Amendments the Bill of Rights were needed to seal the deal he wrote those too diminutive in stature he was just over 5et tall he was a giant in every other respect as a writer theorist and most importantly political pragmatist he was a deep thinker who got things done and no one worked harder to get those things done James Madison was born in 175 1 to a prosperous family in the Virginia pedmont like his mentor neighbor and best friend Thomas Jefferson he was well educated in the classics and spoke multiple languages his home state sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780 at the age of 29 there he saw firsthand how bad a national government could be slow corrupt self-interested he resolved to do something about it he wasn't alone George Washington and others pushed for a new social compact a document that would truly bind the Divergent interests of the various States no easy feat their efforts paid off in May 1787 when a new constitutional convention was convened in Philadelphia even though he was one of the younger delegates Madison took a lead role not because he was so ambitious but because he was so knowledgeable he attended every session gave more speeches than anyone took meticulous notes and drafted the plan that the delegates used as the framework for the new constitution writing the document was hard enough selling it to the American people would prove even harder a group known as the Anti-Federalist began flooding the newspapers with anti-constitution essays warning that the plan will destroy Liberty rather than save it Madison and New York lawyer Alexander Hamilton came to the Constitution's defense in a series of essays known as The Federalist Papers the two men were a dynamic duo Hamilton did the line share the writing but Madison's submissions arguably had the most impact he carefully explained the system of checks and balances that would define the new government the Federalists carried the day just barely and the Constitution was ratified Madison wasn't yet 40 and still a bachelor that changed when he met Dolly Payne a lively young Widow 17 years his Junior she transformed the solitary workaholic Madison into one of the great dinner party hosts of the era this proved invaluable to his political career after serving as Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State and supervising the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from the French doubling the size of the United States Madison was the obvious choice to become the fourth president but there was trouble on the horizon Great Britain which had never fully reconciled itself to its defeat in the Revolutionary War continued to harass the new nation at every turn it seized American Goods at Sea and even forced American sing to work for the Royal Navy by June 1812 Madison had had enough he asked Congress to declare war against Great Britain for continued abuses of American rights so began the War of 1812 it was a disaster one of the rare times Madison failed to think through an important policy decision the United States simply wasn't prepared for war certainly not one against the mightiest power on Earth at the low point in the conflict Madison had to flee the White House or risk capture in the chaos Dolly famously saved the Priceless Gilbert Stewart portrait of George Washington by having it ripped from its frame eventually American forces found their footing winning three decisive victories at platsburg Baltimore and New Orleans the two sides agreed to peace terms that essentially amounted to a draw but to the American people it was a glorious Victory and Madison had guided them to it the Young Nation had demonstrated once and for all that the United States could not be pushed around the War of 1812 has rightly been remembered as America's second war for independence in the spring of 1817 Madison retired to Mont peer his estate in the Virginia pedmont having dedicated roughly 40 years to politics when he started his career the United States wasn't even a nation when he finished it was well on its way to becoming a world power many patriots contributed to the country's success but few if any did as much as James Madison I'm Jay cost senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of James Madison America's first politician for prer University on December 26th 1776 18-year-old James Monroe Lay Dying outside of Trenton New Jersey a musketball had penetrated his left shoulder severing a major artery the opening months of the Revolutionary War had been a disaster for the American side General George Washington desperately needed a victory he launched a surprise attack against British mercenaries camped at Trenton when roow led the Vanguard to secure the roads in and out of town if the fate of the Revolution rested on the Battle of Trenton the Battle of Trenton rested on Monroe's success Monroe accomplished his mission Washington and the Americans had their Victory but it looked like it was going to cost Monroe his life fortunately a local doctor got to him and stopped the bleeding that doctor saved the life of a man who went on to play a critical role in the first 50 years of the new American Nation James Monroe had humbler beginnings than many of the other Founders both parents died by the time he was 16 leaving him responsible for his four siblings in the family farm he was only able to attend the College of William and Mary with help from an uncle he he didn't stay long however joining Washington's Army at the outside of the Revolution after his time in the Army Monroe returned to Virginia to study law but soon turned his attention to politics he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress where he met his wife Elizabeth daughter of a prominent New York City Merchant they married after a short courtship it was a genuine love match and one of the great romances of the founding era during this time Monroe also developed a close friendship with fellow Virginia James Madison but the friends found themselves on opposite sides of the critical issue of the day the fate of the new constitution in one of the least appreciated but most important episodes in American history Madison Monroe ran against each other in the first congressional election in 1789 Monroe opposed the Constitution because it lacked a guarantee of fundamental rights like freedom of speech and freedom of religion Madison believed those rights were already secured but limits on government in the Constitution Madison won the election but Monroe won the argument Madison recognized that a Bill of Rights would be needed in order for the Constitution to be broadly accepted by the people after serving terms as a senator and governor of Virginia Monroe was sent to France by President Thomas Jefferson to buy the City of New Orleans from the French Emperor Napoleon but to Monroe's surprise Napoleon offered Monroe not just New Orleans but the entire Louisana Iana territory Monroe had a problem he didn't have any authorization to make such a large purchase he decided to make it anyway doubling the size of the United States had Monroe done nothing else his place in American history would have been secure but his greatest contributions were still ahead in the War of 1812 President Madison relied more on Monroe than anybody Monroe served as both Secretary of State and acting Secretary of War working tired Lesly for days on end often with little sleep Monroe helped Madison saave off disaster and achieve a negotiated peace with Great Britain when Madison's second term ended Monroe was the Natural Choice to replace him he won the 1816 election decisively and became the fifth president of the United States perhaps more than any founder Monroe had a vision for America as a growing expanding Nation he negotiated with the British to demilitarize the Great Lakes EST lishing our northern border and set the stage for future American ownership of the Oregon territory in the West in the South he acquired Florida from Spain in exchange for settling some outstanding claims and he signed the Missouri Compromise which diffused a major domestic crisis that threatened to split the country the compromise would draw a line across the country new States above the line would be free states and new States below the line would be slave states instead of Civil War this time became known as the AR ER of Good Feelings Monroe won re-election in 1820 unopposed his most enduring accomplishment would come in his second term the doctrine that bears his name the Monroe Doctrine declared that the United States would not permit European powers to colonize the Western hemisphere in doing so he put the world on notice the Young Nation was now a major power while Monroe did as much as any president to secure America's prosperous future he had less success securing his own he left the White House deeply in debt most of it expenses he had incurred on the government's behalf Monroe was forced to sell almost everything he owned and live with his daughter in New York City he died in 1831 and like Adams and Jefferson before him on the 4th of July we're lucky he didn't perish on that roadside in Trenton I'm Christ Rose author of founding Rivals Madison vers Monroe the Bill of Rights the election that saved the nation for Prager University