Journal of the American Revolution kicked off summer 2015 with a fun group interview and several short features about important primary sources. This source series will continue another couple days and then we will resume our traditional editorial publishing after Independence Day. We have an exciting pipeline of articles planned for July. Verenna, Ruppert, Smith, Cecere, Raphael, Conner, Johnson, Park, Piecuch, Dacus, Procknow, Wickersty, Glickstein, Hagist, Shepherd and more are all in the hopper.
Top 10 Most Popular Articles of June 2015
- Most influential second city?
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- Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts
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Now available for purchase: Our shiny new Annual Volume 2015!
4 Comments
I have read lately that some writers are suggesting John Jay should be put into the category of “Founding Father.”
What does JAR say?
Thanks!!
The list of founding fathers is not defined by a government standard, military specification, or industrial best practice – in other words, it’s not an established list that people have agreed upon. That said, many historians already consider John Jay to be among the founding fathers; in fact, some consider him to be among the most important of them.
But historians are free to compose their own lists of founding fathers. JAR does not endorse anyone as being an official, JAR sanctioned founding father, nor does it dispute anyone else’s definitions. Perhaps a better question would be, what actions must an individual have done to be considered a founding father?
I wonder if a “Founding Fathers” designation is more applicable to a specific field of accomplishment during the period? There certainly were a great many individuals who demonstrated leadership, courage and commitment during that era. For example, many years ago the CIA designed three “Founding Fathers of American Intelligence”, Washington, Franklin and Jay. However, any such list involving the founding of the U.S. military probably would not include two of those figures.
Finally, I wonder if the importance of many of these individuals will be diminished in the future by a review of their private lives and practices when compared to contemporary social and cultural norms?
Thanks for your reply.
I did not think that was a hard question!!
Should John Jay be included with Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, etc when discussing the formation of the USA as a country?