The good, bad and contradictory of our Founding Fathers

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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star

They were great men.

They were grand men.

They wore powdered wigs.

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(Illustration by Micah Mertes / Lincoln Journal Star)

(Illustration by Micah Mertes / Lincoln Journal Star)

Sources for this feature

"Don't Know Much About History" by Kenneth C. Davis

"1776" by David McCullough

"Revolutionary Characters" by Gordon S. Wood

"Bolt Of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and his Electric Kite Hoax" by Tommy Tucker

Fact or legend?

Did Thomas Jefferson have an affair with Sally Hemings?

Depends on whom you ask.

Some consider the claim that Jefferson had an affair with his mistress/slave to be fact; others believe it was just mudslinging Federalist gossip that came out of the 1804 presidential election.

Sally Hemings was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha. The story is that Jefferson began his relationship with Hemings five years after Martha's death, while Jefferson and Hemings were in Paris.

In 1998, DNA tests of Jefferson and Hemings descendants showed that Hemings' children were fathered by someone in the Jefferson line. However, many scholars have decried these results as inconclusive and unreliable.

Did George Washington chop down the cherry tree?

No, probably not.

The story was told in "Life of George Washington" by Parson Weems, the first biography of Washington. The tale - that little Georgie cut down a cherry tree with his hatchet but DIDN'T lie about doing it when confronted by his father - was one of the many fabrications of the book (and one of the many yarns that helped build Washington's legend).

Did Ben Franklin discover electricity during his supposed thunderstorm kite experiment?

Some historians say the kite experiment did, in fact, happen. But others believe the tale was a hoax propagated by Franklin himself. In his book "Bolt Of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and his Electric Kite Hoax," historian Tommy Tucker portrays Franklin as a publicity hound who bent and broke the truth whenever it suited him. According to Tucker, Franklin's fibbing extended to dubious claims of scientific accomplishment.

- Micah Mertes

They are the reason you get to sprawl out on the blanket-covered grass Friday night and watch the fireworks pop.

But the Founding Fathers were also subject to the flaws and frailties we all are.

As is often the case with historical characters, it’s easy to consider our country’s Founders as almost mythic figures. But in reality, they were just a few men, smarter and better than most, in the right place at the right time. And their ordinary nature makes their incredible accomplishment all the more inspiring.

In case American History 101 is a distant memory, here’s a brief look at our Founders. Consider it food for thought as you’re celebrating tomorrow.

Thomas Jefferson

Born in Albemarle County, Va. (1743-1826)

The Good: Farmer, scholar, lawyer, writer of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. He had endless faith in the Republic and the American people.

The Bad: Many historians say Jefferson was self-possessed in public but resentful and extremely sensitive in private. And sweet golden Monticello! — did that man hate being edited.

He had grown so attached to his draft of the Declaration that when Congress snipped about a quarter of the document, Jefferson harbored bile for his editors long after the document’s signing.

The Contradictory: Here’s the big question, of course: How could the man who believed “all men are created equal” be a slave owner?

Well, Jefferson did hate slavery and wished for its abolishment. He even wrote about its evils in the Declaration, but that part got cut. Jefferson’s contradiction, however, was also America’s contradiction.

As Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon S. Wood wrote, “Jefferson’s words and ideas transcended his time, but he himself did not.”

John Adams

Born in Braintree, Mass.  (1735-1826)

The Good: He was the second president of the United States, one of the drafters of the Declaration and, of course, the subject of a recent critically acclaimed HBO miniseries (a modern measure of greatness). Ben Franklin described Adams as a man “who means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes and in some things absolutely out of his senses.”

The Bad: Adams was an immeasurably vital figure of the time, but he was also vain and spiteful and often drew long sighs of exasperation from his colleagues. Think of him as the George Costanza of the First Continental Congress. He felt little appreciation for his role in the American Revolution, once lamenting that the event would be remembered as the time “Dr. Franklin’s electrical rod smote the earth and out sprung George Washington.”

The Contradictory: He was one of the most adamant supporters of independence from England and had much hope for the new Republic. But he also held a misanthropic view of people in general, believing they succumbed to personal needs over those of greater society. He was pessimistic about what American society would become: a rat race to money, power and distinction. He eventually supported a more centralized form of government to curb society’s bad habits.   

George Washington

Born in Virginia (1732-99)

The Good: How did this homegrown, relatively uneducated Virginian become the guy on the $1 bill? Well, for starters, he just looked like a leader. He stood about 6-foot-3, with broad shoulders and a rugged athleticism. And he looked great on a horse.

Superficial stuff aside, Washington was polite and virtuous and kept getting appointed to positions he held no desire for. He was both a reluctant commander in chief of the Continental army and a reluctant president of the new government. As Historian Garry Willis observed, Washington “gained power from his readiness to give it up.”

The Bad: Perhaps our monumental hero was a little too reluctant at times. While holding his two most important positions, Washington worried about his Mount Vernon home, detailing to servants various minutiae in how to keep his estate and plantation up and running. His attention to Mount Vernon sometimes surpassed his attention to the new government.

And John Adams — the guy who originally nominated him as leader of the Continental army, mind you — certainly had his doubts. On one occasion, Adams said of Washington, “That he was too illiterate, unlearned, unread for his station and reputation is equally past dispute.”

The Contradictory: Like Jefferson, Washington prospered from the labor of his slaves, despite the fact that he spoke out against slavery.

Benjamin Franklin

Born in Boston, Mass. (1706-90)

The Good: Franklin was a big, witty, multi-talented dynamo. In addition to helping draft the Declaration and negotiating an American alliance with France, Franklin was a printer, writer, scientist and philosopher. He invented bifocals and the lightning rod and wrote a vast collection of witticisms in his “Poor Richard’s Almanack.”

At the time of the Revolution, he was one of the most famous men in the world.

The Bad: Though Franklin was known for his advocacy of an ethical society, having even come up with 13 personal virtues he tried to adhere to daily, the guy was no saint, especially when it came to chastity. His son was reportedly born out of wedlock — no small taboo at the time. And according to many accounts, Franklin carried on some of his less pure inclinations through much of his life.

The Contradictory: The man was a walking contradiction. He embodied the self-made rustic individualism of America, but also hung out in the aristocratic circles of England and France.

He was at once a patriot and a sophisticate. 

Other players

John Hancock

(1736-93)

The Good: First president of Congress; great penmanship.

The Bad: He earned much of his wealth by smuggling.

The Contradictory: Though he had no military experience whatsoever, he wished to be commander of the Continental army and was peeved when Washington took the position.

Benjamin Church

(1734-78)

The Good: He was the first doctor available to treat the wounded of the Boston Massacre.

The Bad: He was a traitor. Church was the first guy caught spying for the British.

Contradictory: Before being caught as a spy, Church was widely known as a passionate patriot.

Samuel Adams

(1722-1803)

The Good: John Adams’ cousin was stellar at peeving the British and making a scene. He was one of the key players behind the Boston Tea Party.

The Bad: He was often reckless and indulgent. He even squandered his inheritance.

The Contradictory: Though his name is now associated with good beer, Adams was actually an inept beer-maker, ruining his father’s brewery after taking it over.

Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.