<P> Historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding Fathers : John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , Thomas Jefferson , James Madison , and George Washington . Adams , Jefferson , and Franklin were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence . Hamilton , Madison , and Jay were authors of The Federalist Papers , advocating ratification of the Constitution . The constitutions drafted by Jay and Adams for their respective states of New York ( 1777 ) and Massachusetts ( 1780 ) were heavily relied upon when creating language for the US Constitution Jay , Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris ( 1783 ) that would end the American Revolutionary War . Washington was Commander - in - Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention . Washington , Jay and Franklin are considered the Founding Fathers of U.S. Intelligence by the CIA . All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States , with Washington , Adams , Jefferson , and Madison serving as President . Jay was the nation 's first Chief Justice . Four of these seven -- Washington , Jay , Hamilton and Madison -- were not signers of the Declaration of Independence . </P>
who are considered to be the founding fathers
John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , Thomas Jefferson , James Madison , and George Washington