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American Independence and the Myth of the Founding Fathers

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American Independence and the Myth of the Founding Fathers

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This quote from Heike's Chapter "American Independence and the Myth of the Founding Father's", sums up the myth of the Founding Father's perfectly. The Founding Fathers are building blocks of all things American patriotism, they are the one's who fought for the independence of the colonies, and when independence was won, they were the ones to be put in charge of the new country. But, what we know about them, has mostly been fabricated in recent decades. What we know about them is based mainly on the documents they wrote, personal writings (letters/journals), and what they each wrote about each other to each other. It is a known fact that several of the Founding Fathers did not like each other, so the information there can not always be trusted. There is much we believe we know about the Founding Fathers, and still much that we don't know, and we will never know.

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All the of main Founding Fathers (Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Jay, and Hamilton), had relatively made names for themselves before the revolution. That's why they were put forward and chosen to be the leaders, but they soared to new heights during and after the revolution, all because they signed their names on a piece of paper. Those who were not known before this event, had themselves thrust into the spotlight, and had themselves created because their names was on a piece of paper. Heike also calls the declaration performative, meaning its related to a dramatic nature or artistic performance. So this just adds to the myth of the Founding Father.

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The Founding Fathers are not just a myth to the White citizens of the nation, but especially to the Black and African American citizens of the nation. As seen in the quote, the Founding Fathers made a point in the Declaration of Independence, that all men would have the same equalities and freedoms, but the writing of the Constitution contradicted what they were initially led to believe. It is important to remember that there had been African American's in parts the US much longer than white American's had been there. And they were also led to believe in the myth of the Founding Fathers.

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The "him" this excerpt is referring to, is the enslaved African American, and the "your" is the free White Americans. For 185 years (from when the Revolutionary War ended to the end of the Civil Rights Movement), Black African American's were truly not able to celebrate the Fourth of July (it can be argued by some that they still can't celebrate or shouldn't). The date recognized as the birthday of the United States of America, a country built on liberty, freedom, and equality for all. But how can they celebrate these things when they didn't get to experience it until almost 200 years after everyone else had received it?

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Colonial women were also betrayed by the Founding Fathers. During the war, like every other war that the US has taken part in, women had filled the shoes of men. Women were authors and publicists, farmers and entrepreneurs, took part in the war by fundraising and giving other support. And like all other times after war, women expected for their lives to stay the same, or get better, but they did not and it did not. The Founding Fathers not only drew hard lines and boundaries for African Americans, but they did the same for women. After the war, women were expected to raise as many children as they can, so that they could pass on the ideals of the republic, but how are they supposed to pass on the ideals of the republic to their children when they aren't allowed to be active in it?

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Mount Rushmore, a national monument dedicated to the "great" American leaders George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. These men who did "great" things for our country, memorialized forever in stone. Located it South Dakota, in the Black Hills, is a sacred area for the local Native Americans, where they would go to pray and is considered the center of the universe. So why would they build a monument where 3/4 presidents did things that directly negatively affected Native Americans? Washington wanted to try and keep things peaceful with the Native Americans, but couldn't. Jefferson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, which continued the long history of the forced removal of Native Americans off of their lands, and Lincoln signed the order to hang 38 Dakota/Sioux warriors in 1862 at the end of the US-Dakota War. As the passage above says, Mount Rushmore is an offense to Native Americans, and a reminder in stone of what the Government had done to them, and what they still continue to have done to them.

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Made in America Podcast Transcript, pg. 3

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"Our peculiar institution" is language that was used during slavery in the South of the United States, to make the south feel better about themselves and what they were doing to human beings. The peculiar thing, is that the people who built the South, it's culture, practices, and opinions, were the Founding Fathers. Washington, Jefferson and Madison, were all born into Virginian planter elite families, and went back to their plantations after their times in office. They were also the revolutionaries who heralded in the era of all men being created equal, except it was only men they accepted. They help write the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, all of which were focused and were written on the basis of freedom, only for those who were considered citizens.

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When the 13 colonies were first founded and established, you were separated into two categories: White rich landowners who already had wealth and increased it in the colonies, and poor laborers who were poor in their home countries and stayed just as poor or poorer hen they came to the colonies. The description of the rich landowners if cut and dry - rich, white, and own land, but the poor laborers was everyone who was poor and had to do manual labor or indentured servitude to live in the colonies. There was no separation of skin color or ethnicity or culture, poor was poor, you were the same as everyone else you were around. And as the passage above says, those who are unhappy with their lives get restless, and eventually the violence begins. So to keep the peace, the rich white landowners gave small advantages to the white poor people and ignored everyone else.

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The US census was created or the government to get an understanding of the type of people who were living in the country after the American Revolution and to put them into categories. The first census only included 5 categories: white males 16 years and older, white males under 16, white females, all other free persons, and slaves. Noticeably left out of these categories are Native Americans. Even as the country and it's population has evolved and diversified, the census still struggles to incorporate everyone correctly.

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The job of the Founding Fathers while they were in and out of office was to lay the groundwork for how the government was going to be run and should be run, they were setting the standards for who government officials should act and conduct themselves. Much of what they put into place was dictated by their own personal beliefs. Everything written revolves around two things: being male and being white. As mentioned before, the Declaration of Independence had tones of anti-slavery included in it, and it gave hope to enslaved African Americans. But they went back on what was written, and they drew that hard line for a long time, separating white and black, rewriting the rules whenever there was a loop hole found.