Each year, on the 4th of July, we celebrate the Independence of the United States of America and the Founding Fathers that made it possible. Together they embrace America’s pride and patriotism and their signatures opened the gate for a new nation with values and morals of freedom and equality… or so they said.
The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America reads “All men are created equal.” As history has shown us, there are no words more cited and more void than those that “represent” the American spirit. And how could it be if the founding fathers were so far from being the banners of said spirit? Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, etc., were far from being the righteous and honorable national heroes we’re taught at school. Let’s dive into their darkest “secrets.”
Thomas Jefferson’s Hypocritical Views on Slavery
Jefferson is remembered for being the sole author of the phrase “all men are created equal.” However, he was far from honoring those words, as he is known for being one of the worse slaveholders of the time. He didn’t believe we were all created equal; he wasn’t even a “man of his time;” he profited from a system that purposely created divisions between people, and he didn’t bat an eye to change it in the creation of the new “independent” nation.
Although the third president of the United States once wrote that slavery was a “hideous blot on the country” and a “moral depravity,” he owned over 600 slaves and even took many of them to the White House while he served as president. Not only that, he owned a magnificent plantation called Monticello in Virginia where he held hundreds of slaves in horrible conditions. But perhaps one of the most despicable of his crimes was the abusive relationship he had with Sally Hemings, a young slave woman with whom he fathered six children.
John Adams, America’s First Tyrant
John Adams was the first president to live in the White House but beyond his work to gain the independence of the United States from the tyrant British monarchy, he became one that he swore to destroy, a tyrant himself and a dictator that abused power. One of his first acts in 1798 was to “write, print, utter, or publish any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings about the president.”
He didn’t only take the issue on a legal matter, he would punish his detractors physically, as he did to Benjamin Franklin’s grandson when he published that the president was “old, querulous, bald, blind, crippled, and toothless.” Benjamin Franklin Bache was assaulted, his pregnant wife received constant threats, and their home was vandalized mercilessly.
George Washington a Failure of a President
George Washington is perhaps the most revered Founding Father of them all not only for being the first President of the United States but also for his military “achievements” and his liberal politics. However, this might be just a legend because he didn’t really win that many battles, and he utterly lied about his attempts to abolish slavery.
Washington owned 123 slaves, and he constantly promised them their freedom. He even did so on his dying bed, but instead of actually doing so throughout his life, he just kept false promises. When he passed, even though he put it on his will, only one slave was freed, the rest remained part of his wife’s property for decades. Like Jefferson, he liked the image of being a liberator, but deep down he liked the profits slavery gave him.
Patrick Henry the Misogynist Founding Father
Patrick Henry isn’t one of the main protagonists when we talk about the Founding Fathers, but he was indeed a key character in the Independence of the United States. He’s famously remembered for his patriotic quote: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” Sadly, for his wife, the choice wasn’t an option.
Patrick Henry was married to Sarah, whose health started to decline after giving birth to their son Edward. She had a mental outburst and ended up being locked up in Henry’s plantation attended by one of his slaves. Oh, yes, he also had slaves who didn’t have the choice of choosing between freedom or death either. Sarah died of unknown causes and was buried at the plantation.
Alexander Hamilton’s Scandal
Thanks to Lin Manuel Miranda’s outstanding musical, the story of this often-forgotten Founding Father became quite known worldwide. Alexander Hamilton was a political promise, but as it happens to many, his lust ended with whatever good deed he could’ve achieved.
He had an affair with a woman called Maria Reynolds. When her husband found out about the relationship, both he and Maria blackmailed Hamilton and asked for money, which he gave them. However, seeing how easy it had been they threatened to expose him and he ended up confessing all his sins in an infamous 100-page pamphlet known as the Reynolds Pamphlet.
Benjamin Franklin’s Hidden Secrets
Last but not least, we can’t talk about the dark side of the Founding Fathers without bringing up Benjamin Franklin and his disturbing cabinet of human curiosities… to put it a name. We often remember Franklin as this adorable genius scientist and politician, but he had some hidden secrets… literally.
Before becoming the Founding Father everybody loves, Benjamin Franklin lived for two decades in London where he was immersed in his scientific work. Many (many) years later, after a thorough examination of his London house, a research team discovered the remains of at least 15 bodies, including children and women. Worry, not, he was not a serial killer, he and his colleague William Hewson ran an illegal anatomy school at Franklin’s home. Still, the eerie discovery shows that Franklin wasn’t really up for legality either.