As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, a coalition of conservative lawmakers, writers, and historians have highlighted lesser-known figures from the founding era in a feature compiled by The Daily Wire. The project asked participants to identify "forgotten" Founding Fathers outside what commentators call the "Big Five" of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.
The selections centered on individuals who played critical but often overlooked roles in establishing congressional procedures, financing the Revolutionary War, and drafting foundational documents. Participants argued these figures deserve greater recognition as the nation commemorates its semiquincentennial.
What the Right Is Saying
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson selected Frederick Muhlenberg, who served as the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives under the First Congress in 1789 and was the first signer of the Bill of Rights. "An ordained Lutheran minister and Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress, he was well prepared to accept the great privilege and challenge of leading and establishing a brand new institution," Johnson wrote.
Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus at The Daily Wire, chose Robert Morris, whom he called "the greatest entrepreneur of the Founding generation." Shapiro noted Morris bet his entire fortune on American independence and became one of only two men to sign the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. "Morris risked it all because he understood the American experiment was worth more than his own fortune," Shapiro wrote.
Dr. Ben Carson of the American Cornerstone Institute selected George Mason, citing Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights as "basically the first draft of both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights." Carson argued Mason's concerns about federal power accumulation seem prescient given subsequent constitutional evolution.
Dr. Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, highlighted Benjamin Rush alongside Morris, calling Rush "a leading opponent of slavery" and "great advocate of education" in addition to being an ardent revolutionary.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive historians have largely welcomed broader public engagement with founding-era figures beyond Washington and Jefferson, though some caution against romanticizing the period. Dr. Carol Anderson, professor of African American studies at Emory University, has written extensively on Founders who owned enslaved people while advocating liberty. "Any serious examination of the founding generation must include those who were excluded from its promises," Anderson wrote in a 2023 op-ed for The Atlantic.
The Left generally emphasizes figures like Prince Hall, the Black abolitionist who petitioned for Massachusetts to abolish slavery beginning in 1777, and Benjamin Banneker, the free Black mathematician and astronomer who assisted in surveying the nation's capital. These voices are largely absent from mainstream historical narratives about the founding era.
Progressive educators have also highlighted women founders including Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, and Phillis Wheatley, arguing that expanding the canon of "founding figures" should include those systematically excluded from official histories.
What the Numbers Show
The founding era produced dozens of figures who contributed to American independence beyond those taught in standard curricula. The Continental Congress included 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 74 delegates who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Muhlenberg's role in establishing congressional procedure remains embedded in House rules today, including his casting vote to select Washington D.C. as the nation's capital in August 1789. Morris served as Superintendent of Finance during the Revolution, a position created specifically to fund military operations when conventional financing proved insufficient.
Historical scholarship indicates that figures like Rush and Mason influenced constitutional debates through private correspondence and state-level deliberations often less documented than formal proceedings.
The Bottom Line
The feature reflects ongoing efforts by conservative commentators and institutions to expand public understanding of founding-era history beyond textbook summaries. While the perspectives shared represent a single ideological viewpoint, they highlight genuine historical gaps in popular knowledge about congressional establishment and early republic governance.
The 250th anniversary has prompted multiple institutions to reexamine lesser-known founders, though such efforts often reflect particular interpretive frameworks. Historians generally agree that figures like Muhlenberg, Morris, Mason, and Rush played significant roles in the founding period while remaining outside mainstream historical memory. What remains contested is which figures deserve emphasis and what lessons their stories should convey for contemporary debates about American governance.