Question

Which three people are considered Founding Fathers of the United States?

A- Jean Jacques Rousseau
B- John Adams
C- Thomas Jefferson
D- Benjamin Franklin
E- John Locke

Answer 1

Correct three answers:

B. John Adams

C. Thomas Jefferson

D. Benjamin Franklin

Further information:

While Rousseau and Locke were not founding fathers of the USA, they were important for their influence on the thinking of America's founding fathers. According to an article on "Intellectual Influences on the Declaration of Independence" from Southern Methodist University:

• While the Declaration of Independence had many influences, the most notable was the influence of the Social Contract. The Social Contract is the agreement between the government and its citizens, and defines the rights of each party. John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau are most notable for the creation of the social contract political philosophy.

In addition to the social contract theory pioneered by thinkers like Locke and Rousseau, America's founding fathers were influenced also by the political writing of Montesquieu, another European Enlightenment philosopher. The "separation of powers" principle was an idea embedded into the US Constitution by our founding fathers, based on ideas introduced by Charles-Louis de Secondat, the Baron of Montesquieu, in his important work of political theory called The Spirit of the Laws, published in 1748.

Answer 2

The correct answers are:

John Adams: influential founding father and second President of the United States

Thomas Jefferson: first Secretary of State and third President of the United States

Benjamin Franklin: influential founding father who helped negotiate treaties on behalf of the new country. Was the most famous American during the Revolution.