Revere the Founding Fathers, Part I
We star it off with Ben Franklin,
American renaissance man,
whose industry and sharp wit
made him the richest in the land.
Lived out an American dream
before the country ever was,
entertained with his writings and
helped discover scientific law.
Pushed hard for independency
and helped form the Declaration,
then served us diplomatically
to get help for the new nation.
His writings still offer wisdom
that is useful to this day,
a man quite worthy of study,
even spoke against keeping slaves.
Then of course there is John Adams,
an irascible, difficult type,
but a bulldog for our freedom,
no matter the British might.
Maybe his greatest contribution
came after his reelection loss,
he didn’t war, cling to power,
Adams honorable went off
into a long retirement
where he wrote down wisdom sage,
his letters to Jefferson
are a gift to every age.
For choosing honor above power,
founding a family that served,
I think learning from his example
is something that he has earned.
Jefferson is also in the ranks,
the Declaration his finest feat,
a mind that truly understood
what it took to make men free.
Not a perfect soul at all,
he never did free his slaves,
but his words of ‘Life and Liberty’
began the countdown to that day.
The Louisiana Purchase
opened a new and vast frontier,
he said to fear a church and state,
wisdom that we still hold dear.
The man’s massive book collection
became the Library of Congress,
now the largest in the world,
I think we all can learn from this.
James Madison we owe so much,
the Constitution’s driving force,
foundation for a nation that
would known tyranny no more.
A brain that recognized the need
to put great limits on power,
would come to push the Bill of Rights,
our government’s finest hour.
What he wrote in The Federalist
is studied by serious minds
for setting out firm principles,
applicable to any time.
And though his time as president
was a checked span at best,
he’s the Constitution’s father,
to that fact we should all attest...
CONCLUDES IN PART II.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2019
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