Common traits of the founding Fathers:

• They had careers and other interests that dominated their lives
• They did not consider themselves career politicians. At the time there was no consideration given to term limits as their services took time away from their other concerns and was self-regulated.
• They had an amazing command of the language regardless of the amount of their formal education.
• They opposed slavery, Jefferson tended towards hypocrisy on this issue.
• Emphasized tolerance of all religious dogmas, supported the moral teachings of Jesus as well as accepting many of the Deist concepts.
• Did not agree on the role of the Central Government…. There was then, as today, much debate on this issue.

Summary

It seems that many of today’s agenda supporters subscribe their positions to the Founding Fathers, but their views lack substantial evidence.  It seems to me that they (the fathers) were, in general, just people and not perfect folks by any means. However, they were, as a general rule, extremely moral, tolerant, intelligent and sincerely concerned about the welfare of our new country and its citizens. Thankfully none considered their public service a career (with the possible exception of Hamilton).  For the most part they were satisfied with the original constitution sans amendments. The bills of rights (first 10 amendments) were the product of James Madison’s vision.