When most people think of American Independence they think of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, but what’s often missed is those documents were only a few final sheets of paper out of the hundreds of thousands it took on the journey to make and maintain them.

Those two documents came after years of arguing, convincing, campaigning, and concerted effort among the Founders to work out the right course for the country.

Thanks to the Founders Archive Online who transcribed and published 150,000 letters from the Founding Fathers, we can look deeper into the lives of the main Founders: Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Madison.

With these letters, it’s possible to take a step back and analyze how their lives and influence changed over time as well as the personal sacrifices they made as they built the United States and solidified its independence.

Notable Events

Below you can see all the letters the Founders sent over their lifespans from the data we have. What stands out immediately is how many letters Washington sent during his time as General of the American Army. Without a doubt this was the busiest time of his life, as coordinating an entire army and working with a republic government was no easy task.

But, many of the Founders sprang into action during the Revolution as it began in 1775. Compared to what correspondence we have from them before the Revolution, it’s clear how relatively unknown these men were before the war. When it ended officially in 1783, the drop in correspondence was considerable.

Individual Careers

While major events certainly affected them, the biggest changes in their lives occurred from career advancements.

Jefferson sees multiple waves of letter writing over his life as he retired three separate times which make his changes in correspondence clearest. His election as Virginia Governor, Secretary of State, and then the Presidency mark when his correspondence was most active.

Looking at the other founders, each of their promotions to higher offices came with enhanced responsibility. Whether taking on ambassadorships, military posts, or executive positions, each new position was accompanied with increased correspondence.

These days it’s difficult to imagine how much work sending and receiving hundreds or thousands of letters per year was. Even in Jefferson’s retirement when his letter writing was much decreased from it’s peak said, “… from sun-rise to one or two o’clock, and often from dinner to dark, I am drudging at the writing table…. this is the burden of my life”.

It’s important to remember that all these letters were written by hand and many involved research before responding to them, which made answering them all quite the challenge.

Expanding Networks

Not only did the number of letters sent by the Founders increase over time, so did their networks and the number of people they corresponded with.

Where I was able to, I mapped the locations of both the sender and recipient for each letter and charted their connection. This made it easier to visualize the individual networks of each founder and observe how their networks shifted throughout their careers.

Each started with primarily local correspondence, such as Washington whose letters were mainly from those in and around Virginia in the 1750s. However, by the time of his Presidency, his letters span over a half a dozen countries and almost every one of the thirteen states.

And for Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams their time in Europe drastically altered their networks. Because of the substantial amount of time it took to send letters across the Atlantic and due to the responsibilities of their positions, a significant portion of their correspondence is with others in and around Europe during those periods.

Far from Home

It wasn’t all fun and games for our American heroes, as their scope and power increased they made plenty of sacrifices too. The clearest example of this is from the amount of time they spent away from home.

Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams collectively spent decades overseas in Europe. And even for Washington, Hamilton, and Madison, most of their careers were spent hundreds of miles from their private residences at the nation’s capital. Nothing about being away from home and sometimes family was easy, and it would wear on these men.

John Adams wrote after being in Europe for several years in 1783, “I tremble when I think of such a Thing as going to London. If I were to receive orders of that sort, it would be a dull day to me. No Swiss ever longed for home more than I do.”

And yet despite that, he ended up being in Europe another four years as an ambassador until 1787.

Wishes to Retire

All this work, grueling travel, and constant judgement in the public spotlight took a toll. Washington, Adams, and Jefferson were more than ready to retire far before their Presidencies. In fact, both Washington and Jefferson retired multiple times before the call of their country brought them back into the public eye.

At different points in their careers they all voiced their desires to retire or to return to their restful abodes. While data and visualizations can help with understanding things holistically, sometimes going right to the source is best. These comments in their letters illustrate much more clearly the sacrifices they were making and the burdens they carried.

It’s interesting to read these remarks since it’s not often we hear about the toil these men tread through as they accumulated glory for themselves and their country. And while they certainly did carry a burden, there’s no question that they each had unrivaled energy and commitment to their cause. The importance of their contributions can’t be overstated and it’s amazing what they were able to accomplish working together.

More Letters

It’s interesting to read these remarks since it’s not often we hear about the toil these men went through as they accumulated glory for themselves and their country. And while they certainly did carry a burden, there’s no question that they each had unrivaled energy and commitment to their cause. The importance of their contributions can’t be overstated and it’s amazing what they were able to accomplish working together.

Methodology

As mentioned above, the source of data for this article comes from the founders.archive.gov which comprises over 150,000 letters sent among the founding fathers. The Founders Archive does a wonderful job tagging each letter with the author, recipient, and date that letter was sent.

It’s worth noting that even 150,000 letters don’t represent all the Founding Fathers correspondence. Some letters still need to be transcribed, others have been lost, and some are destroyed. But this still represents an exceptionally large, useful dataset.