Washington, Jefferson, & Franklins English ancestors: Northamptonshire and its influence on the founding fathers
Date
2025
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The Thesis examines three founding fathers’ ancestry and why their heritage was the backbone of who they were. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin’s family hailed from the county of Northamptonshire, in central England, seventy miles north of London. Northamptonshire was known for its religious dissent during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The county also had an abundance of wealth bought through land ownership and favors to the crown. Land enclosure also enhanced the gentry’s wealth. Religious conflict had a profound effect on the families of these three men, leading members of their English Families to move to America. Opportunities to increase wealth through trade overseas and colonization also helped Northamptonshire gentry. The thesis shows how their family history gave them financial and educational advantages not readily available to all settlers that took the journey across the Atlantic to seek a better life. Through the lens of their ancestors, the thesis shows how British History affected Thomas Jefferson’s, George Washington’s and Benjamin franklin’s lives. These men’s family’s journeys gave them the tools and confidence to pursue leadership in North America. Although each founding father’s family had a different story and outcome, they all had similar commonalities. They were all affected by the English Civil War and changes in Leadership. Their family’s status and values of education followed their families to America. Only one of the men acknowledges his English past but there is no doubt their English Heritage helped their families become some of the most important families in colonial history.
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Keywords
Educational advantages, British History, English Civil War, Colonial history