Erasing American history has been a huge trend among immigrant communities and social justice activists in the last 5 years. One of the falsehoods being shared by the revisionists has been the false assertion that all or many of the Founders were immigrants from other countries. We have to emphasize that claim is absolutely 100% false. Today we are not going to examine every founder as it would be a long long list but we are taking a look at the 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, six of whom also signed the Constitution of the United States. In our next installment we address the origins of the other 36 men who signed the US Constitution.
First we have to remind the reader that an immigrant is a person who moves from his own country to a foreign country and this where many people go wrong when making claims about the status of the founders themselves. During the time of American Revolution and Founding of America, only one 1 person on the list of 56 people who signed the Declaration of Independence actually arrived here from a foreign country. That person immigrated from what is today Finland but back then was part of Sweden. So out of the 56 men who signed the Constitution only 1.7% were actually immigrants. Others who are confused for being immigrants were actually internal migrants who moved from one part of Britain to another part of Britain. It is important to note here that the 13 colonies were in fact part of Britain so a person moving from the British Isles to British territory in America would not have been immigrants but would have been internal or domestic migrants must like a native of California immigrating to Texas or a Floridian immigrating to California. If you move from one state to another in the same country, or in the case of the founders you move from one British province to another British province, that does not make you an immigrant. To be an immigrant they would have had to have immigrated from Sweden, France, Spain (including New Spain or modern Mexico), Italy, Germany, or some Middle Eastern country, or other territory that was not part of Britain at that time. All of the men who signed the Declaration were White but many of their descendants today tend to be mixed race due to historical couplings over the centuries so the claim that only White people are descended from these founders is false. Everyone who tells you otherwise is absolutely lying to you.
There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Only 1 was an immigrant.
The first two mentioned are John Adams and his cousin Samuel Adams. Their first ancestor in America arrived in 1635 in Massachussetts. They were 5th generation Americans.
Next is Josiah Bartlett. His first ancestor arrived in America in 1634 and as such he was also a 5th generation American.
Carter Braxton- His ancestor had arrived in 1653 making Braxton a 5th generation American.
Charles Carroll was the only Catholic to sign and support the Declaration of Independence. His earliest ancestor arrived in America in 1688 and documents indicate he was a third generation American.
Samuel Chase is one of the founders about whom most immigrants and woke activists have claimed was fresh off the boat when the Constitution was ratified. In fact his earliest ancester arrived in America in 1639 making Mr. Chase a 5th generation American. Further evidence of the fact he did not just arrive when the Constitution was being ratified is the fact he was signer of the Declaration of Independence which he could only have done if his family had already been here for centuries.
Abraham Clark, a delegate from New Jersey was the main advocate for rights for common people. His status as a 5th generation American stems from the fact his earliest ancestor arrived in America in 1639.
George Clymer was one of the Pennsylvania delegates and one of the first to call for American independence. His Quaker ancestor Christopher Clymer arrived in America in 1680 from Bristol England making him a 4th generation American. See next entry for the significance of the Bristol connection.
William Ellery was a 5th generation American whose ancestor arrived in 1630 from Bristol England which according to real historic documents, the residents of Bristol were visiting America's coastal waters for more than a century before the Spanish even knew America existed.
William Floyd's ancestor arrived from Wales in 1635 making him a 5th generation American.
Benjamin Franklin is one of the few founders that most immigrants actually know about His earliest ancestor arrived from Northhamptonshire in 1683 making Franklin a third generation American. He is the first immigrant to make this list of founders. However this is disputed because an immigrants is defined as “An immigrant refers to a person who moves or relocates from one country to another with the intention of residing there permanently or for an extended period. Immigrants leave their country of origin, often referred to as their home country or the country they emigrated from, and enter a new country, known as the host country or the country they immigrate to.” Ben Franklin did not come from outside what was then the British Empire. He moved from one part of his country to another part of his own country.
Elbridge Gerry was the founder who invented the practice of gerrymandering and served as America's 5th Vice President. He was also a second generation American whose father arrived in America in 1730 from Devonshire. But this is disputed due to the fact that he was merely moving from one part of his country to another part of his country.
Button Gwinnett was a Welsh immigrant who arrived in America in 1762 where he immediately began advocating for complete independence. This is disputed due to the fact he was not moving from one country to another.
Lyman Hall was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1630 from Kent. He advocated for the idea that regular people should have the same rights as wealthy people, an idea that made America peculiar because most people in the rest of the world at that time was opposed to the very concept that common people should have any rights at all.
John Hancock is famous for his signature. He was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1634 from Cambridge.
Benjamin Harrison was a 5th generation American whose ancestor arrived in Jamestown Virginia from London England in 1630. He was also the great grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison, our 23rd president. He was also the grandfather of the 9th president of the United States, William Henry Harrison.
John Hart was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in America in 1635 from England. Many people today have falsely claimed he was a newly arrived immigrant during the time the Constitution was being ratified.
Joseph Hewes was a 4th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived from England in 1675.
Thomas Heyward Jr was a 4th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1670 from England.
William Hooper was the son of William Hooper Sr, a Scottish migrant who arrived in America in 1742. Modern people claim he was an immigrant who arrived from another country. However he did not come from another nation, but rather moved from part of his own country to another part of his country. The US at the time was part of the British Empire so people moving Britain to America would not have been immigrants due to the fact they were simply moving from one part of the country to another part of the same country. Remember an immigrant is someone who moves between independent countries.
Stephen Hopkins was the second oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also a 4th generation American whose earliest ancestor in America arrived from Somerset in 1635.
Samuel Huntington was a 4th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1633 from Norwich England.
Thomas Jefferson was a 4th generation American of Welsh descent whose earliest ancestor arrived from Wales in 1670.
Francis Lightfoot Lee and Richard Henry Lee were 4th generation Americans whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1639 from Worcestershire as an internal migrant of the British Empire. It should be noted that Richard Henry Lee was the father of the famous Confederate General Robert E. Lee who modern Democrats, immigrants, and BLM activists falsely claim was an alien invader. The fact is that Robert E Lee was here before all of the modern people who have so much hatred for him. He was Native to the United States whereas his modern detractors have never been Native to the United States but are rather recently arrived immigrants fresh off the boat.
Francis Lewis was an internal migrant of Welsh descent who moved from one part of the British Empire, Wales, to another part of the same country, the colonies that now make up the original part of the United States. Modern liberals would falsely assert that makes him an immigrant, however an immigrant is someone who moves from one country to a foreign country. What are now called the 13 original states were actually part of Britain at the time so he would not have been an immigrant but rather an internal or domestic migrant much as a person who moves from South Dakota to California or from California to Texas would not be called immigrants either but rather internal migrants unless they had first arrived from a completely different country such as Mexico, China, or India.
Philip Livingstone was a third generation American whose ancestor was a domestic migrant who arrived in America from Scotland in 1674. He also had the distinction of being the only slave trader among the founders of the United States. The fact is that he was strong defender of the practice of slavery and had made multiple voyages to Africa where he captured Sub Saharan Africans whom he would force at gun point into slavery. He opposed to abolitionism of the Quakers and sought to have the Quaker religion banned during the time that America was still part of Britain. Despite this his personal views on slavery are said to have not been very clear. Sources say he probably would not have opposed an effort by the British or state governments at the time to abolish slavery but that he simply wanted the laws of the time to be strictly enforced. But this must be viewed by the lens that unlike the other Founders on this list, he not only owned a couple of slaves but he actually led raiding expeditions to West Africa to purchase or capture Sub Saharan Africans to force into the slavery in America. So when you consider that, he must have, at least at one point in his life, been a strong supporter of slavery. How do else would you explain his raids to Africa to capture people for the slave trade? Throughout the rest of his, this is something he never apologized for nor did he ever free any of his slaves as the other Founders of the US would eventually end up doing. So in terms of slavery and relations between Whites and Blacks, Livingstone could be said to have been worst offender among the founders of the United States. The fact he put his signature on a document that claimed that all men were created equal was kind of hypocritical and cynical as it is clear he did not actually believe in that part of the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Lynch Jr was a third generation American whose grandfather arrived here in the 1670's from County Galway in Ireland.
Thomas McKean was a second generation American whose father immigrated from the British territory of County Antrim Ireland to the British territory of Pennsylvania in 1734. While some would call him an immigrant, you have to bear in mind that an immigrant is someone who moves from one country to another. Mr. McKean was an internal migrant moving from one part of Britain to another part of Britain. He is the second descendent of Irish migrants to make this list.
Arthur Middleton was a 4th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1635 from England by way of Barbados.
Lewis Morris was a third generation American whose grandfather arrived in 1672 from England as an internal migrant after having served under Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War.
Robert Morris was internal migrant of Britain who moved from England to Maryland in 1738 at the age of 4.
John Morton was a the child of a Finnish immigrant to America who came here by way of England. He is the first on this list of founders to actually have been an immigrant coming from another actual country. Prior entries on this list were not immigrants but were instead internal migrants moving from one part of Britain to another part of Britain. This made him a third generation American whose grandfather was born in Finland and immigrated to what was then New Sweden as Finland at the time was part of Sweden.
Thomas Nelson Jr. was a 3rd generation American whose grandfather arrived in America from Cumberland England in 1696. He was of Celtic Cumbrian descent.
William Paca was a 4th generation American whose earliest ancestor in America arrived in the 1640's from England.
Robert Treat Paine was a 4th generation American who not related to another founder who also had the same last name, Thomas Paine. Robert Paine's earliest American ancestor arrived in 1662 from Somersetshire England. By contrast, Thomas Paine was himself an internal migrant of Britain who moved from part of Britain to another part of Britain.
John Penn's story is interesting. He is a second generation American whose father was none other than William Penn. The same William Penn who arrived in 1644 and founded Pennsylvania. The story here is that John Penn was born in 1741 nearly a hundred years after William was born in England. According to historical documents, William fathered John when he was literally 97 years old. John's mother was more than 30 years younger (37 years younger to be exact) than William and would have been 40 at the time she gave birth to John. It is worth noting the role her son she had from the relationship with a much older man would go on to found a country where women now have freedoms than they do anywhere else on planet earth today.
George Read was a third generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1635 from Hertfordshire, England.
Caesar Rodney was a third generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in America in 1681 from England.
George Ross was a 2nd generation American whose father was internal British migrant who moved from Scotland to America in 1705.
Dr. Benjamin Rush was a third generation American whose grandfather arrived in 1683 from England.
Edward Rutledge was a second generation American whose father arrived from Ireland in 1735.
Roger Sherman was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor was an internal migrant who arrived from England in 1636.
James Smith was born in what is today Northern Ireland. He internally migrated to America in 1729. As a reminder, an immigrant is someone who migrates from one country to another country. As Mr. Smith was literally moving from one part of Britain to another party of Britain he was not actually an immigrant. To be considered an immigrant he would have had to come from an actual foreign country such as Sweden, Germany, Spain (including New Spain or modern Mexico), Africa, Italy, or some other territory that did not belong to Britain. Speaking of which, it is little known today but much of the world at the time of the American Revolution actually viewed that conflict as nothing more than a British civil war. Many people in the British Isles at the time also viewed it that way.
Richard Stockton was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in America in 1656 from Chester, England.
Thomas Stone was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in America in 1628 from London England.
George Taylor was a British citizen who internally migrated from the British province of Ireland (today's Northern Ireland to be more precise) to the British province of Pennsylvania in 1736.
Matthew Thornton was another internal British migrant who arrived from Northern Ireland in 1736.
George Walton was a 6th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in America from Devonshire England between 1628 and 1645.
William Whipple was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived from Essex, England by 1634.
William Williams was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in 1637 from Norfolk England.
James Wilson was an internal British migrant who arrived in 1766 from Scotland.
John Witherspoon was another internal British migrant who arrived from Scotland in 1768.
Oliver Walcott was a 4th generation American whose ancestor arrived in America from Somerset England in 1630.
George Wyth was a 5th generation American whose earliest ancestor arrived in America from Warwickshire England in 1680.
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