The Founding Fathers Were Way Younger Than You Think

The men who built America weren't wise old statesmen. Most were younger than your manager.

We picture the Founding Fathers as gray-haired giants. The reality? Jefferson was thirty-three when he wrote the Declaration of Independence — younger than most people are buying their first house.

And he was one of the older ones. Hamilton was in his early twenties when he became Washington's right hand on the battlefield. Madison — who designed the Constitution — was just thirty-six. Even 'old' Benjamin Franklin was treated as the exception.

Here's what should stop you cold. These weren't seasoned politicians. They were twenty- and thirty-somethings gambling their lives on an idea that had never worked. If they'd lost, history wouldn't call them founders — it would call them traitors, and hang them.

The country you live in was sketched out by people the age of grad students. Not statues. Not legends. Just very young people who refused to wait their turn.

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