James Otis of Massachusetts and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and Delaware were among the most influential Patriots prior to the Revolution.
Both were state politicians, Stamp Act Congress delegates, military veterans and pamphleteers, Otis’ most famous being "The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved" in 1764 and Dickinson’s being "Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer" in 1767. Otis said attacking unpopular judicial writs: "The only principles of public conduct that are worthy of a gentleman or a man are to sacrifice estate, ease, health, and applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of his country. Now, one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle; and whilst he is quiet, he is as well guarded as a prince in his castle." Dickinson wrote two months after the Battles of Lexington and Concord: "... we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live as slaves." Although Otis suffered an untimely death and Dickinson wouldn’t sign the Declaration of Independence, both of these Founding Fathers’ contributions to the Revolution — on paper, in legislative halls and on the battlefield — cannot be forgotten.
James Otis
• Advocate general for vice admiralty court
• State politician
• Spearheaded the Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence
• Author of "The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved"
• Delegate to Stamp Act Congress
• Veteran of Battle of Bunker Hill
John Dickinson
• State politician
• Delegate to Stamp Act Congress
• Author of "Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer"
• Delegate to Continental Congress
• Co-author of "Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms"
• Co-wrote Olive Branch Petition
• Continental Army veteran
• Chairman of Pennsylvania’s Committee of Safety and Defense
• Delegate to Constitutional Convention
• President (governor) of Pennsylvania
• President (governor) of Delaware
FORGOTTEN FOUNDING FATHERS TOURNAMENT BRACKET
Washington Bracket
1. George Mason 68%
- Caesar Rodney 32%
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4. John Witherspoon 64%
- Casimir Pulaski 36%
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- Daniel Morgan 38%
6. Frederick Muhlenberg 62%
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2. William Penn 80%
- William Blount 20%
Jefferson Bracket
1. Nathanael Greene 60%
- Robert R. Livingston 40%
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- William Paterson 42%
5. Edmund Randolph 58%
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3. John Carroll 67%
- Henry Muhlenberg 33%
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2. Richard Henry Lee 70%
- John Trumbull 30%
Madison Bracket
1. Roger Williams 77%
- David Rittenhouse 23%
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4. Isaac Shelby 52%
- Joseph Warren 48%
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3. Henry Knox 50%
- George Wythe 50%
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2. Roger Sherman 75%
- George Clinton 25%
Franklin Bracket
1. John Jay 89%
- Pierre Charles L’Enfant 11%
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- James Otis
- John Dickinson
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- John Paul Jones
- Abraham Baldwin
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- Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
- Samuel Nicholas
FFFs and match-ups are determined by my interpretation of who I believe were the 32 greatest FFFs. Personal politics, favoritism and reader response was NOT a factor in selection or seeding. As for the tournament itself: each match-up will be conducted every 24 hours with a synopsis written by yours truly and readers can determine using the poll function who the winner should be for that match-up; there is no #1 overall seed; FFFs retain their seeds throughout; the winner of the Washington bracket will face the winner of the Jefferson bracket, and the winner of the Madison bracket will face the winner of the Franklin bracket; after having the first tie, I've decided the higher seed will win ties. I am not voting nor will I pick sides in discussion. I wish I could somehow do a more rigid time duration period for each round but there’s no guarantee I’ll be on a computer or awake at that time so I’m gonna say polling lasts until I post the next match-up, or roughly 24 hours later. Readers may choose whichever FFF contestant they wish, but the point of the tournament is to select the greatest Forgotten Founding Father — the most influential, most important, most impactful, who contributed the most to the Revolution and/or seeds of American liberty. Have fun!