Try This Quiz on America's Lesser-Known Founding Fathers

She may not be a classic founding “father,” but the lavish White House parties hosted by First Lady Dolley Madison became a key part of the district’s political scene during her husband James Madison’s presidency (1809 to 1817). It was during this time that Dolley famously saved a portrait of George Washington from being destroyed in the White House fire of 1814.

Born in 1726, George Wythe had some years on the younger generation of Founding Fathers. Wythe signed the Declaration of Independence and served on both the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention. As a Virginia judge, he established the legal precedent that allows courts to strike down unconstitutional laws. At his private law school in Richmond, Wythe taught several notable founders, including Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, and John Marshall.

After ascending the ranks of Virginia politics, founding father John Marshall served as a congressman and secretary of state. In 1801, he was appointed chief justice by then-President John Adams — a position he would hold for 34 years, until his death in 1835. Most legal scholars agree that the Supreme Court would not have the power and reputation it does today without Marshall’s three decades of influence.

Patrick Henry was an attorney who became known in the 1760s for his powerful, passionate speeches; historians believe his famous “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech, given in Virginia in 1775, was a key factor in solidifying the resolve of colonists to fight for their freedom. Henry became the first governor of Virginia in 1776, after America declared its independence from Great Britain.

Soon after settling in Philadelphia in 1726, the young Ben Franklin began publishing a newspaper known as the “Pennsylvania Gazette,” writing much of the content himself. His success in the colonial media business continued with his incredibly popular “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” which was written under the pseudonym “Richard Saunders.” It was published yearly from 1732 to 1758.

Broadway smash musicals aside, Alexander Hamilton was an important founding father. He wrote 51 of the 85 essays known as the Federalist Papers, which defended the new Constitution to the public, and in his role as the first secretary of treasury, he helped shape the direction of the early U.S. financial system. Hamilton is also notable for being the only non-President besides Benjamin Franklin to appear on U.S. currency.

In 1776, political philosopher and writer Thomas Paine published “Common Sense,” a small but powerful pamphlet declaring his support for the Patriots and arguing for independence from Great Britain. Written in simple, straightforward prose, this pamphlet helped convince many colonists to support the American Revolution.

Like many of the Founding Fathers, John Jay had strong ideas about government and its structure — ideas that helped him get appointed as America’s first chief justice in 1789, and allowed him to set the course of the Supreme Court for many years. He resigned from the court in 1795 and became the second governor of New York.

Today, Aaron Burr is best known for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, while serving as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson. But after leaving politics in 1805, Burr became the center of yet another controversy. He was charged with treason in 1807 for conspiring to lead an independent army to take control of the western frontier. Though he was acquitted, he lived out the rest of his life under deep suspicion by Washington’s power players.

Raise a glass to the second-cousin of President John Adams, Samuel Adams, a Massachusetts statesman who was instrumental in rallying support for American independence. The rebel-rousing Adams is credited with founding the Sons of Liberty revolutionary group and helping organize the Boston Tea Party, but his legacy doesn’t stop there: He is also the namesake of the Boston-based Samuel Adams beer.