Born to slavers and forefathers of freedom.

I did some in-depth math of all 56 signers of the declaration of independence.<br><br>Some basic information on how these 56 came to be, as well as the nation around them.<br><br>* George Washington was already known to be a preeminent commander, which is why he became commander in chief as soon as the war started. He actually lost the war, the British simply gave up (so almost like that South Park episode where Cartman wins a school race because the other contestants gave up).<br>* The US population in 1776 was 2.6 million. This would have included the signers, their families, and all the soldiers.<br>* The average life expectancy was 38 years. This is due to low infant mortality rates.<br>* The Continental Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence, but the war had already been going on for a year. It was largely symbolic.<br><br>Here are the points that I found interesting:<br><br>**Died early**<br><br>* 25 / 56 died before age 60 (44.6%)<br>* 12 / 56 died before age 50 (21.4%)<br>* 7 / 56 died before age 40 (12.5%)<br>* 5 / 56 died before age 35<br>* 2 / 56 died before age 25<br>* 1 / 56 died before age 20<br><br>I didn’t count them that died in the war as having died before X age. This means that there were more than 25 people who died before they were 60.<br><br>**Slavery**<br><br>* 41 / 56 owned at least 1 slave at some point in their life (73%)<br>* 15 / 56 owned slaves in 3 or more states (26.7%)<br>* 3 / 56 owned slaves in 4 or more states (5.4%)<br>* 1 / 56 owned slaves in 5 or more states (1.8%)<br>* 1 / 56 owned slaves in 2 states and territories (1.8%)<br>* 15 / 56 were proposed to become the “negro president” (26.7%). John Witherspoon and George Wythe, for instance, were proposed at various points in their lives.<br>* 2 / 56 were proposed to become the President of the Confederate States of America (3.6%)<br><br>The states were primarily agricultural states. The idea of this revolution was to create something new and better (which they failed at, but that's a different topic). This information is self-explanatory.<br><br>**War**<br><br>* 3 / 56 died in the war (5.4%)<br>* 17 / 56 were POWs (30.4%)<br>* ?/56 were wounded. There were at least 4, but I couldn’t find records for the majority of them. Therefore, I’d assume that every single one of them saw combat at least once.<br><br>**Illegitimate**<br><br>* 3 / 56 had famous bastard children (5.4%)<br>* 2 / 56 had bastard children that went on to become famous (3.6%)<br>* The most famous bastard was Alexander Hamilton, who was born in an extremely similar fashion to how his famous play was made (except the father and mother were swapped).<br><br>**Fighting Slavery**<br><br>* 10 / 56 privately opposed slavery (17.9%)<br>* 9 / 56 publicly opposed slavery (16.1%)<br>* 8 / 56 did not oppose slavery at all and opposed the Haitian Revolution (14%)<br>* 5 / 56 were involved in fighting against the Haitian Revolution (8.9%)<br>* 6 / 56 belonged to anti-slavery groups. N.b., these groups existed across both the US and UK<br><br>**Wealth**<br><br>* 3 / 56 died individuals worth over $1 Billion in today’s money (5.4%)<br>* Only 6 / 56 could be calculated. Therefore, the 3 / 56 worth over $1 Billion is a low estimate<br>* 1 / 56 was proposed to become the first billionaire in the US (1.8%)<br>* John Jay was offered the position of President of the Mississippi Company. This would have made him the first billionaire in the US.<br><br>**Other**<br><br>* 12 / 56 had at least 1 famous grandchild (21.4%)<br>* 8 / 56 had at least 1 famous child (14.3%)<br>* 11 / 56 had at least 1 famous sibling (19.6%)<br>* 16 / 56 had at least famous in-law (28.6%)<br>* 6 / 56 were preferred to become President of the United States (10.7%)<br><br>They could not have predicted how the US would develop to become the world superpower it is today.