On July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia, the fifty-six delegates from the thirteen colonies to the 2nd Continental Congress formally voted for independence from Great Britain after days of debate and revision, declaring The United Colonies free and independent states. The final form of the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, and in the following weeks all fifty-six delegates signed it, committing an act of treason for which they could have been put to death, while also setting in motion the events that created the United States of America. These men are honored as the nation's Founding Fathers, and, except for Benjamin Franklin, they were not old men: eighteen were under forty and three were in their twenties. They were generally soft-spoken men of means and education, including twenty-five lawyers or jurists, eleven merchants, nine farmers or large plantation owners, and nine doctors, ministers, and politicians, along with one teacher, one musician, and one painter. George Washington was General and Commander in Chief of the Colonial Armies in the Revolutionary War and the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797; Thomas Jefferson was principal author of the Declaration of Independence, second Vice President, third President from 1801 to 1809, and founder of the University of Virginia; John Adams was a co-author of the Declaration of Independence, served twice as Vice President, and was second President from 1797 to 1801; Benjamin Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence, served as first ambassador to France, negotiated the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, founded the University of Pennsylvania, and was an inventor; Samuel Adams was recognized as the Father of the American Revolution, signed the Declaration of Independence, and served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1793 to 1797; and James Madison was Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson, Father of the U.S. Constitution, sponsor of the Bill of Rights, and fourth President from 1809 to 1817. The U.S. Constitution is presented as one of the two most important documents that laid the foundation of the country, and the United States is portrayed as unmatched in its success as a democracy, having had only one form of government since the Constitution was ratified in 1788. The nation's veterans are also honored, from the time of George Washington and the first Minuteman's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" onward, for sacrifices that have helped keep the nation free, united, and strong.