July 3, 2001

WASHINGTON - As Americans celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) is pointing out one of many important facts about our founding generation: they were predominantly small businessmen.

Thirty-six of the fifty-six signers (64%) of the Declaration of Independence had business experience such as being merchants, traders, doctors and farmers; including such famous signers as John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin.  Of the fifty-five framers of the U.S. Constitution who were present during some part of the Convention, thirty (55%) had business experience.*

"What makes the American Revolution distinct is that it was led primarily by small, independent businessmen for whom personal freedom also meant economic freedom.  Unlike other modern revolutions that occurred in France, Russia or China, the American Revolution was not the product of political or academic leaders, it was the product of mostly common-sense, practical American entrepreneurs," said SBSC president Darrell McKigney.

"There is no question that the free-market, consumer-oriented experience of the founding generation was a major contributing factor in building a successful democratic government.   And given that most of the founders derived their livelihoods outside government, they were more interested in protecting personal freedom than building a powerful and intrusive federal government.

"As the great observer Alexis De Tocqueville pointed out: in Europe, politics was typically the main occupation of politicians, so they were inclined to grow government and make it more powerful.   But in America, most leaders were citizen-lawmakers who earned their living and expressed their creativity through private endeavors, and were more likely to favor limited government."

"Today, we are at risk of losing that earlier entrepreneurial spirit among our leaders as more and more have become career politicians.  This is important because the entrepreneurial spirit and the values of limited government and free enterprise remain essential to the success of the American dream and the success of our democracy," McKigney concluded.

The Small Business Survival Committee is one of our nation`s leading nonprofit, nonpartisan small business advocacy organizations.  To learn more, check out SBSC`s web site at www.sbsc.org

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* Sources: "Independence Forever: The 225th Anniversary of the Fourth of July" by Matthew Spalding, published by the Heritage Foundation.   Founding Fathers,  by M.E. Bradford.