Everyone knows Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and Franklin. But some of the people who played crucial roles in creating the United States have almost disappeared from the story.

In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Steve Herman and Bill Bernardoni look at two of the most consequential—and most overlooked—figures of the founding generation: John Dickinson and Gouverneur Morris.

Historian Dr. Jane Calvert, director and chief editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project and author of Penman of the Founding, explains how Dickinson became one of the most famous Americans of the revolutionary era, why he refused to support independence when Congress voted in 1776, and why his decision to abstain was very different from opposing the Revolution. She also discusses Dickinson's military service, his antislavery efforts, his influential political writings and how John Adams helped shape the negative reputation that followed him for generations.

Then Syracuse University professor Dennis Rasmussen, author of The Constitution's Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America's Basic Charter, introduces listeners to one of the most colorful characters at the Constitutional Convention. Morris spoke more often and proposed more motions than any other delegate and ultimately became the principal draftsman of the Constitution's final text—including the words "We the People." Rasmussen explores Morris' opposition to slavery, his vision of a strong national government and presidency, his remarkable career in revolutionary France, and the mystery of why someone so central to the Constitution remains largely unknown today.

Two founders who helped shape the American Revolution and the Constitution. Two very different reasons they faded from public memory. And a larger question: Who gets remembered in American history—and who gets left out?