Roger Sherman was not widely known as a writer. He was, however, a workmanlike businessman early in his career and later a tireless contributor to the founding of a new nation. One of the founders of the United States of America, he was the only person who signed all four of the nation's major foundational documents: the Articles of Association, which created the Continental Association; the Declaration of Independence; the Articles of Confederation, the country's first governing constitution; and, finally, the Constitution.