America was born and survived, its rough road into a nation, through a series of events, or moments in history. The founding brother’s book is about a few important figures during and after the American Revolution. These important figures consisted of Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, John Adams, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. Each of these men, contributed to the building of America in one way or another. The book breaks these contributions into a few short stories, to help understand what these important figures did.
In order for someone to understand what lesson Joseph Ellis was trying to teach, one must first come to an understanding of these five short stories. The first story to review and understand is called the duel. The duel is one of the most historical conflicts in history. The duel actually came to be from years of personal and political resentment, between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. These two men really hit high tensions during the New York gubernatorial race. Due to Burr Being a candidate for this race, and due to the duel taking place during the time dueling was becoming outlawed, the duel had a vast political ramification. With the duel going badly and Alexander Hamilton Dying, Burr under New York and New Jersey stature was charged, but all charges were later dismissed, bringing Burrs career to an end. One can conclude that the significance regarding the duel is how violence during the beginning of American statehood, was highly politically based. What really makes the duel uniquely important is the fact or trend after a revolution for revolutionaries to turn on one another in an unavoidable bloodbath. Ellis seems to side more with Hamilton and make him look like a saint.
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...esidential power. Also the address helps America to stay neutral in any foreign wars, giving America time to build and prosper. It is an important piece of history that helped to shape the current government of today, and most of America’s foreign policies and relations. So out of all the stories one would find this to be the most important, and possibly read it again.
In conclusion, the founding brother’s book is a unique set of short stories. The stories show and explain important parts of American history. Also the stories focused mainly on the founders of America like, Thomas Jefferson. Over all after one has read and come to an understanding of these stories, one can come to the conclusion that the author was leaning toward Hamilton. Also that through trust, hard work, and dedication these men build up an amazing country, that has become a world power today.
In Woody Holton's Forced Founders, that most revered segment of the revolutionary generation, the elitist gentry class of Virginia, comes across very much as a group of self-serving reactionaries, rather then the idealized revolutionaries of the great patriotic myth of popular history. He sets about disassembling a central portion of the myth created by earlier generations of Consensus historians, by asserting that rather then gallantly leading the charge for independence, Virginia's elitist gentry resorted to independence as their last and only means of saving their elite ruling status, their economic futures, and even their very lives many feared. While this is very much an example of revisionist history, Holton has not so much rewritten history, as he has provided the back story of the complexity and diversity of the Virginia colony on the eve of the American Revolution. For while the book's title may insinuate otherwise, lowly groups like slaves and Indians discussed here are afforded only the status of “founders” by pressing those traditionally thought of in this role to take the plunge for independence. Still the papers and correspondence of the iconic figureheads of the revolutionary generation like Washington, Jefferson, and Madison make up the bulk of primary sources.
In the book Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis, the author relates the stories of six crucial historic events that manage to capture the flavor and fervor of the revolutionary generation and its great leaders. While each chapter or story can be read separately and completely understood, they do relate to a broader common theme. One of Ellis' main purposes in writing the book was to illustrate the early stages and tribulations of the American government and its system through his use of well blended stories. The idea that a republican government of this nature was completely unprecedented is emphasized through out the book. Ellis discusses the unique problems that the revolutionary generation experienced as a result of governing under the new concept of a democracy. These problems included- the interpretation of constitutional powers, the regulation of governmental power through checks and balances, the first presidential elections, the surprising emergence of political parties, states rights vs. federal authority, and the issue of slavery in a otherwise free society. Ellis dives even deeper into the subject by exposing the readers to true insight of the major players of the founding generation. The book attempts to capture the ideals of the early revolutionary generation leaders and their conflicting political viewpoints. The personalities of Hamilton, Burr, Adams, Washington, Madison, and Jefferson are presented in great detail. Ellis exposes the reality of the internal and partisan conflict endured by each of these figures in relation to each other. Ellis emphasizes that despite these difficult hurdles, the young American nation survived its early stages because of its great collection of charismatic leaders and their ability to ...
Edward, Rebecca and Henretta, James and Self, Robert. America A Concise History. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2012.
In the book Founding Brothers written by Author Joseph J. Ellis, Mr. Ellis explains the challenges the founding brothers, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr faced as the Founding Brothers formed the newfangled government of the United States. Joseph Ellis uses a very well organized style splitting the book into seven sections, each telling a different story or series of events. And rather then just summarizes the entire sections one by one, this paper will tell the most important and significant events rather than just simply all the events. Mr. Ellis states that the reader will need to understand the events both on how they truly occurred, and how they were to be interpreted when later revealed. The book focuses on significant aspects of the revolutionary war as well as the influences each founding brother and their contributions to American history, and how this all helped shape America into what remains now. “Mostly Male, all white, this collection of public figures was hardly typical of the population as a whole: nor was it, on the other hand, a political
George Washington became President in 1789 and since then has been regarded as America’s “Founding Father”(10). This grand and hero-like status is said to have “began gravitating to Washington six months before the Declaration of Independence, when one Levi Allen addressed him in a letter as ‘our political Father.’”(10). The preservation of Washington’s role as a national hero has been allowed by authors and the media omitting his many flaws as if they had either been forgotten or were no longer important. Yet by excluding these human faults, they have projected an almost god-like hero and inflicted him upon the nation as their Father, somebody whose “life still has the power to inspire anyone”(10).
Thomas Jefferson by Norman Risjord is a biography of the third president of the United States that takes Thomas Jefferson from his youth through his later years in the early 19th century. The purpose of this book is to give a political and social overview of the Thomas Jefferson's life and career. It was written for both the student of American history and the casual reader interested in the genesis of the United States government, seen through the eyes of one of its founding fathers. The value of this book is that it shows that Jefferson was not a saint, yet he was one of the most intelligent presidents that the country has ever had. Risjord has given the book great value because he has framed Jefferson among his peers. Consequently, the book truly comes to life, and the reader is able to learn about Jefferson as well as his contemporaries James Madison, John Marshall, and John Adams.
There were many men involved in the establishment of the government, the laws regulating states and people, and individual rights in the construction of the United States of America. Two men stand out as instrumental to our founding principles: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson was an educated, articulate and accomplished man from a well-respected family. He had a great understanding of farming and of the relationship between man and his environment, working diligently to balance the two for the best interest of each. He “considered himself first and always a man of the land” (Jewett, 2005).
The Election of 1800 was one that some people saw as making or breaking this nation; Edward Larson’s “A Magnificent Catastrophe” outlines the details of the nineteenth century political election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Of the two candidates one was a “blunt speaking man of independent mind,” and the other was known for the famous line he wrote in the constitution, “All men are created equal.” These gentlemen started out as close friends who confided in one another living under the same roof, and soon became candidates running against their good friend. Both candidates sought out a reason for why the American Revolution occurred and what the meaning was, and both candidates had differenciated views. This presidential election
As an American observes the life around him, noting the many advancements made in merely the last century, he must wonder how America climbed to such a level. The 21st century technology, the military and political power, education and ethics, all came from such meager beginnings, solidified by the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War proved to be a significant turning point in the history of our country, but what caused America to win? What were some of the most significant factors in the victory of these American patriots? By examining these three particular factors, America’s military assets, it’s aid from other countries, and its own spirit of independence, one’s understanding of the Revolutionary War, an essential root of this nation, is truly increased.
The book Founding Brothers written by Joseph J Ellis recounts small moments of history following a few of the men known as the “founding fathers” of America. Through his work he connects these men through their interactions with each other and their very similar lives. The title previews the theme further expounded upon in the book and Ellis’s perspective about how theses founding fathers acted as brothers toward each other in addition to the fathers of The United States of America.
The Young Reader's Companion to American History. Ed. John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 384+. Print.
The founding of the United States went through a tough time to unite a whole nation. The U.S., at many times, was almost doomed to failure. Many decisions and beneficial people kept what is known as America today alive. Some of the most unexpected people to help shape the U.S. was Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Not like any of the other feuds between politicians at that time that ended in choice words, Burr and Hamilton ended in death. Many crucial moments occurred during the early years of America and most of the time America was simply a dream that most felt would never be accomplished. Without the influence of the men who shaped the nation, this sort of "experiment" would have failed.
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
The Founding Fathers were a revolutionary group, diverse in personalities and ideologies but shared the common goal of American liberty. They understood that the citizens should have a say in their government, and the government only obtains its power from the citizen’s consent. In order to avoid endless debates on issues that needed to be solved immediately, the revolutionary leaders compromised their beliefs. Joseph J. Ellis writes of the compromises that changed the constitutional debate into the creation of political parties in, The Founding Brothers. The 3 main chapters that show cased The Founding Brothers’ compromises are The Dinner, The Silence, and The Collaborators.
Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriots History of the United States. Sentinel: Penguin inc., 2007. 529-532. Print.