fouding brothers

Founding Brothers is a non-fiction novel about American Revolution political figures, primarily focusing on Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, John Adams, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson and roots of American Revolution and the interactions between the political figures. The author, Joseph J. Ellis is the author of several American history books and was educated at the College of William and Mary and Yale University .

Joseph J. Ellis’s main points throughout the book is not only to describe the historical perspective and success of the founding fathers but also the personal emotions, joys, regrets, familiar tragedies and ultimately the final judgments they make about each other and the Revolution. “I wanted to write a modest-sized account in American history without tripping over the dead bodies of my many scholarly predecessors, hoped to render human and accessible that generation of political leaders customarily deified and capitalized as Founding Fathers”(ix).

The first chapter of the novel pertains to the battle between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton and is the only chapter that is not in chronological order. Joseph J. Ellis does this to catch the reader’s attention. In detail Ellis describes the setting and mood between these two key players in American History. Although the true events of the duel can never be recovered, Joseph J. Ellis depicts both sides of the conflict. The result is the death of Hamilton and the political and social exile of Burr. Although Burrs version was most likely correct, Hamilton’s story was popularly chosen as the truth “The overwhelming popular consensus was that Burr had murdered Hamilton in cold blood”(26).

The novels second chapter goes back to 18th century, befo...

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...ndship through letter correspondence initiated by Adams that would last until their deaths. They hashed out all of their conflicts and dilemmas through these letters. Over time the two respected each other once again and maintained positive communication right up until the fiftieth anniversary of American independence in 1826, where both Jefferson and Adams died respectively. By ending the book with this chapter Ellis once again proves one of his main points about final judgments the founding fathers make about each other. “You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to one another.”(223) I strongly agree with Joseph J. Ellis main points and conclusion. Through out the entire novel he demonstrated the historical successes and downfalls of the new nation and the vast variety of emotions and conflicts expressed between the founding fathers.