Founding Brothers Book Essay
“No event in American history which was so improbable at the time has seemed as inevitable in retrospect as the American Revolution” (3).That is how the book Founding Brothers, By Joseph J. Ellis begins. This book is about the founding fathers lives and the post-revolutionary America. The book itself tells of the bonds each one of the founding fathers and how they influenced each other in different ways. There are six chapters and one preference chapter. Each of the chapters tells of important things during the Post-revolutionary war period.
This is the Presence, the first chapter called “The Generation”. Ellis tells of how the relationships between the founding fathers influenced American history. This is through trying to make the reader understand the founding fathers to separate fact from fiction. This is through telling the reader that the founders won the war through luck, intellect and perseverance. He also tells of how the US is the longest surviving republic in the world. He also tells of how the revolutionary war was in different perspectives. An example was some of the founders thought America can unify and become an economic power while others just wanted to secede from England. He then talks about 1787 and how the American Constitution was made and then about how George Washington formed a new country under his leadership. This all sets the stage for the rest of the book.
The first true Chapter is “The Dual”. This is about the most famous duel in American history. The dual was between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The dual took place on July 11, 1804 on the plains of Weehawken, New Jersey. During the dual Hamilton was mortally wounded and Burr was unharmed. Ellis then talks about wh...
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...with each other. After some time though, the two started corresponding with each other. In which they discussed their competing views of the Revolutionary period, current events, and the country's future. Their long friendship ended on July 4, 1826, the nation's 50th Independence Day, and the day on which they both died.
So in conclusion, the book Founding Brothers is a book on American history. Ellis tells us about some of the most famous events of the post-revolutionary America. These events span from the Hamilton/Burr duel to Washington’s Farewell Address. He also tells about the lives of the founders. Like Jefferson and Adams friendship. He even talks about how to govern the country the way the founders wanted. Like abolishing slavery and making political agendas. So in all The Founding Brothers book is the book on the greatest event in the history of the world.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were the last living individuals from the first American progressives who had confronted the British people and manufactured another political group in the previous provinces. Then again, while they both trusted stock in vote based system and life, freedom and the quest for joy, their conclusions on the best way to accomplish these standards separated after some time. Later, serving two presidential terms, Jefferson and Adams each communicated to outsiders their appreciation the other and their longing to recharge their friendship. Adams was the first to end the hush; he sent Jefferson a letter around the time of new year’s, in which he wished Jefferson numerous great new years to come. Jefferson reacted with
Unfortunately, by choosing to focus on only a few events, Ellis's book fails in that it lacks somewhat of a scope. The book also focuses on some of the founding brothers in much greater detail than others. While I come away with a wealth of knowledge about both Adams and Jefferson, I have less knowledge of Ben Franklin and Aaron Burr, as Ellis's focus is significantly less on them.
The author's twenty page preface details “The Generation”, which he asserts that despite current trends in scholarship, the real essence of the revolutionary era lies in the thoughts and deeds of this handful of Patriot elites, which had publicly pledged at great peril to their own lives and fortunes their undeniable support for the ideals of our founding documents. America's most famous (or infamous) duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is the backdrop for first chapter. This might lead one to think Ellis intends to move backward in time through the book, considering it occurred on July 11, 1804, however such is not the case as mentioned. Ellis does manage to present a fairly balanced view of the part played by both participants in the long war of words which finally led to the deadly showdown near Weehawken, New Jersey, providing an accounting of the historical scholarship on this well told chapter of our history.
Thomas Jefferson's father owned a nearby plantation, though there was a nine year age difference between Thomas Jefferson and George Rogers Clark, the two enjoyed a life long friendship. He was also a classmate of James Madison, who would later be a strong supporter of George Rogers Clark and his military campaigns. Last, George Mason, a future Revolutionary War statesman and member of the Continental Congress, was a close friend of the family, and mentor to Clark.... ... middle of paper ... ...
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.
The historical context of the documents complicate the narrative of the United States' "colonial beginnings" because it shows that the original treatment of the Native Americans shaped the United States' beginning, much more than what most are lead to believe. This is shown through the timing of certain events, the issues that caused the events, and the people who helped make many of the events happen or end.
Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of the American Revolution. William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York, 1991.
Goldfield, David. The American Journey A History of the United States. New Jersey: Pearson 2011
It was a cold morning in Newark, NJ, on the 16th of February 1756 when my good friend Aaron Burr, Jr. was born. My family lived next door to the Burr residence and became very friendly with the Reverend Aaron Burr, Sr and his wife Esther. Aaron and I attended Princeton University where we originally studied theology, but later gave up it began the study of law in Litchfield, Connecticut. Our studies were put on hold while we served during the Revolutionary War, under Generals Benedict Arnold, George Washington, and Israel Putnam.
The Founding Fathers most famous writings is without a doubt the Constitution. The constitution was an amazing piece of literature, and played a huge part in shaping America. The founding fathers wrote many different writings that also helped found the United States. These other writings expressed some very good concerns and taught some necessary values.
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
When Douglass begins his novella, he preludes Madison Washington’s introduction by informing the reader that the history of the state of Virginia has not included “one of the truest, manliest, and bravest” (B: 1255) of its “multitudinous array of statesmen and heroes” (B: 1254). The
When one explains his or her ingenious yet, enterprising interpretation, one views the nature of history from a single standpoint: motivation. In The American Revolution: A History, Gordon Wood, the author, explains the complexities and motivations of the people who partook in the American Revolution, and he shows the significance of numerous themes, that emerge during the American Revolution, such as democracy, discontent, tyranny, and independence. Wood’s interpretation, throughout his literary work, shows that the true nature of the American Revolution leads to the development of United State’s current government: a federal republic. Wood, the author, views the treatment of the American Revolution in the early twentieth century as scholastic yet, innovative and views the American Revolution’s true nature as
Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriots History of the United States. Sentinel: Penguin inc., 2007. 529-532. Print.