Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation | Joseph J. Ellis

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation | Joseph J. Ellis | They all hung together, more or less

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Founding Brothers:...

	Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation Joseph J. Ellis Vintage, 2002 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 387 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In this landmark work of history, the National Book Award?winning author of American Sphinx explores how a group of greatly gifted but deeply flawed individuals?Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison?confronted the overwhelming challenges before them to set the course for our nation.

The United States was more a fragile hope than a reality in 1790. During the decade that followed, the Founding Fathers?re-examined here as Founding Brothers?combined the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with the content of the Constitution to create the practical workings of our government. Through an analysis of six fascinating episodes?Hamilton and Burr?s deadly duel, Washington?s precedent-setting Farewell Address, Adams? administration and political partnership with his wife, the debate about where to place the capital, Franklin?s attempt to force Congress to confront the issue of slavery and Madison?s attempts to block him, and Jefferson and Adams? famous correspondence?Founding Brothers brings to life the vital issues and personalities from the most important decade in our nation?s history.

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Band of brothers

Ellis brings to well-crafted life the fragile nature of the American experiment in the first years after the revolution and the Constitution. He uses six short stories or incidents to frame this so-fragile balance between war and peace, Federalist and Republican, the very success or ignominious death of the American experiment:

--The Burr/Hamilton duel (in which Burr, the sitting VP shot and killed Hamilton.

--The compromise dinner (one of many clandestine efforts at the time) between Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison to log-roll a compromise to get federal debt assumption and the location of the future capital agreed to the satisfaction of all.

--One none-event as such, "The Silence" over slavery, which debate was postponed by the Constitutional Convention, but reopened by Quakers, and quickly silenced again by honest and moral men of both pro-slavery and anti-slavery dispositions as detrimental to the continuation of the American experiment.

--Washington's Farewell Address, which established the free and willing succession of power in a vast republic, a thing to be marveled at (see: Revolution, French).

--The collaboration between first Adams and Jefferson as Revolutionary partners, than John and Abigail versus Jefferson and Madison as enemies in the bitter partisan struggle of the two president's terms (1796-1808).

--And finally, the reconciliation between the last two standing of this greatest generation, this "band of brothers" (yes, the phrase used by Jefferson and Adams) in their 15-year correspondence concluding with death on July 4, 1826 within five hours on the 50th anniversary of the celebration of their rise to aristocracy!

Ellis is a good storyteller, and I wept silently reading the final events in realization of the 180 years since how much we how to these great men and their leadership and sacrifice for the greatest experiment in human government.

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They all hung together, more or less

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of tales about a number of the founding fathers, and their relations with each other. The opening vignette has to do with the Burr- Hamilton duel and in the course of this Ellis tells the personal history of each of the protagonists. I learned more about Burr than I learned in grade school or for that matter graduate- school , and this grandson of Jonathan Edwards was revealed to be a far more competent and two- faced politician than even the traditional stereotype of him as traitor, suggests. Hamilton too is shown to be a bit different than I had imagined, and was in fact on a downhill course politically when the duel took place. Ellis does a wonderful job in filling in the historical background and significance.
I also greatly enjoyed the piece on Washington's farewell including the 'realistic' description of how Washington actually looked. Nonetheless Ellis affirms his greatness, and his clear role as natural leader and first great American hero.
The final vignette has to do with the twelve- year correspondance of Adams and Jefferson. What is wonderful here is the way Ellis traces the whole story of their long relationship, their working together in the most critical moments and on the most critical documents of the Revolution, their falling out over their struggle for the Presidency, their coming to 'make- up' through the services of Benjamin Rush and through a letter of condolence written by Abigail Adams to Jefferson at the loss of his young daughter. Ellis describes how each of the great men uses the Letters to justify his own view of the Revolution. No matter how times one reads about it one cannot help be moved by the story of their dying five hours from each other on July 4, 1826, at the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration.
For any lover of American history this work is simply a very great pleasure to read.

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GLAD I FOUND THESE BROTHERS

I followed McCullough's 1776 and John Adams to Joseph Ellis' remarkable compilation of stories centered around the exploits of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Burr, Hamilton and Madison. The political intrigue, posturing, and backstabbing that takes place in these stories is rendered more fascinating in that it takes place in the shadow of America's newly won independence. The traits displayed in these stories compliment the sheer genius of these men, and leave the reader with multidimensional founding fathers as opposed to the cardboard heroes we were taught to worship in elelmentary school. Washington the land speculator, Burr the murderer, Hamilton the monarch in the making, the two faced Jefferson, and the honorable Adams. This history is simply missing from our history books. These stories are incredibly worthwhile and they detail with which they are presented is remarkable. Forget the history buff, this is a must read for everyone. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

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it seemed like a good idea at the time

There is a great tendency to deify the "founding fathers" these days. As if by invoking the phrase "founding fathers", you can gain their approval. Founding Brothers explains very well that the American Revolution didn't happen for us. It happened because the folks who carried it out did it for themselves. Their biggest motivation was the idea that they could get away with it. After that they had to make up the rest as they went along. It was ok: the rewards for succeeding would be the Northwest Territories. It is a good thing this happened before socialism, or it would have been described as socialism by the British and the French Monarchy.

The primary difference between Hamilton and Burr was that Hamilton could balance a check book.

There were also differences between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Thomas Jefferson was good at venerating freedom and Farmers, yet lived as a slave holder and a Planter. Some say he would have freed his slaves if the price of land ever appreciated enough. Land didn't appreciate much, because there was so much new land in the northwest territory and louisiana purchase. John Adams worked for a living and as a yeoman farmer. John Adams could also balance a checkbook.

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