Founding Brothers

Rating:
Summary: Oh, brother!
Review: I enjoyed reading FOUNDING BROTHERS, but in the days since I finished it, I'm somewhat at a loss as to what to write about it. Author Joseph Ellis starts out with a premise, that the founding generation made a difference and were not simply swept up with the times, then goes on to illustrate the point by telling various stories featuring a well-known cast of characters. Ostensibly, these characters include John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, and Burr. But apart from the first story, about the Hamilton-Burr duel, this is really a book featuring Adams-Jefferson anecdotes - the others are basically supporting characters. As a result, Ellis' point is somewhat cheapened. Considering that he has already written books about both Jefferson and Adams, I wonder if FOUNDING BROTHERS should really be considered a post-script to those two.

None of this is to say that FOUNDING BROTHERS is not enjoyable reading material. As a fan of the era, this slight book was a pleasant hodge-podge. What it lacks is depth. Depth is not impossible in a short book -- Richard Brookhiser's ALEXANDER HAMILTON, AMERICAN and FOUNDING FATHER achieve more depth than Ellis does here. What we have left, then is a collection of pleasant short stories about familiar figures. Not bad, but hardly revolutionary.

Rating:
Summary: Founding Brothers
Review: For those who saw the A&E mini-series, this is a rare treat. This book gives more information on our founding fathers. It includes all the little details your history text book left out. Want to know how Adams and Jefferson really got along? Or, how did the US capitol happen to be placed along the Potomac River.

Rating:
Summary: A flesh-and-blood portrait of the Revolutionary Generation!
Review: The great mistake of contemporary historians is to completely bury their material within their wealth of scholarly knowledge. A great story with some really spectacular writing becomes lost within a 1000-page textbook-masquerading-as-a-novel door stop that needs but a decent editor to be perfect. (H.W. Brand's THE FIRST AMERICAN is a superb recent example.) Mr. Ellis' FOUNDING BROTHERS manages to be that "perfect" history, but in the span of an exceedingly accessible 300 or so pages. Without in any way debunking our Founding Fathers, Mr. Ellis has succeeded in doing what no text has done before; that is, he has taken these great men off a picture on a wall and created (for better or worse) real flesh-and-blood "politicans" that we can relate to on a 21st-century level.

The audio version--which by the way is produced by Recorded Books--makes the subject matter even more accessible. Mr. Ellis has a verbose way with words and phrases that some might find tedious. While reading the book I found my thoughts straying ever-so-slightly; while listening to the audio however, I found myself enthralled.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This is a facinating book with each chapter dealing with one specific event or personality. The book gives insights into well known situations and events, paying particular attention to aspects otherwise overlooked or not emphasized. The premise of the book, detailing the relationships of the actors, was especially appealing to me. My only complaint is that the prose at times seems a little thick, which is probably not a knock against the book but rather a knock against my inability.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Insightful
Review: The premise of Joseph Ellis' book, "Founding Brothers" is quite simple: the decade of the 1790 was filled with more threats to the United States' continued union than any other since. In "Founding Brothers," Ellis explores six of these threats and explains how the United States survived these crises. The explanation, concisely, is that it was the friendships of the Founding Fathers, not legislative debate or constitutional design, that allowed the United States to weather these, and numerous other, threats to the Union.

Against this analytical backdrop, Ellis paints a vivdly beautiful picture of seven of the Founding Fathers, bring them to life as though their stories were a perfectly penned novel. This book is a must for anyone who wonders what Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, or several others were like really like as Ellis draws on correspondence and actual incidents to create a reliable account. Never dull, Ellis' narration creates a wonderful fusion of history and literature.

Although the narration of these six stories is worth the price of admission, Ellis permeates each with insightful analysis. Not only do we learn what happened, but we also learn why it is important, what the motivations of the major players were, how it fit into the ideological situation at the time, and what relation it bears to our political climate. For instance, entwined with the six stories is an understanding of classical republicanism and an analysis of how it came into play in the 1790s.

That is not to say that this is a heavy read, suitable only for students of political science. Ellis' book is an excellent choice both for those who simply want a good read or for those who want to better understand the early years of the United States from an analytical point of view.

The best book I have seen this year on the Founding period in American history, "Founding Brothers" is notable for its literary qualities and the introspective light it casts on a pivotal moment.

Rating:
Summary: a new cornerstone text
Review: MR. ELLIS HAS GIVEN US A THOUGHTFUL AND REMARKABLE NEW WORK THAT PROVIDES A NEW CORNERSTONE OF RESEARCH INTO THE POST REVOLUTIONARY AND EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD OF OUR NATION. HIS WORK IS A MUST READ FOR ANY STUDENT OF HISTORY OR FOR ANYONE WHO JUST LOVES A GREAT STORY WRITTEN IN AN ENGAGING MANNER.

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Summary: The true "spirit of '76"
Review: FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis is one of the best expositions on the remarkable revolutionary fraternity that set the course for the nation; the book principally looks at the interpersonal relationships between George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, set against the backdrop of six episodes that the author says characterized the political-crisis filled, nation-building decade of the 1790's. The book then is less a history of the revolution than a collection of chapter stories and biographical glimpses that illustrates the character and the views of the revolution's most significant political leaders.

There are two themes which run throughout the book. Mr Ellis mentions them early and often; they are therefore important to a proper understanding of the behavior and motives of the the founding fathers in this crucial period of national consolidation and soul searching.

(1) "No one present at the start knew how it would turn out in the end." This was fundamentally true for all; it was not just a case of a few doubting Thomases. George Washington was unsure that we up for the task; Washington in his last General Order, the author says, expressed his concerns about what would happen if the principles of federal government were not supported: "the honor, dignity and justice of the nation would be lost forever." Mr Ellis says plainly "what in retrospect has the look of a foreordained unfolding of God's will was in reality an improvisational affair in which sheer chance, pure luck - both good and bad...determined the outcome."

(2) Politically the period was marked by "shrill accusatory rhetoric, flamboyant displays of ideological intransigence, intense personal rivalries and hyperbolic claims of imminent catastophe." This reality is invariably overlooked when we grow wistful and nostalgic. We should remember that in the political culture of the day there was no formal recognition of the role of an opposition. As such there can be no doubt that the debates were vitriolic; Indeed, Mr Ellis says: "neither side possessed the verbal or mental capacity to regard the other as anything but treasonable." Statesmen and gentlemen they undoubtably were, but as this book reminds us, they were also political animals - sometimes savagely so.

It is against this backdrop that we can look at the first episode - "THE DUEL" - which illustrates the nature of the relationship between these men. This chapter refers to all the historical versions of the 1804 duel between Burr and Hamilton; the latter man we know lost his life. It explores all that led up to the duel and the fallout from it. Burr is shown to be a reckless opportunist whose influence swiftly waned following Hamilton's death. The author says that despite the differences between the men and their political passions "the energies released by national independence did not devour its own children"; the duel represents the only case in "the revolutionary generation when political difference ended in violence and death rather than in ongoing argument."

The famous DINNER between Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton in 1790, is the subject of the second chapter. Here the book develops on the men's opposing economic and political visions for the new republic. On one side were the Federalists (Washington, Hamilton and Adams) who advocated "the virtuous surrender of personal, state and sectional interests to the larger purposes of American nationhood." They saw the nation's economic future tied to commerce and manufacturing; Hamilton's fiscal plan favored bankers, merchants and the urban elite - it would create a national debt and a national bank and conjured up for the opposing Republican's (Jefferson and Madison), an image of the all powerful national government that they had just fought to overthrow. Jeffersonians favored an agrarian economy and saw the true spirit of '76 as a "liberation movement." Mr Ellis states that the outcome of the dinner was the Compromise of 1790 whereby Hamilton's fiscal policies were agreed on in exchange for assurances for Southerners that the nation's capital would be built on the Potomac River.

Another chapter episode is "THE SILENCE" where Mr Ellis sees further compromise. The chapter begins with the arrival of petitions to Congress calling for the abolition of slavery; one such petition was signed by the newly appointed president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society - Benjamin Franklin. The 1790 Congressional debates on the subject were very opinionated; Washington favored Abolition, because Mr Ellis says: "he tended to regard the condition of the black population as a product of nurture rather than nature - that is, he saw slavery as the culprit." Even slave owners such as Jefferson and Madison called the pro-slavery speeches invoking the defenses of biblical authority and racial superiority, by their proper name - "a moral embarrassment". They however went no further. Mr Ellis says that in the face of secessionist threats from South Carolina and Georgia, the founding fathers believed the question of Abolition had "the political potential to destroy the union." Thus the silence. Perhaps Mr Ellis is correct but it reads more like a clear sign (and to be fair, the only time) that the founders had a collective failure of statesmanship. They missed an opportunity to debate the issue; an opportunity that would never come that generation's way again.

The last chapter "THE FRIENDSHIP" explores the relationship between Adams and Jefferson. Mr Ellis is clearly an admirer of John Adams and he paints a glowing portrait of the man. "His refreshing and often irreverent candor provides the clearest window into the deeper ambitions and clashing vanities that propelled them all." Adams had been deserted by the others when he assumed the presidency; he relied on his wife Abigail who effectively served as his one person staff. The author treated with that episode in "THE COLLABORATORS". Reconciliation between Jefferson and Adams eventually took place and their friendship resumed in 1812; what then followed was a 14 year exchange of letters - 158 in total.

This is a well written and insightful book, neatly and succintly bringing to the fore historical and biographical details we have all learned before, but have never read about in so entertaining and refreshing a manner.

"The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries." (Rene Descartes)

Rating:
Summary: Thank you, Founding Brothers, for saving our republic
Review: Here are the Founding Brothers: Franklin, Jefferson, John (and Abigail) Adams, Hamilton, Madison and Burr. They determined the course and form of our country after the revolution. The author uses six episodes, each of them focusing on one individual, to tell us about the tribulations after 1786. As he so rightly says: Various interests band together to start and fight a revolution. More often than not, no clear goals are set for the time after a successful revolution. Interest groups fall apart again and each one tries to put their program on top of the heap. And that is how revolutions fail - in their aftermath.

Mr. Ellis shows us the two main groups: The Federalists, who want a strong central government, and the Republicans, who want decentralized state rights. The first president after Washington (a tough act to follow), was the Federalist John Adams. His vice president was Jefferson, leader of the Republicans, who did his utmost to sink the presidency of Mr. Adams. In the final result, the Republicans from the South won. Otherwise we would now have a government like Great Britain.

Of course, deals were made on a weekly basis. But the protagonists knew each other well and managed to overcome personal antagonism for the good of the future country. It is touching to read about the friendship between Jefferson and Adams that fell apart during the latter's presidency, only to be revived many years later when they tried, in many letters, to explain themselves to each other.

But the main lesson here is that, without the foresight and engagement of these Founding Brothers, our republic may have turned out dismal or perhaps not at all. We must be eternally grateful to them.

And we must be grateful to Mr. Ellis for his superb book.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth Leaks Out About Our Founding Fathers; Heros.
Review: Ellis writes like a true historian. He bases his thoughts and talent for storytelling on tons of historical evidence. Best of all, by reading these pages you get an unfiltered view of our Founding Fathers without apology. What made them great men was, at times, circumstance. But what made that greatness enduring was clearly their vision and character.

Beginning with "The Duel" between Hamilton and Burr you learn much more than the school system ever taught you. Ellis' ability to piece the evidence together which catalog the events of that day would make Sherlock Holmes proud. It is as if you are somehow able to watch the events of that famous day unfold before your eyes. Sitting from atop a hill you watch both men and their partners slowly cross the Potomac River before engaging in a civilized duel in which neither man believed was going to actually be fatal. Who fired first? Who was really to blame? Did Hamilton intend to "throw the duel"? Ellis takes this often times glamorized moment in history and slows it down. Once taken in its proper context, the duel rings out in stunning significance. Would Hamilton have been able to become the American Napoleon had he lived?

A wonderful view of Washington is presented from the vantagepoint of his Farewell Address (never really an address, as it turns out). Often overlooked as a true thinker of the Founding Generation, it is true that Washington didn't write much of his own speeches. But he was as involved as any man could be without actually scripting the page. The Farewell Address is credited more to Hamilton, who actually wrote the words, but every revision and thought expressed was approved by and/or altered by G.W. Washington's image was clearly one of a living legend. He knew his greatness could be abused, but why did he really retire after his second term? And how was a man so revered, ever able to live up to the model the American people expected of him? The answer is presented by Ellis who's historical nature proves that Washington was every bit as intellectual as his founding brothers. Washington was a man of unmistakable character, goodness, and vision.

Jefferson knew his place in history was firm once he authored the Declaration of Independence, but this tall, quiet, extremely modest man was actually quite a politician. His partner in political mischief was non other than James Madison. In fact, Jefferson probably ran the most active campaign for President without ever admitting he was running at all!

And finally an honest defense of John Adams and his Presidency. The man who is so often overlooked, knew his place in history would often be just that, overlooked. His Presidency was severely undermined by none other than T. Jefferson. His heart was in the right place, but following the legend of Washington into the Presidency was an unfortunate circumstance. His letters to and from Abigail show a deeply personal side to the highly emotional Adams.

And then there is the overwhelming silence. Ellis wonderfully explains the silence of the Founding Brothers. Slavery was a potent issue which would have easily ripped the barely born country to shreds long before the Civil War. The country would never have survived if its early leaders we determined to settle the matter from the start. You first need to sink the roots of the young nation, figure out how it would govern, and let the next generation decide how to deal with the issue. And so it goes, the remarkable silence prevailed throughout the Founding Brothers. But Ellis rips open this silence with evidence of personal opinions and official statements and the motives for each.

The book ends with the unlikely reunited friendship of Jefferson and Adams. Perhaps there is nothing more telling than how these two men passed away exactly 50 years from the day they signed the Declaration of Independence. Knowing it was time to leave the stage and make room for the next act to follow, both had expressed regrets, fun-loving stories, and the feelings between them which ran far deeper than any political current. A friendship which facilitated God's grace in forming a new nation.

When you're finished reading, you'll feel like you've just been to dinner with these men and have concluded a long, detailed, and frank discussion of who they were, and the times in which they lived. A must read for any historian, or any American.

Rating:
Summary: When good things happen to good books
Review: Founding brothers is everything that a book of history ought to be: intelligent, erudite, a pleasure to read, and it addresses themes of enduring importance. Now the Pulitzer committee has awarded the prize to an undeniably deserving book. Wonderful.