Book Review Of Richard Bernstein's 'The Founding Fathers Reconsidered'

Name: ZhenLiang Sun

Course: HIST 2010

Professor: Dr. Troy D. Smith

Date: 06/14/2017 Book Review: The Founding Fathers Reconsidered Richard Bernstein’s The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (2009) presents a new look at a foundation topic in American history. There are two main perspectives utilized throughout the book: the first is an ideological perspective which places the history of ideas in a more prominent position than the history of individual people or individual events. The second perspective is the realist perspective which seeks to reduce much of the myth that surrounds important historical figures such as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. The overall impact of the book is to condense this early and profoundly important

In the review, Bridgewater notes that: “Bernstein first explores the social context from which the American Revolution exploded: a predominately British population living on the periphery of the empire in an age of Enlightenment" (Broadwater 392). This is an important point because it sets the tone for the way that Bernstein approaches the topic as a whole. Bernstein elects to work with social and ideological ideas rather than with interesting or quirky historical accounts or anecdotes of the

As Broadwater notes, “More concerned with the founders' ideals than with the founders, Bernstein focuses primarily on the evolution of constitutional democracy in the United States" (Broadwater 391). What Bernstein wants to do is to remind modern audiences that their relationship to the founding fathers is one based on political ideology and philosophy than on the details of their individual lives. This means, of course, that Bernstein not only acknowledges that attitudes toward the founding fathers change over generations, but that these changes create a kind of dialogue between the evolving American society and its political