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Founding Brothers Essay

829 Words4 Pages

In a thrilling historical account, readers encounter a young fragile nation at the hand of great men only divided by their opinions on what such a nation should become. In Founding Brothers’ Joseph Ellis chose to explore a unique moment in the American history when a single wrong move from any of the founders could have destroyed the fragile union killing the republic they had worked so hard to create. Once the Revolutionary War was over, America was facing a unique battle at the home front which was meant to decide the fate of the US. This was a battle of intellect and crucial to the survival of the United States with the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton leading the charge. These …show more content…

At that moment, the outcome of a civil war would have been catastrophic to the unity of the nation hence they unanimously agreed that the Federal Government was incapable of resolving the issue. The outcome was accepted by both the Northern and the Southern sides hence cooling the rising tension that threatened to tear the country apart. Numerous actions of wisdom and sound judgment just like this one are explored in the book including when Washington decides to step down from the presidency abandoning power to preserve the unity of the republic. In the same acts of nobility and understanding, the enmity between Adams and Jefferson subsides and they eventually strike a partnership. “They were the odd couple of the American Revolution,” which is precisely why they worked so well together” (Ellis, 2003 pg. 163). After drift apart at the start, the two men rekindle their friendship accepting that differing political opinions were important in shaping a nation. Their ideas on the policies might have differed but in the end, their correspondence and renewed friendship show that these differences were important in defining a democratic

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Despite the thirteen colonies defeating Great Britain and gaining independence, new problems erupted regarding how their new nation should be governed. Founding Brothers, written by Joseph Ellis, highlights the challenges the founding fathers faced when attempting to establish a functioning government. Although there were many differing ideas, the widely known men discovered a middle ground allowing them to combat the challenges both at home and abroad, which resulted in the United States of America. Compromises were reached when solving a conflict, but before that stage, the founding brothers had many differing ideas preventing them to move forward. For example, the Compromise of 1790 was discussed with Madison and Hamilton over dinner hosted

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1081 Words | 5 Pages

In The Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J Ellis, the founders of America-Washington, The Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Burr-are discussed and examined from top to bottom. He goes back in time and goes over the events that took place then, explaining to the reader how the decisions the leaders made created the ripple effect that it had on the current time period. Periods in the timeline such as Washington retiring from The Presidency, The arguing between the North and South side over African slave trade, and the issue of the countries national debt are examples of what he discusses. As the book progresses, the reader is given a chance to view the timeline of events from a modern perspective, and

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In the winter of 1776, during American Revolution, the still young America faced three major dilemmas: their seemingly imminent defeat, the moral debate between the Whigs and the British loyalists, and the panic and confusion of the American public. In efforts to settle the three American dilemmas, Thomas Paine wrote The Crisis No. 1 in December of 1776. In his work, Paine aimed to calm the American public and convince them to stand up to the British, and turn the war into an American victory. Paine was very successful in this, and his paper was proclaimed as one of the most persuasive works of the American Revolution. Paine’s

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