Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. By Joseph J. Ellis. (New York: Vintage Books, 2000. Pp. ix + 288. Acknowledgments, Preface, notes, index.) In Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, the author Joseph J. Ellis focuses on what he believes to be key historical moments that happened in the infancy of the newly independent American republic. Ellis has asked us to, when examining these stories of the revolutionary generation, “be nearsighted and farsighted at the same time.” (p. 7). Meaning that we should look at not just what resulted from these action but also, how it may have felt for these revolutionaries to go through these trials and tribulations of a governing a new republic. The book focuses on eight prominent political leaders of that time. Who are Abigail and John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. The Book follows, as most history books do, a chronological line with the exception of the first chapter. Which Ellis states is “designed to catch your attention.” (p. 18). The book is separated …show more content…
Not only that but he succeed in filling this book with the energies of what it felt like to be in these stories. He uses intelligent and witty writing to keep the reader interested throughout the entirety of the book. In The Duel, the reader got to see where both sides were coming from that ultimately led to Hamilton’s death. In The Silence, he gives you a chance to really understand how congress failed to bring any kind of reconciliation about the subject of slavery and even making it to where nothing could be done about it until Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. All in all, I feel the author achieved a great success in the writing of this book. I very much enjoyed