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Joseph Ellis Founding Brothers Analysis

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‘’He did not think of his course of action as suicidal, but as another gallant gamble of the sort he was accustomed to winning’’ (87). Reading the book Founding Brothers advanced my comprehension of creating a country, and how important it is to work together. In order for someone to understand what lesson Joseph Ellis was trying to teach, one must first come to an understanding of these five short stories. The first story to understand is called the duel. The duel is one of the most historical conflicts in history. The duel actually came to be from years of personal and political battle, between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. This chapter if full of betrayal and a start to a new country. “Eventually, the United States might develop into a nation of laws and established institutions capable of surviving corrupt or incompetent public official. But it was not there …show more content…

I think that section is important and can relate to the United States history and polices class for many reasons. One reason is the tension and different political views between the two parties.Thats why long delegations are in order when creating a country. “Thanks to the efforts of Jefferson and Madison, the ongoing debate would have a decidedly southern accent. In some vaguely general fashion, they understood this, regarding the construction of the District of Columbia on the Potomac as a statement of Virginia’s enduring influence over the federal government’’ (200). This can also relate to class in the way that Jefferson and Madison couldn't have gone into this one minded, they needed a understanding of other views and how they can get there point

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Judith St. George wrote a book called The Duel about the parallel lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. In the book, with 2 different lenses, she talks about them being students. Burr and hamilton had similar experiences but St. George wanted us to see how they are different as well. At only the age of 13, Burr got accepted to the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton. Hamilton's lens was different.

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622 Words | 3 Pages

Founding Brothers In the "Founding Brothers" by Joseph Ellis he tries to tell us a story about our founding fathers and their great generation. He tells us about some of our founding fathers and what they had to do to set the frame work for our government today. He also talks about some of the issues they face and how they will later dissolve into issues to follow later. These leaders are considered to be our revolutionary leaders. They argued that succession from the British empire is enviable.

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239 Words | 1 Pages

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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1055 Words | 5 Pages

In the book, American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis, Ellis talks about the founding of America from the start of it to the finish. He argues that the founding of the United States was not a clash between democracy and aristocracy. He stated that none of the founding fathers even mentioned democracy as one of their goals. The main question was actually how they were going to create a successful nation state. Ellis mentioned, in his book, that the main clash was between the people who favored a full sovereign national government, which were the federalists, and the people who wanted to reserve the state rights over all of the domestic issues, which were the republicans.

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501 Words | 3 Pages

Madison’s essay reflects the fear many had of a tyrannical government and the desire to ensure that the country didn’t revert back to that which it had just escaped from. He notes the necessity to prevent any one faction or group from gaining too much power and oppressing those in the minority. The separation of powers was set in place to ensure that this could not happen. Even if one group decides they want something, the other two have the equal authority to prevent it should it not represent the country as a whole.

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632 Words | 3 Pages

This plan limited the power of the congress instead of giving more power. These were two different plans and views. After is when the two perspectives Pluralism and Elitism came into act instead of buying into one and denying the other the delegates worked on

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946 Words | 4 Pages

After a fiercely fought revolution, the newly independent American nation struggled to establish a concrete government amidst an influx of opposing ideologies. Loosely tied together by the Articles of Confederation, the thirteen sovereign states were far from united. As growing schisms in American society became apparent, an array of esteemed, prominent American men united in 1787 to form the basis of the United States government: the Constitution. Among the most eminent members of this convention were Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. These men, held to an almost godly stature, defined the future of the nation; but were their intentions as honest as they seemed?

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994 Words | 4 Pages

After a series of “paper wars” between the political opponents, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, which Hamilton accepted. According to Freeman, Hamilton accepted Burr’s challenge for a number of reasons. “In his mind, the duel; was a praiseworthy attempt to serve the common good... yet it was also an intensely personal attempt to preserve his public career. To prove to the world, and to himself, that he was a man of his word, a man of courage and principle, a leader.”

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109 Words | 1 Pages

The Founding Fathers desperately feared that a breakdown in the federal government would result in civil war. Their conflict also draws attention to how well these Founding Brothers tended to know one another. Hamilton and Burr had worked together on the battlefield and in the early legislation halls, all of which is true of most of the figures Ellis speaks about. He also introduces the crucial themes of his book: the importance of compromise, the centrality of the specific relationships in the early Union, and the strict expectations that these Founding Fathers had for one another. Finally, Ellis 's research in this chapter reveals his desire to uncover factual

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543 Words | 3 Pages

They were to contradict what the anti-federalists were writing about the newly proposed constitution. That is why they were so crucial during this point in time. If these men had not come together, there is a possibility that the constitution would not have been passed. The men decided to explain what each part of the constitution meant in great detail. They did this so every American knew what the constitution truly stood for.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

During the Revolutionary era, the birth of the U.S. Constitution gave way to the political divide between the two polarizing philosophies of Federalists and Anti-Federalists. After the economic pitfalls and decentralization the Articles of Confederation had left behind, action was taken to ameliorate its failures. With the creation of the Federalist party in by founder Alexander Hamilton, its members advocated for a stronger national government and defended the validity of the Constitution’s ratification. Contrarily, the Constitution was met with skepticism on behalf of the Anti-Federalists, who believed it would undermine state sovereignty and infringe upon their human rights. The two parties hailed from different socioeconomic backgrounds,

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1287 Words | 6 Pages

Because of many of his radical views, he gained a lot of opposition in both the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, and was forced to resign, yet still remained popular, with a greatly valued opinion (Brookhiser). Hamilton then lost his firstborn son (Phillip) in a duel when Phillip challenged George Eacker to uphold his father’s honor. And yet Hamilton refused to remain quiet and openly opposed Aaron Burr in the election of 1800, and worked against Burr again when the Vice President ran for New York governorship. In an attempt to heal his wounded pride, Aaron Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, and the discredited Alexander Hamilton died the day after. (Foner).

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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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1528 Words | 7 Pages

As previously stated, some conflicts would lead to a duel which is exactly what happened with Hamilton and Aaron

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695 Words | 3 Pages

Our Founding Fathers were merely men, but they utilized their strengths and conquered their weaknesses to propel themselves into godlike statuses that molded each and every one of them into prominent historical figures. Katori Hall explained this perfectly when she said “We expect our leaders to be godlike. But I feel that when people try to sanctify leadership it puts it out of the realm of regular people. And that’s where the greatest leaders come from – from the people.” Our Founding Fathers harnessed their personal strengths and weaknesses, but this alone wasn’t enough to help them to succeed.

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