Revolutionary Characters What Made The Founders Different Book Report

REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTERS

“Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different” by Gordon S. Wood is a very informative book on how the six main founders of 18th and 19th century America, and the two not so liked men, shaped it to what it was during the Revolutionary Era. From the best of George Washington all the way to the worst of Aaron Burr, Wood doesn’t leave out anyone who largely contributed to American society and forming an egalitarian democracy. There is a clear distinction between each of the men discussed throughout the book, but a theme that Wood keeps coming back to in some of them is disinterestedness and character. In order to be a great politician, you have to show character by being the proper gentleman among

“They were eager to prove themselves by what they believed in and valued, by their virtue and disinterestedness” (25-26). One man that doesn’t fit the description is Aaron Burr, and by having a certain character and showing different amounts of disinterestedness, it affected the impact that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Aaron Burr had on political life in 18th and 19th century America. George Washington is the best example of having the right character and showing the perfect amount of disinterestedness. He worked hard to play the part of a true gentleman. “He had a lifelong preoccupation with his reputation for “disinterestedness”” (43). Washington wanted to protect his reputation, he worried about it often. He had high expectations to live up to and he didn’t want to disappoint his people. Although, many people at the time were quite disappointed after they talked with him because he didn’t have a lot to say and he wasn’t considered an “intellectual” (33). But what he lacked he made up for in the way he executed his decisions. Washington was a superb military leader being the commander in chief. He saw African Americans in the New England troop and started being an advocate to get

He was tried for treason and also murdered Alexander Hamilton. His character doesn’t come close to matching Washington or Jefferson’s. Burr was a very selfish man and it showed in the way he presented his character. “The other founding fathers always made a great deal of their virtue and disinterestedness. Burr never did” (233). He did everything for his own personal gain instead of thinking about others as well, which shows his huge lack of disinterestedness. He believed politics was all about “fun and honor and profit” (234). It made his fellow politicians believe that he lacked the core that was essential for being a true gentleman and a good politician even though he already had everything he needed to be great. Burr was good looking and had an education from Princeton. He also had a lineage that was extremely noticeable. That gave him the feeling that he didn’t have to earn his status and that he could get many things handed to him. Burr felt he was already superior and a gentleman. He lived a very expensive lifestyle causing him to be in constant debt and on the edge of bankruptcy. He borrowed money as often as possible which was always close to coming back to bite him. “The more desperately he sought to establish his financial independence with one great scheme or another, the more he violated what the rest of his aristocratic peers though was the proper role for a gentlemanly leader in postrevolutionary