Essay On Founding Brothers

The founding fathers, or as the book calls them the founding brothers, are an assorted group of men from wildly different backgrounds. In political terms, they were divided. Yet, they came to together to help shape this country into the place it is today. Now on their journey towards the making of this country they did encounter some trouble. They encountered heated debates among themselves though for getting through these debates they show just why they deserve to be called, founding brothers.

The Quartet by Joseph Ellis was a novel to provide detail of the years following the American Revolution, and how the Quartet of George Washington, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton each provided a quality in guiding America toward the right direction. Ellis creates a theme almost as if the reader is on a tour guide, because he explains the perspective on how America was being created between the “Second Revolution” of the years 1783-1789. But, the main goal Ellis wanted to make clear was this time period was the process of how America became a Nation. After finishing the book, Ellis was effective in making the case that the Quartet of Washington, Jay, Hamilton, Madison, as well as other major influences, greatly affected the “transition from confederation to nation.” Each Quartet presented a value in help transitioning America into a Nation, and Ellis provides excellent examples to solidify that claim.

After the colonies gained independence, the founding fathers soon found that becoming a new independent nation was going to be a difficult task. The biggest task was deciding on the division of power in the government. This issue divided the people into two groups, the federalists and the Jeffersonian republicans. Alexander Hamilton led the federalists and Thomas Jefferson led the republicans. These two important men in history would later show how the challenges of becoming a new nation. In this essay I will be analyzing the ideas of Linda K. Kerber’s “The Fears of the Federalists,” to Drew R. McCoy’s “The Fears of the Jeffersonian Republicans.” Furthermore, comparisons will be made about both essays to gain a better understanding of the struggles of government in early America.

In Joseph Ellis’ Founding Brothers, the novel surrounds the major political leaders during the 1790s. The acts and intentions of these few leaders were responsible for the shaping of this national institution. Ellis explores this revolutionary generation full of honorable men who argued just as much as any other generation, but acted for posterity and themselves. Throughout the book, the theme of truth is expressed in the accounts of the political leaders and Ellis’ writing. The theme can be found through the accounts of Hamilton and Burr, Washington, and Adams and Jefferson.

Founding Brothers, written by the illustrious Joseph J. Ellis and winner of the Pulitzer prize, is an extraordinary combination of perspectives from several founding fathers. Ellis seeks to give understanding into the people behind the acts that grant Americans the freedom they so greatly boast of, but also, Ellis seeks to show a few of the shortcomings, be they nationally detrimental or otherwise, of America’s founding fathers. Ellis, however, sums up an interesting insight into these men with his words, “The old adage applies: Men make history, and the leading members of the revolutionary generation realized they were doing so, but they can never know the history they are making” (4).

To achieve the goal of dissecting the personalities of the founding fathers as individuals; not as the god-like stature that they have come to achieve, I have decided to organize this paper to reflect each and every founding father as a unique person. This will humanize their immense stature and allow a deeper level of understanding. I will provide insight on their personal interpretations of their actions as well as my own personal account 1to how I perceive the situation, comparing and contrasting to the multitude of sources I supply. Therefore, the organization of this paper is not chronological but

Whose side would you have been on in the 1790s, Thomas Jefferson’s or Alexander Hamilton’s? Both of these men served under George Washington in the first presidential cabinet, yet they had very different views of what government should be (Davis 86). My objective in this research essay is to inform the reader of why there was so much controversy between these two founding fathers, and to determine which side had the better views for our newly forming country.

“Founding Brothers” by Joseph J. Ellis Is a novel that describes the Founding father’s problems and achievement throughout their time. The book shows how the different founding fathers, in this book called founding “brothers”, had different views on how the United States should end up in the future. The different views on how America should be run will be from the political leaders like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Aaron Burr, Abigail Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Ellis argues that the formation of the United States that we have today was not preordained but rather established by the founding fathers when they resolved issues like Slavery and federalism.

The preface in "Founding Brothers" shows a theme of History throughout. Knowing that this book is a history novel this theme stands evident. The preface shows how the book will take on the history of the American Revolution and shortly afterwards. It also shows the two fundamental party's of United States Government, the Federalists and Republicans. The author deems this point in American history the most important stating, "... They were actors in a historical drama written by the gods." (Ellis 3). In the novel the author, Joseph J. Ellis uses eight historical figures and their involvement with the early American government.

Imagine our government without the structure and aspects of our modern day. Well, this wouldn’t have emerged without the differing ideas from the brilliant minds of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. They were both strong political leaders who shaped the country, Revolutionary War heroes, lawyers, and served in the Continental Congress.However,from the beginning, the two men harbored opposing visions of the nation’s path. In George Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796, the president warned that the creation of political parties, “sharpened by the spirit of revenge,” would certainly lead to “formal and permanent despotism.” Despite Washington’s words, he didn’t know two of his closest advisors and cabinet members, would ultimately help form the dual party system of the U.S. Furthermore, contrasting the two is not difficult, simply because of their stark differences concerning each of the men’s visions for America.

Through anecdotes in his book, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Joseph J. Ellis gives a new take on this crucial period of this country’s history. Ellis crafts this work of nonfiction in such a way so the reader may understand the revolutionary generation the way Americans currently do: the present looking back to the past, and as the Founding Fathers did: the past (their present) looking forward to the future. This allows one to understand the intentions behind some of these historical figures’ actions and whether those actions led to desirable outcomes. Considering these different perspectives in which he writes, Joseph Ellis comes to prove that in order to understand the true significance of the revolutionary generation, it is necessary to take into account the values and relationships between the individual leaders. The author emphasizes social history throughout the narratives by highlighting the major issues that the public faced at that time. Judging the content of Ellis’ writing, it is evident that he is biased toward certain people for he does not highlight many of their flaws, nor does he explain the impact of these flaws on the revolution. Joseph Ellis composed this piece in

Anything worthwhile is never easily achieved. Joseph Ellis’ novel, Founding Brothers, examines this topic as it goes from the founding of the United States to the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The author delves into the causes of several events that laid the framework for what the country is like today. He explores such events as the Washington’s Farewell Address, the rift the first political campaign caused between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, among many other topics. The subjects Ellis covers is crucial to the progress of America. At this time in history, the cost moving forward seemed too steep. This occurs when progress nearly wipes out a lifestyle or influence, ruins an old friendship, or divides a nation.

Founding Brothers, by Joseph Ellis is one of the most intriguing and inspiring books to read. This book helps inform others of American politics, while also giving readers a new perspective on the unforeseeable forces that shaped history. In this book joseph Ellis uses six brief descriptions of events to show readers the contemplation and acts of our revolutionary leaders.

Although their relationship did not end up so violently and deadly like Hamilton and Burr’s, it showed a striking similarity in that in both groups, they were collaborators and enemies to each other at the same time. Also, in both cases, there was not a clear distinction between political and personal criticism, and this aggravated the conflict between the members of each pairs. Furthermore, in both cases, all the founding brothers have played a significant role in the political development of the United