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Revolutionary Characters What Made The Founders Different Summary

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Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different Scholarly Review
Gordon S. Wood, the author of the story, “Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different”, retells the lives of many influential men, through series of essays, who will forever leave their mark on the evolution of American government. These men helped create an egalitarian government, which gave voice to the people, an idea very uncommon at this time. Thus, the citizen’s opinions of people in power changed, and there would no longer be a group of self-made elite leaders ever again. Instead, a group of government leaders was created to be equal to the citizens. He uses these men, and their stories to support the thesis that the founders were a unique generation of men and women that can never be replicated.
The Revolutionary War, some argue as the most significant event in American history. At this time, the nation’s noblest beliefs and …show more content…

Despite Thomas Jefferson's remarks proclaiming that the Constitutional Convention delegates were “an assembly of demigods,” most men began as simply farmers, lawyers, and authors. It wasn’t until later in life did they come politicians, presidents, and “men of power” who are now remembered and revered. The fathers themselves were also slave owners, like many affluent men during this time. This is another example of how they were much like everyday citizens, and it is only part of their lives we wish to keep in memory. Wood writes from a different angle, forcing the reader to view these men in an uncommon light. He emphasizes that it is important to understand where they came from, and why they believed the ideas they did. It is not their upbringing, nor past that is defined, rather the virtues and commitment they had to our country. That type of commitment and dedication has never been recreated in any future

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