The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers

by McClanahan, Brion

• ISBN13: 9781596980921
• ISBN10: 1596980923
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-30
• Publisher: Regnery Pub

Summary

Yet how much do you really know about the Founding Fathers? And how much of what you "know" is actually myth perpetuated by leftist history professors who dismiss the Founders as wealthy, racist, sexist, dead-white-males whose principles deserve to be as dead as they are? In The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers, Dr. Brion McClanahan sets the record straight. He provides a neat summary history of America's founding documents, profiles all the leading Founders (and some unjustly neglected ones), and shows how they have better answers to today's problems than our politicians do. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Brion McClanahan holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in American history from the University of South Carolina. Born in Virginia, he attended high school in Delaware and received a B.A. in history from Salisbury University in Maryland. He lives with his wife and children near Phenix City, Alabama, just across the river from Columbus, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Myths, Realities, and the Issues of the Founding Generation
The Myths	p. 9
Myth: The Founding generation created a democracy
Myth: The Founding Fathers really believed everyone was equal
Myth: Slavery was a sin of the Southern founders
Myth: Paul Revere single-handedly warned the Boston countryside of the impending British invasion
Myth: Benjamin Franklin had thirteen to eighty illegitimate children!
Myth: Thomas Jefferson kept a concubine slave and fathered children with her!
Myth: Washington had an affair with his neighbor's wife!
Myth: Alexander Hamilton had a gay lover!
A Conservative Revolution	p. 29
The Declaration of Independence
Who's sovereign now?
"Experience must be our only guide"
"The public mind... is extremely uneasy at the proposed change of government"
The Issues	p. 49
Give me back my gun!
A godless society?
The states (and the people) are sovereign
A limited executive
Abolish the Fed!
A "president's" war?
"No Taxation without Representation!"
Who said that's unconstitutional?
John Adams is a war-mongering scoundrel!
Give me my welfare!
The Men The Big Six
George Washington	p. 89
The first American hero
The Revolution
Duty calls
The last years
The Washington effect
Thomas Jefferson	p. 109
Patriot
Diplomat and secretary of state
Retirement and vice president
The presidency
The Jeffersonian tradition
John Adams	p. 127
The Revolution
"His rotundity"
The insecure president
Retirement
James Madison	p. 141
"Father of the Constitution"
The Federal career
The fourth president
Death and legacy
Alexander Hamilton	p. 157
The Revolution
The best government the country will permit
Secretary of the Treasury
Retirement and duel
Legacy
Benjamin Franklin	p. 173
Cautious revolutionary
The man in the fur cap
The grandfather of the Republic
The Forgotten Founders
Samuel Adams	p. 187
Firebrand
Anti-Federalist
Charles Carroll of Carrollton	p. 199
Signer
Mild Federalist
George Clinton	p. 209
Anti-Federalist governor
Vice President Clinton
A states' rights patriot
John Dickinson	p. 219
"Penman of the Revolution"
The Convention
Retirement
Elbridge Gerry	p. 229
The "self-serving" politician?
Gerry vs. Mason
John Hancock	p. 239
"Treasonous" John Hancock
The governor
Patrick Henry	p. 249
The Revolution
The Constitution
Red Hill
Richard Henry Lee	p. 259
Those who love liberty
Virginian
Nathaniel Macon	p. 267
The Quid
The Republican of Buck Spring
Francis Marion	p. 275
The Swamp Fox
The politically incorrect soldier
John Marshall	p. 285
Chief Justice
The architect of big government
George Mason	p. 297
The "retired" revolutionary
"Objections to the Federal Constitution"
Slavery
Roger Sherman	p. 309
The Atlas
The Connecticut Compromise
John Taylor of Caroline	p. 319
Secessionist
The pamphleteer
Conclusion: What the Founding Fathers Would Do	p. 329
Acknowledgments	p. 337
Bibliography	p. 339
Index	p. 349
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