Founding Brothers

by Ellis, Joseph J.

• ISBN13: 9781587240065
• ISBN10: 1587240068
• Edition: Large
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc

Summary

An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic -- John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

Ellis focuses on six discrete moments exemplifying crucial issues facing the new nation: Burr and Hamilton's duel, and what may really have happened; Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison's secret dinner, during which the seat of the permanent capital was determined in exchange for passage of Hamilton's financial plan; Franklin's petition to end the "peculiar institution" of slavery -- and Madison's efforts to quash it; Washington's Farewell Address, announcing his retirement from public office and offering his country some final advice; Adams's difficult term as Washington's successor and his alleged scheme to pass the presidency on to his son; and finally, Adams and Jefferson's renewed correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their different views of the Revolution and its legacy.

Founding Brothers informs our understanding of Ame

Author Biography

Joseph J. Ellis is the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College. Educated at the College of William and Mary and Yale University, he served as a captain in the army and taught at West Point before coming to Mount Holyoke in 1972. He was dean of the faculty there for ten years.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Preface: The Generation	3	(28)
The Duel	31	(46)
The Dinner	77	(56)
The Silence	133	(65)
The Farewell	198	(71)
The Collaborators	269	(74)
The Friendship	343	(73)
Notes	416