Founding Brothers Ellis, Joseph, J. Founding Brothers: Book Review

Founding Brothers

Ellis, Joseph, J. Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation. New York: Knopf, 2000. Print.

The manner the American Republic was established continues to fascinate historians and the lay people alike. For a long time, historians accorded the major role in the formation of the United States to the struggles and virtues of the founding members of the republic. But in the post-Civil Rights era, historians began to pay greater attention to social and cultural history, placing women, minorities, workers, and slaves at the center of their narratives. Ellis Joseph does not see those developments in a negative light but he is nevertheless suspicious of the idea that the character of the nation and its spirit may be recounted through the lives of ordinary folks. He places the lives of the "founding brothers" -- Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson -- and one sister (Abigail Adams) at the center of the narrative because he believes the personalities and characters of these founding members made the American Republic. They were the "brothers" who knew each other well but also disagreed with each other passionately at times, one of them causing the death of another, but the manner they solve their differences in a brotherly manner, often challenging each other and thus replicating the institution of checks and balances, was eventually enshrined in the Constitution and the spirit of the American nation.

Ellis divides the book into six chapters, describing some kind of encounter among the founding brothers and making conclusions about their legacies. The first chapter deals with the confrontation between Burr and Hamilton which ended in the tragic death of Hamilton's who died in a duel with the former. In chapter two, Ellis discusses how Jefferson brought both Hamilton and Madison to the table, trying to iron out their differences over the construction of the new national capital on a dinner table.Chapter three is devoted to the "silence" of the brothers over the issue of slavery. Unable to confront and solve the problem of slavery, the founders decided to avoid the discussion of what they saw as the national shame of the republic. Chapter four dissects Washington's Farewell Address and his vision of foreign policy for the future of the United States. In chapter five, Ellis talks about the collaborations between Abigail and John Adams as well as between Jefferson and Madison. The sixth chapter is dedicated to the recounting of fourteen-year long correspondence between Jefferson and Adams where they discussed their differences and lost friendship.

According to Ellis, recounting each of these encounters is important in a sense that each tells about a particular kind of debate, confrontation, or collaboration that would in the future resonate in the character of the nation. The fact that Burr and Hamilton were not able to solve their differences without a duel was the evidence that the brotherhood was fragile. In less than a century later, the country almost destroyed itself in a fraternal war. His discussion of "silence" over the problem of slavery is also interesting because the "silence" of the founders spoke volumes. For various reasons and although some of them were slave-owners, the founders wanted slavery to end. Madison and Jefferson of Virginia owned slaves and held negative views toward the black race but they also were very uncomfortable with the existence of the institution. Washington made sure that his slaves would be freed upon his death and expressed aversion to slavery. Franklin was the most vocal anti-slavery voice, joining with Quakers in a moral crusade against slavery. Likewise, Adams and Hamilton were proto-abolitionists, wanting to….....