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...
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