"The Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation"
Focusing on personal relationships, the book "The Founding Brothers - The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis revolves around the theme of its characters. The situation during that time brought people close together especially since they endured great difficulties and also hurdled a lot of risks. Set during the years 1776 to 1800, this book is a tour of the workings of the minds of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams and Madison. It gives readers a different perspective of American History since it is a collection of six different vignettes with these characters as lead actors. Ellis, like all great historians, examines the different personalities and the roles they played in history (Founding Brothers).
The author focuses on the first decade and a half of the nation. He exposes the faults of these founding brothers whom the author labeled as "band of brother." Some of the faults that Ellis brings out involve petty jealousies and their moral failures on slavery and the slave trade.
Joseph Ellis at the 2007 Texas Book Festival, Aust...
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
English: First Spouse Program coin for Abigail Ada...In writing the Constitution, they agreed to protect the slave trade for at least two decades. "Ben Franklin at least had the courage to sign the first abolition petition presented to Congress in 1790, which is when we held our first national and open debate about slavery." (Founding Brothers).
Ellis points to the Founding brothers as "eventually compromising by not banning the slave trade and in return adopting New England's position for an expansive reading of the power of the federal government to regulate interstate commerce. One hundred seventy four years later when Congress adopted the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the legal basis for that modern law would be the expanded scope of the Interstate Commerce clause."
In clear, concise language, the author poses several questions that make one think...