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FOUNDING BROTHERS
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“Founding Brothers” refers to the greatly recognized group of six individuals who are known to have played an integral role in shaping a considerable part of American history by their actions and decisions. Their sole purpose of liberating the U.S. The book “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation,” written by Joseph Ellis, discusses six key events that took place during the presidency periods of Hamilton, Madison, Burr, Adams, Jefferson, Washington, around the time of the “Revolutionary Era.” Ellis asserted the idea that unlike God, leaders were just men, who although were remarkable, but also flawed. The author believed that the occurrence of certain events during “Revolutionary War” was, in fact, a result of politics, and I support his notion.
Indeed, humans are mortal, flawed beings. However, leaders that are kings, queens in the past were looked upon as Godly figures like Zeus. , so they were unquestionable and were supposed to be followed with complete loyalty. Ellis redefined the view which proved to be revolutionary itself in humanity’s history. According to him, the “Founding Brothers” were not supermen, as they made mistakes, but they were also men who happened to change history – intentionally or unintentionally – through a combination of luck, perseverance, and intellect to shape up an independent America. I believe that had this not been the case, the US might not have existed today as it is.
Ellis gives an account of the legendary clash of personalities that is the duel between Hamilton and Burr, as an example of the humanistic, flawed nature of the “Founding Brothers (Ellis 2013). I agree that the tale is undeniably tragic as the two men had let their pride get the best of themselves. They could have backed down, could have taken an easy way out and apologized for their actions – endless possibilities – but they didn’t. They let their negative feelings for each other grow and develop into an infinite hatred, and when their hearts turned cold, blood was shed (Young 2002). One was consumed, and another’s life was ruined. While Ellis articulates the fact that Hamilton and Burr had their ideological differences on America’s identity, I felt that he was biased as I could easily express that he was fond of one of the two personalities.
On the other hand, Ellis mentions about an intense House Debate that took place in 1790, which did not address the issue of widely prevalent slavery. In the past, during the Continental Congress and crafting of the Constitution, the problem was said to have been ignored to meet the demands of the Southern end of the country (Ellis 2013). As a result, as per the Constitution, any new laws for slavery were forbidden until 1808. With nothing said on the further discussions, in 1970 the House brought up the topic once again, after the petition signed by Franklin ("Founding Fathers Book Review" 2019). However, Madison didn’t desire any compromise, and he secured states and silence rights to prevent the issue from being discussed at the federal government level. With an absence of understanding and increasing divisions within the country, Ellis believed that the “Civil War” was the consequence of ignoring the highly complicated issue of slavery. It was until 1862 that the issue was corrected through Lincoln's “Emancipation Proclamation in 1862”.
Summarising all of the above, I believe that the “Revolutionary War” was indeed an outcome of the decisions made by men which we call our leaders and ideals. While I know history is not always accurate, from my perspective, Ellis has tried his best to provide an objective view that is reasonable based on the times we are living in.
Bibliography
Ellis, Joseph J. 2013. Founding Brothers. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
"Founding Fathers Book Review". 2019. Studylib.Net. https://studylib.net/doc/7543646/founding-fathers-book-review.
Young, Hugo. 2002. "Review: Founding Brothers By Joseph J Ellis". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/mar/02/historybooks.highereducation.
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