Founding Brothers The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis Founding Brothers The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis gives us six insightful vignettes of leaders of the early American Republic. The author reminds us that the founders did not know whether their creation would last. They did know that it was historic, that it was fragile and that it was a bold experiment. We have to judge them and their actions in that context, in light of what they knew not what has since come to be true. The underlying theme is the dichotomy between the suspicion of central government and the need for a durable union for survival and prosperity. The Federalists led by northerners Hamilton and Adams were for a strong unified America that would take
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Seen as an issue so divisive it would disassemble the republic, silence and obfuscation were employed to keep the subject at bay. Madison was the master of doubletalk. He seemed to support northerners’ belief that slavery was an evil that made a mockery of the Declaration of Independence, but Madison was only paying them lip service. He made sure that no action was taken and that even discussion of slavery was considered out of bounds. The Constitution itself was carefully crafted to make no direct mention of slavery. In spite of this it allowed each slave to count as 3/5ths of a person and denied the federal government any right to prevent the importation of slaves for twenty years. Northerners believed the emancipation of the slaves was inevitable thinking ultimately everyone would want to end such evil. But in the south, slavery was seen as an economic necessity and any argument or ambiguity was appropriate to keep it. Thus again a compromise, if only tacitly agreed to, was made to keep the union intact, but at what ultimate cost? The fourth story is about George Washington’s Farewell Address. With his larger than life persona and reputation he was the one person who could cement the new republic together. But his desire to centralize authority smacked too much of monarchy for many who had just fought against it. With Washington retiring, the country was at risk of scattering into separate states. Not surprisingly then, Washington’s first point in his address was about the importance of national unity and the danger of single issue politics, a warning still
Seen as an issue so divisive it would disassemble the republic, silence and obfuscation were employed to keep the subject at bay. Madison was the master of doubletalk. He seemed to support northerners’ belief that slavery was an evil that made a mockery of the Declaration of Independence, but Madison was only paying them lip service. He made sure that no action was taken and that even discussion of slavery was considered out of bounds. The Constitution itself was carefully crafted to make no direct mention of slavery. In spite of this it allowed each slave to count as 3/5ths of a person and denied the federal government any right to prevent the importation of slaves for twenty years. Northerners believed the emancipation of the slaves was inevitable thinking ultimately everyone would want to end such evil. But in the south, slavery was seen as an economic necessity and any argument or ambiguity was appropriate to keep it. Thus again a compromise, if only tacitly agreed to, was made to keep the union intact, but at what ultimate cost? The fourth story is about George Washington’s Farewell Address. With his larger than life persona and reputation he was the one person who could cement the new republic together. But his desire to centralize authority smacked too much of monarchy for many who had just fought against it. With Washington retiring, the country was at risk of scattering into separate states. Not surprisingly then, Washington’s first point in his address was about the importance of national unity and the danger of single issue politics, a warning still