Kelsey Wible
Mr. Stoner
APUSH
August 19 2014
Founding Brothers "Founding Brothers" by Joseph Ellis is a non-fiction book that analyzes several important events in America among the nation's founding fathers, that take place after the Revolutionary War. The author goes into detail chronologically describing how these events shaped the history of the United States. Joseph Ellis is an American historian and professor. He specializes in American history, and more specifically the founding fathers of America. Ellis has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Yale University. He has written several biographies about the founders of America, including Adams, Jefferson and Washington. His book about Jefferson titled, "American Sphinx: The …show more content…
The US government at that point was ignoring the issue of slavery. Quakers made up petitions to end the African slavery throughout America. The issue was sent to the House of Representatives and they were split. The Southern Representatives wanted the issue to be silenced while the Northern Representatives were determined to find a solution. In chapter four, "The Farewell" Ellis discussed the retirement of George Washington after his two year term, which would go on to become a tradition among presidents. He talked about Washington's importance in the country and how he played a role in many significant events that shaped America. In chapter five, "The Collaboration" the strong friendship and bond formed between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson during the Revolutionary War is studied. At first the two were great friends but during the next election they became political enemies. There many differences caught up to them and their friendship …show more content…
Instead of calling them the, "founding fathers" he uses the term brothers to demonstrate the links and closeness between these men. Ellis's overall goal with writing this book, it seems, was to get people to look at these events and how they actually occurred, without hiding any facts or details. Or as Benson Bobrick, writer for the NYTimes put it, "to include what is only significant, and to untwist the raveled strands of rumor woven about their lives" (Bobrick). He also wanted to display the connections between our founding fathers and how they made America what's it is today. He analyzes these events and alliances from his point of view as an historian with a great knowledge of the time period and the founding fathers themselves. Ellis does a great job at explaining these events to readers and he, "captivates and enlarges their understanding of our nation's fledgling years" (Bobrick). I enjoyed Ellis's style of writing in which he told the traditional version of each event, then dove deeper into them and picked them apart. He examined each event carefully and explained his findings with great detail. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in American history, specifically the founding fathers