Preface: The Generation In the preface, Joseph Ellis takes his time in explaining the importance of the American Revolution. He starts off by stating that during the 1780’s everyone thought that it was only natural that America verge away from British rule. They all figured that it would be a gradual change; not a full blown revolution. Throughout the chapter, Ellis puts great emphasis on the many things that could have gone wrong during the revolution. He points all these negative events and set backs that he felt could easily have brought the developing America down to show just how great of an accomplishment the revolution was. The Founding Fathers were not completely oblivious to the severity of breaking away from Great Britain. Tom Pain states that, “it is only common sense that an island can not rule a continent (pg.3).” Many assumed that it was only natural that the thirteen colonies govern themselves. They figured that it would be a peaceful break such as the gaining of independence for Ghana or Canada. It was not until later on that the colonies realized that Britain would not easily hand over the land. What I find interesting is that only the Founding Fathers seemed to realize the great events taking place during their time. John Adams even instructed his wife to file and keep all of his records. It is as if he knew that hundreds of years from then, we the future Americans would look back at his notes and recognize his greatness. This makes me wonder why they were so sure of themselves. The Americans were at a disadvantage during the beginning of the war. How was it that they seem so certain that the war would end up in their favor? Ellis backs up my point by stating, “Men make history…, but they can never know the history that they are making (pg.4).” Every event in life can go two ways: really good or really bad. If the British were to take the