Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation is a Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

–winning book written by Joseph Ellis

Joseph Ellis

Joseph John Ellis is a Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College who has written histories on the founding generation of American presidents. His book Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation received the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2001.-Background and teaching:He received his B.A...

, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...

. It explores selected interactions among a group of individuals both gifted and flawed; interactions that profoundly influenced the early development of a new nation, the United States of America.

Contents

• Chapter One: The Duel covers the deadly political and personal rivalry between Aaron Burr
  Aaron Burr
  Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
  
   and Alexander Hamilton
  Alexander Hamilton
  Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
  
  , which ultimately led to the Burr-Hamilton duel. This duel is very elusive and mysterious and only a few facts are known about "the most famous encounter of its kind in American history" (pg 20) Given all the facts, on July 11, 1804, Burr and Hamilton rowed out to a secluded spot in separate boats and exchanged pistol shots at about 10 yards from each other. Hamilton was shot in his right side and died.
  
• Chapter Two: The Dinner explores the secret conversations and negotiations leading to selection of the Potomac River
  Potomac River
  The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
  
   site for construction of the new national capital, in exchange for Virginia
  Virginia
  The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
  
  's support of Hamilton's plan for assumption of state debts by the federal government.
• Chapter Three: The Silence describes the tacit agreement by the nation's founders to avoid any discussion regarding the future of Slavery in the United States, concluding that any early attempt at abolition
  Abolitionism
  Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
  
   would doom the union before it had a chance to become established.
• Chapter Four: The Farewell dissects the Farewell Address
  George Washington's Farewell Address
  George Washington's Farewell Address was written to "The People of the United States" near the end of his second term as President of the United States and before his retirement to his home at Mount Vernon....
  
   of President
  Presidency of George Washington
  With inauguration on April 30, 1789, the presidency of George Washington initiated a significant leadership role over the United States. President Washington entered office with the full support of the national and state leadership, and established the executive and judicial branches of the federal...
  
   George Washington
  George Washington
  George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
  
  , and Washington's views on the best future course for the new nation.
• Chapter Five: The Collaborators analyzes two important relationships; one between John Adams
  John Adams
  John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
  
   and his wife Abigail
  Abigail Adams
  Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
  
   during Adams' presidency; the other between Thomas Jefferson
  Thomas Jefferson
  Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
  
   and James Madison
  James Madison
  James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
  
   during the same time period.
• Chapter Six: The Friendship is devoted to the extensive correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson during the last fourteen years of their lives, reviving their lost friendship and expounding on their opposing political views.

Reviews

Joyce Appleby of the Washington Post Book World commented that, "In lesser hands the fractious disputes and hysterical rhetoric of these contentious nation-builders might come across as hyperbolic pettiness. Ellis knows better, and he unpacks the real issues for his readers, revealing the driving assumptions and riveting fears that animated Americans' first encounter with the organized ideologies and interests we call parties."

Movie

In 2002, The History Channel

The History Channel

History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...

 produced a three and a half hour documentary covering the various topics of the book.

External links

• The Brethren - New York Times
• Study Guide - The History Channel
  The History Channel
  History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
  
  
• Founding Brothers DVD - PBS
• Study Guide - BookRags
  BookRags
  BookRags is an educational website that provides summaries, study guides, and lesson plans on literary works. Based in Seattle, Washington, United States, the website is a subsidiary of Ambassadors Group....