Joseph J. Ellis Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

When describing a man that served as a continental officer in the Revolutionary War, succeeded in his career as a lawyer, ran for president, commited murder, and formulated a plan to Annex land from the United States Government, the word motivated has to come to mind (Verell). This is the case with revolutionary politician Aaron Burr, who accomplished all these feats and more in the span of his lifetime. Although areas of his career are surrounded in controversy, it is hard to deny that Burr was driven get things accomplished, whether they be legal, moral, or anything in between. It takes a lot of drive motivation to get as much done as Burr did, and he drew this from many sources. The people Aaron Burr interacted with fueled him with motivation, and his hunger to be an important figure in government and history added to his desire to achieve his ideals, which resulted in an impressive list of accomplishments.

Judith St. George wrote a book called The Duel about the parallel lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. In the book, with 2 different lenses, she talks about them being students. Burr and hamilton had similar experiences but St. George wanted us to see how they are different as well. At only the age of 13, Burr got accepted to the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton. Hamilton's lens was different. It was tougher for Hamilton until he got to go to college after a hurricane hit his hometown. He ¨took a full collection just to send him to the mainland¨(Lin-Manuel Miranda, 2015) Unlike Burr, Hamilton was not right away accepted to Princeton. He needed another plan. ¨Ambitious and and totally focused on following the route to success

For this paper I am going to rhetorically analyze the song “The World Was Wide Enough.” This song comes from the musical Hamilton: An American Musical, which is about The Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. I chose the song “The World Was Wide Enough” because it talks about the Duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, which is the political figure I wrote my political paper on. I will explain each of the ten things they want us to know and then I will talk about the ethos, pathos and logos in the song. I will also talk about how the music in the song and the dialogue from the singers and actors really come together and make you feel like you were there on July 11th, 1804 at the dueling grounds of Weehawken, New Jersey.

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it,” Edmund Burke. This is a very famous quote that most people in the United States are familiar with. Burke was a man of incredible insight who served on the British Parliament. His main subject of interest lied within the American Colonies. Years after his death, one can clearly see just how right he truly was.

his contributions to the American Revolution in an American history class. Now, thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda, individuals have the ability to learn everything about Hamilton’s life in a fun, memorable way. Before Miranda’s rise to fame, he was an ordinary thirty-eight-year-old actor from New York City. Although Lin-Manuel Miranda is best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” he is also an American composer, lyricist, and playwright. Miranda was inspired to create a musical about Alexander Hamilton after reading the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Miranda and Chernow both discuss

The years following the American triumph over the British monarchy were characterized by patriotism, passion and political revolution. However, those years were also times of confusion, uncertainty and government unrest. In Affairs of Honor, Joanne Freeman takes the audience through the personal lives and papers of five founding fathers to reveals the complex culture of politics and the importance of honor in the earliest days of the republic. By investigating the link between politics and culture, Affairs of Honor thoroughly demonstrates the significance of rank, credit, fame, character, name, reputation and honor in the critical period(?) of the United States.

In the book The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr the author, H.W. Brands, takes and obvious stance in favor of Burr. In comparison to the first chapter of The Duel by Joseph Ellis, many differences in the authors’ opinions are apparent.

The novel “Founding Brothers” is written by Joseph J. Ellis, an American history professor at Mount Holyoke College. Ellis is a nationally recognized scholar of American history from colonial times through the early periods of the Republic. Furthermore, Ellis is the author of seven books and is also a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for his book Founding Brothers. Having read the book Founding Brothers it is found Ellis educates his readers on numerous critical issues while exploring many evocative refrains related to the creation of the United States and also the important individuals involved in helping deliver this nation. During the 1970’s, Ellis emphasizes that this is the most decisive period in our nation’s history, which contains the greatest leaders of their generation. In addition, Ellis concentrates on the eight most prominent political leaders in the early republic. They are, Abigail and John Adams, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. Consequently, these founders arose together to define the New Republic and direct its passage for the pending centuries.

In Joseph J. Ellis’s book Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Ellis gives the readers a sense of clarity and even gives the few that are unfamiliar with the American Revolution a feeling of comfortability by understanding the work. Ellis also resists the uncontrollable felling of choosing one side over the other by making sure he was clear when explaining the diversity and general upright character of the Founding Fathers that were trying to create a platform to keep the new federal government from crumbling.

In a companion volume to his best-selling biography John Adams (2001), David McCullough closely examines a year of near-mythic status in the American collective memory: 1776. It was the year that the Continental Congress, meeting in steamy Philadelphia, decided, “these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states.” It was also the year that the American Revolution began in earnest and was nearly lost. With his strong sense of narrative and his gift for capturing the humanity of his subjects, McCullough leads readers through a well-known story with both style and grace.

He shows how the founders were collectively a set of men who worked at establishing their reputations and made sure they left a lasting impression. The founders had a lot of similarities. They each strived to be great in what they thought made a leader most important…whether that be being an intellectual, a gentleman, or a wealthy elite. Each of the founders went about this in a different way and each Wood thinks is known for personal qualities as well. These very qualities though, Wood thinks may have been the very thing that makes our great forefathers unique and unable to be replicated. "The founders had succeeded only too well in promoting democracy and equality among ordinary people; indeed, the succeeded in preventing any duplication of themselves (p.28)". After a preface and introduction to the ideas of the book, he dedicates a chapter to each of the founders he will talk about, beginning with the most notable, George Washington and ending with perhaps the least known Arron Burr. The book is then concluded with an epilogue for a neat wrapping up of

In his book, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Joseph J. Ellis successfully points out many valid arguments throughout each chapter of his book. Ellis has truth in each chapter and gives an insight on his methodology — investigating unique personalities to discover the historical truth of the Founding Fathers. Ellis discusses in his book about the early establishments of National Government with eight Founding Fathers, or as he calls them, the “Founding Brothers.” In each chapter of his book, he discusses events which included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Maddison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Aaron Burr and Abigail Adams. He also gives the significance behind each event, along with a little deeper insight about what is happening using his methodology. In Ellis’s book, unlike most history

Would there be more citizens going to the voting poles if politicians duel for office positions? We might never know since this practice is band and illegal. Fortunately today our political figures duel through debates and measure their victory through private poles and social media. During debates political figures remind voters of their remarkable career and utilize the press to publicize the wrong doings of their rivals and how they will make America better. Because of their ambition to serve America a deadly feud arose between two prominent political figures. In order to understand why and how the feud took place between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr we must walk behind the footsteps of each man before they pulled the trigger on July

in 1996. Shakur wrote intricate, socially nuanced lyrics: Miranda particularly admired “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” a verse narrative about a twelve-year-old girl who turns to prostitution after giving birth to her molester’s child. Shakur was also extremely undiplomatic, publicly calling out rappers he hated. Miranda recognized a similar rhetorical talent in Hamilton, and a similar, fatal failure to know when enough was enough. There was extraordinary dramatic potential in Hamilton’s story: the characteristics that allowed him to rise also insured his fall. When the organizers of the White House event called, Miranda proposed a rap about Hamilton, and they said yes.

It doesn’t get easier. It won’t get easier. It’s been 12 years since he passed yet despite everything it still aches just as it did the second I found out. I wish I could go back in time to that morning. I woke up and found him at the table, writing. God, that’s all he did. He wrote and wrote and wrote. I would read his writings for the rest of my life just to feel a little closer to him again. I tried to persuade him to come back to bed, but he refused. He assured me he would be back soon. He called it a meeting. Why couldn’t he be honest with me? Alex never liked duels. He hated to get involved in any. Why did he get involved in this one? I hate Burr. He should have known Alexander would never shoot him. He should have known not to do it. He should have known that the world was wide enough for both of them. Why didn’t he know that?