founding brothers review
...tes the background and brief biographies of the two men involved in the duel. He also reveals the context for the duel, a culmination of political and personal jabs at Burrs character by Hamilton. In fact these jabs held a good deal of truth, and finally resulted in Burr challenging Hamilton. Both Hamilton and Burr went to the plains in Weehawken to conduct the duel in defense of their honor and characters. Historically, Hamilton is seen as a martyr in the duel and Burr seen as a treacherous murderer. This Hamiltonian viewpoint is dominant among historians because it is widely believed that Hamilton went into the duel not intending to fire a shot and that Burr fired the first shot. Ellis believes this version of the story to be wrong. He believes that Hamilton honored his bargain of not firing on Burr, wasting his first shot by firing it into the trees. Burr, thinking that Hamilton fired at him, shot and killed Hamilton with his shot. The second chapter, “The Dinner”, relates a secret compromise between Hamilton and Madison in the venue of a dinner party hosted by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton arrived at the dinner with radically different agendas. Hamilton, heavily influenced by the fact that the Articles of Confederation failed, was a staunch advocate of a strong central government. Hamilton’s goal was to negotiate with Madison who was blocking the passing of his fiscal program. Hamilton was convinced that his economic plan would fix the economy and restore public credit. Hamilton was baffled by Madison’s position on the fiscal plan, since Madison was once a staunch advocate of similar ideas. Madison was opposed to Hamilton’s plan because he thought it disenfranchised veterans by repaying spectators instead. His more hidden motive was that Madison’s native state of Virginia had already paid their state’s war debt. Madison’s opposition to the plan preempted a switch in alliances by Madison to the Jeffersonian camp. The negotiations eventually ended up in a compromise which Madison would not speak out against Hamilton’s fiscal plan and in turn the capital would be moved to a spot near Madison’s native Virginia on the Potomac. Ellis states that the secret compromise ranks as one of the most defining in American history. Chapter three, “The Silence”, deals with the issue of a possible end to the slave trade brought up by two Quaker delegations and the prominent statesman Benjamin Franklin. Franklin claimed that the values of slavery were contradictory to the values that had been fought for in the American Revolution. Franklin wanted gradual emancipation; it was a final piece of advice by Franklin before he went to the grave. Under the Constitution, the Federal Government was not allowed to tamper with the slave trade until 1808. Ultimately, it was decided that the slavery issue was taboo on the Congressional floor partially because Madison wanted to take it off the agenda. Chapter four, “The Farewell”, deals with Washington’s retirement and his final address. In Washington’s final address, he spoke of his distrust of partisan politics and disapproval of political parties, American independence from other nations and American neutrality. The address was taken to be in relation to the recent Jay’s Treaty, a compromise with the English. This treaty was unfavorable to Republicans and especially with Jefferson. Jefferson critiqued Washington’s farewell address and Washington’s policies in his later years. Chapter five, “The Collaborators”, discusses with the presidency of John Adams and its failure. It fails because of the collaborating efforts of Madison and Jefferson to foil the presidency of a rival Federalist and former friend. During the presidency, Adams was burdened with a multitude of different factions within cabinet and as his vice president that was his rival. Adams became isolated, confiding only in his wife Abigail, the one person he trusted. Through carefully planned personal and political attacks on Adams, Jefferson and Madison were able to destroy Adam’s presidency and seize the reigns of power. Chapter six, “The Friendship”, reviews the reopening of communications between Jefferson and Adams after a twelve year silence. The silence was finally broken in a series of correspondence letters exchanged between the two, and a genuine friendship was reestablished. The letters help to shape our view of the revolutionary generation, in some light hearted but deep arguments between Jef...