Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders DifferentIn this brilliantly illuminating group portrait of the men who came to be known as the Founding Fathers, the incomparable Gordon Wood has written a book that seriously asks, "What made these men great?" and shows us, among many other things, just how much character did in fact matter. The life of each—Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Paine—is presented individually as well as collectively, but the thread that binds these portraits together is the idea of character as a lived reality. They were members of the first generation in history that was self-consciously self-made men who understood that the arc of lives, as of nations, is one of moral progress. |
Contents
ONE The Greatness of George Washington | 29 |
TWO The Invention of Benjamin Franklin | 65 |
THREE The Trials and Tribulations of Thomas Jefferson | 91 |
FOUR Alexander Hamilton and the Making of a FiscalMilitary State | 119 |
FIVE Is There a James Madison Problem? | 141 |
SIX The Relevance and Irrelevance of John Adams | 173 |
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Adams American aristocratic authority became become believed Benjamin Britain British Burr called century character Civil classical colonial common Congress Constitution Convention created criticism culture democracy democratic early eighteenth eighteenth-century elected England English enlightened especially fact father federal Federalists fellow forces founders Franklin French future gentlemen George Hamilton historians hoped House ideas important independent intellectual interests James Jefferson John John Adams kind knew leaders legislative letters liberal liberty living Madison March means mind monarchy moral natural never North opinion origins Paine party passions political popular president Princeton reason remained Republic republican reputation Revolution revolutionary seemed Senate sense slaves Smith social society things thinking Thomas thought tion told United University Press Virginia virtue wanted Washington Writings wrote York