Founding brothers - 3 most significant individuals essays

Founding brothers - 3 most significant individuals essays In the incredibly insightful novel, Founding Brothers, Joseph J. Ellis recounts the sometimes collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions between the leading men of the founding generation. By closely examining the private characters behind their public personas, the author provides the reader with a deeper understanding of the actions and motives of these "greatly gifted but deeply flawed" individuals. Although each of the founding brothers were tremendously devoted to the creation of the American Republic, three individuals emerge as the most significant contributorsGeorge Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. Undoubtedly, George Washington was an extremely, if not most, important individual of the founding generation. Having served as the general of the Continental Army and the first president of the United States, Washington has proven to be the only truly indispensable figure of America. Ellis refers to Washington as "the supreme Founding Father " and "the closest approximation to a self-evident truth in American politics...A legend in his own time, Americans had been describing Washington as 'the Father of the Country' since 1776which is to say, before there even was a country." Second is Benjamin Franklin, whose many contributions to the cause of the American Revolution, and the newly formed federal government that followed, rank him among the country's greatest statesmen. Franklin made various advancements in science and served his country notably with his great skills in diplomacy, among many other things. Furthermore, Franklin's attempt to force Congress to confront the issue of slavery was, in retrospect, a most significant action in that, if he had succeeded, the Civil War would probably have taken a less detrimental course of events. Ellis speaks justly when he states that, "Indeed, if there were an American pantheon, only Washington would have had a more secure place in it than ...