Yes, but did he discuss how cowardly George Washington was? Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! was General Washington's battle cry, until Christmas day 1776, when he attacked a bunch of drunk Hessian mercenaries who were following the norms of the time and taking Christmas off to celebrate. Washington believed that was a good time to attack Col. Rail's troops.
I don't want to make him out to be a villain; he put up some noble fights. But let's not forget that GW was not the brave hero he's always made out to be either.
Michael F. Martin
· 1 year ago
I think the group of people who made their way to the New World between 1620 and 1775 were quite exceptional.
As were their parents.
Thanks for the summary. Sounds like a book I have to read.
Unit
· 1 year ago
About the Native Americans tragedy being a Greek tragedy. The massacres, the deportations, etc...and the indian raids for that matter, one could argue could have been avoided, who knows. But what people usually mourn is the loss of the culture. But then what about the Pilgrim's culture or the pioneers' culture, those have gone as well. Cultures die all the time, some due to immigration and some due to technological changes. I, for instance, speak a European dialect that is now spoken by a few hundred people. That culture is disappearing fast. It's sad but it's also human.
Ray G
· 1 year ago
Mort's kidding right?
Fabian strategy. . . war of attrition to wear down a stronger opponent. . . et cetera. . .
I recently picked up Shelby Foote's first volume of his Civil War chronicle, and have thus been on these general subjects rather intensely recently.
Normally I'm not a dooms-day type of person, but I have to admit to a rather heavy cynicism when it comes to the direction of our country and individual freedom overall.
The subject of our Founding, to me, is both uplifting and sobering at the same time.
I realize that we had some real hairy times in our past with losses of certain freedoms, or even trying to gain a few, but these things were taking place as the nation grew in to a more perfect liberty.
Speaking broadly, somewhere between Lochner v NY and FDR, the country really took a hit in the area of individual liberty. Despite even more gains in freedom - particularly racial equality of course - on a whole we have definitely degenerated on a scale of liberty.
Boston College Eagle
· 1 year ago
I actually just finished this book. It is surely the best Ellis book I have read and one of the best American Revolution books out there. I highly recommend it.
The Spokesrider
· 1 year ago
I like Ellis's books. I haven't read this one yet, though.
George Washington was a great man. He freed his own slaves in the end. Reading Ellis's book on that subject gives you an idea of how hard it was to do that. When you consider how hard it is for Democrats to give up even a tiny bit of power over others by lowering taxes, you can appreciate why it was so difficult for slaveowners to give up power over their fellow humans. It just isn't something that people do very easily. But Washington finally gave up his slaves, and he also gave up the chance to be a dictator. King George 3 knew what he was talking about when he heard of it: "If true, then he is the greatest man in the world."
But even Washington was corrupted by power, even though he was more incorruptible than anyone else. He looked favorably on the makings of the Alien and Sedition acts. And while still in office he willingly let Hamilton do a vicious smackdown on the Whiskey Rebellion (a rebellion against the Neil Boortz Fair Tax of the time).
LowcountryJoe
· 1 year ago
It's an interesting read but he really critiques Jefferson more so than anyone else. And at leaves a central question [at least for me] unanswered: how did the idea of the constitution go from being so unpopular to being adopted; he doesn't really have a suitable answer. Perhaps I am too used to EconTalk where motives/incentives are delved into as possible decision formulations.
I read the book primarily because I read "Founding Bothers" first, which was fantastic. If I had read "America's Creation" first, I may have taken a pass.
dullgeek
· 1 year ago
I think the group of people who made their way to the New World between 1620 and 1775 were quite exceptional.
This is an interesting contrast to Arnold Kling's most absurd belief. It'd be interesting to hear a discussion of the contrast.
MT
· 1 year ago
Spokesrider: "But even Washington was corrupted by power"
Are these examples really corruption?
When an executive makes a poor judgment call, is this evidence of corruption? Are any humans capable of making numerous judgment calls over a period of time, and getting them all right?
Ray G
· 1 year ago
I just started listening to this book today on my iPod.
So far excellent.
He critiques Adams' vanity, but not so much so as to lose his genuine contribution. Ellis does seem to muddy the interpretation of Adams' distaste for the popularity of the Declaration of Independence.
Ellis' proof that Adams' contradicted his own view of the Declaration by his approval of Lee's proposal to congress is flawed, but that's too much to get into.
All Comments
Yes, but did he discuss how cowardly George Washington was? Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! was General Washington's battle cry, until Christmas day 1776, when he attacked a bunch of drunk Hessian mercenaries who were following the norms of the time and taking Christmas off to celebrate. Washington believed that was a good time to attack Col. Rail's troops.
I don't want to make him out to be a villain; he put up some noble fights. But let's not forget that GW was not the brave hero he's always made out to be either.
I think the group of people who made their way to the New World between 1620 and 1775 were quite exceptional.
As were their parents.
Thanks for the summary. Sounds like a book I have to read.
About the Native Americans tragedy being a Greek tragedy. The massacres, the deportations, etc...and the indian raids for that matter, one could argue could have been avoided, who knows. But what people usually mourn is the loss of the culture. But then what about the Pilgrim's culture or the pioneers' culture, those have gone as well. Cultures die all the time, some due to immigration and some due to technological changes. I, for instance, speak a European dialect that is now spoken by a few hundred people. That culture is disappearing fast. It's sad but it's also human.
Mort's kidding right?
Fabian strategy. . . war of attrition to wear down a stronger opponent. . . et cetera. . .
I recently picked up Shelby Foote's first volume of his Civil War chronicle, and have thus been on these general subjects rather intensely recently.
Normally I'm not a dooms-day type of person, but I have to admit to a rather heavy cynicism when it comes to the direction of our country and individual freedom overall.
The subject of our Founding, to me, is both uplifting and sobering at the same time.
I realize that we had some real hairy times in our past with losses of certain freedoms, or even trying to gain a few, but these things were taking place as the nation grew in to a more perfect liberty.
Speaking broadly, somewhere between Lochner v NY and FDR, the country really took a hit in the area of individual liberty. Despite even more gains in freedom - particularly racial equality of course - on a whole we have definitely degenerated on a scale of liberty.
I actually just finished this book. It is surely the best Ellis book I have read and one of the best American Revolution books out there. I highly recommend it.
I like Ellis's books. I haven't read this one yet, though.
George Washington was a great man. He freed his own slaves in the end. Reading Ellis's book on that subject gives you an idea of how hard it was to do that. When you consider how hard it is for Democrats to give up even a tiny bit of power over others by lowering taxes, you can appreciate why it was so difficult for slaveowners to give up power over their fellow humans. It just isn't something that people do very easily. But Washington finally gave up his slaves, and he also gave up the chance to be a dictator. King George 3 knew what he was talking about when he heard of it: "If true, then he is the greatest man in the world."
But even Washington was corrupted by power, even though he was more incorruptible than anyone else. He looked favorably on the makings of the Alien and Sedition acts. And while still in office he willingly let Hamilton do a vicious smackdown on the Whiskey Rebellion (a rebellion against the Neil Boortz Fair Tax of the time).
It's an interesting read but he really critiques Jefferson more so than anyone else. And at leaves a central question [at least for me] unanswered: how did the idea of the constitution go from being so unpopular to being adopted; he doesn't really have a suitable answer. Perhaps I am too used to EconTalk where motives/incentives are delved into as possible decision formulations.
I read the book primarily because I read "Founding Bothers" first, which was fantastic. If I had read "America's Creation" first, I may have taken a pass.
Spokesrider: "But even Washington was corrupted by power"
Are these examples really corruption?
When an executive makes a poor judgment call, is this evidence of corruption? Are any humans capable of making numerous judgment calls over a period of time, and getting them all right?
I just started listening to this book today on my iPod.
So far excellent.
He critiques Adams' vanity, but not so much so as to lose his genuine contribution. Ellis does seem to muddy the interpretation of Adams' distaste for the popularity of the Declaration of Independence.
Ellis' proof that Adams' contradicted his own view of the Declaration by his approval of Lee's proposal to congress is flawed, but that's too much to get into.