Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Quartet
The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 | Joseph J. Ellis
From Pulitzer Prize–winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. We all know the famous opening phrase of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this Continent a new Nation.” The truth is different. In 1776, thirteen American colonies declared themselves independent states that only temporarily joined forces in order to defeat the British. Once victorious, they planned to go their separate ways. The triumph of the American Revolution was neither an ideological nor a political guarantee that the colonies would relinquish their independence and accept the creation of a federal government with power over their autonomy as states. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men most responsible—George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. These men, with the help of Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris, shaped the contours of American history by diagnosing the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, manipulating the political process to force the calling of the Constitutional Convention, conspiring to set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrating the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafting the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement. Ellis has given us a gripping and dramatic portrait of one of the most crucial and misconstrued periods in American history: the years between the end of the Revolution and the formation of the federal government. The Quartet unmasks a myth, and in its place presents an even more compelling truth—one that lies at the heart of understanding the creation of the United States of America. From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
JPSHANK
Pickpick

I worry that I like this so much just b/c it hits on my confirmation bias so hard, but still, I‘d recommend it.

review
ssravp
post image
Pickpick

Should be required reading. Tremendous detail and analysis.

blurb
speljamr
post image

I picked these two books up from the bargain rack. I thought it was a pretty good find.

Laura317 Both look good! 7y
valeriegeary I LOVED the Water Knife!! A very disconcerting future indeed. 7y
TEArificbooks I loved The Wtaer Knife too 7y
ErikasMindfulShelf The Water Knife is great! 7y
TheLibrarian From everyone‘s comments, apparently I also need to read The Water Knife. Hope you enjoy your books! 7y
95 likes5 comments
review
catiewithac
post image
Pickpick

I'm a fan of Revolutionary America era historian Joseph Ellis. This time he tackles the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights in his eminently readable way!

bookishkai He was one of my professors in college. I took his Jefferson seminar the year he won the National Book Award for American Sphinx. He teaches the same way he writes, like having a conversation. 8y
13 likes1 comment
review
AllisonMP
post image
Pickpick

Wasn't kidding.

Part of my deal is that I'm teaching US History this year and deepening my understanding as I go is helping me enjoy it more. And of course the more I know about an era and personalities the easier and more engaging the reading becomes. But mostly these are fascinating times and people and implications, and I have an emphatic gesture for the high school curriculum that's sucked the life from it for 200+ years.

AllisonMP Finished. Super readable review. 8y
3 likes1 comment
review
AllisonMP
Pickpick

Wasn't kidding.

Part of my deal is that I'm teaching US History this year and deepening my understanding as I go is helping me enjoy it more. And of course the more I know about an era and personalities the easier and more engaging the reading becomes. But mostly these are fascinating times and people and implications, and I have an emphatic gesture for the high school curriculum that's sucked the life from it for 200+ years.