A nuanced story of triumph

Between reading the book Douglass and Lincoln (and so far only the introduction to another book about Lincoln - Lincoln and Douglas) and getting engaged again in following the US Presidential election campaign, I am in the mood to read more and more about US history these days.

Since I was already reading about Lincoln, I thought it would be good to go backwards in time...from the Civil War to the War of 1812 and then back to the Revolutionary War....and I started this past weekend by reading online about some of the battles of the Civil War. However, strolling through the new books section at the public library last week I ran into two books:

American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph Ellis

and

A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign by Edward Larson

Considering that Amit Varma had recommended that I read Ellis's Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation for a good introduction to the early years of the US and we had also briefly talked about the controversial 1800 election, in the context of the 12th amendment to the US constitution, I could not resist picking both books up.

So, finally, much necessary education on US history may happen; late but better now than never, especially considering I live so close to where 'the shot that was heard around the world' was fired on April 19, 1775.

But don't hold your breaths... there are too many distractions and very little discipline!

P.S. Amit also has just pointed me to a 1-hour podcast where Joseph Ellis..

...talks about the triumphs and tragedies of the founding of the United States. His goal in the book and in this podcast is to tell a story for grownups rather than for children, where the Founders are neither saints nor evil white, patriarchal slave-holding demons. It is a nuanced story of triumph--a military victory over a seemingly unbeatable vastly more experienced army, the creation of the first geographically large republic, a nation without a state religion, a nation that creates a party system with a loyal opposition, a Constitution with the virtues of ambiguous sovereignty, and tragedy--the failure to resolve the slavery issue, and the tragic conflict with the Native Americans. Some of these outcomes were intended by the Founders, others emerged unintended.

Now, an hour I can, should, and will spare.