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From the first shots fired at Lexington to the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, Joseph J. Ellis guides us through the decisive issues of the nation’s founding, and illuminates the emerging philosophies, shifting alliances, and personal and political foibles of our now iconic leaders–Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and Adams. He casts an incisive eye on the founders’ achievements, arguing that the American Revolution was, paradoxically, an evolution–and that part of what made it so extraordinary was the gradual pace at which it occurred. He explains how the idea of a strong federal government was eventually embraced by the American people, and details the emergence of the two-party system, which stands as the founders’ most enduring legacy.

Ellis is equally incisive about their failures, and he makes clear how their inability to abolish slavery and to reach a just settlement with the Native Americans has played an equally important role in shaping our national character. With eloquence and insight, Ellis strips the mythic veneer of the revolutionary generation to reveal men both human and inspired, possessed of both brilliance and blindness. American Creation is an audiobook that delineates an era of flawed greatness, at a time when understanding our origins is more important than ever.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

• Endless list of historical facts are never allowed to overwhelm Joseph Ellis's analysis and explanation
  A clear explanation of the complex connections between The War of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, slavery, racism, The National Bank, development of party politics, the Louisiana Purchase, the real interests and motivations of the various founding fathers -- and how the Infant Republic's "evolutionary revolution" responded to all these challenges coming at it from all directions. Many mistakes were made but it survived and thrived...more info
• Not reader friendly
  His hitorical insight is valuable.
  Unfortunately his writing is bloated and clumsy.
  It's quite a trudge to get to the nuggets.
  
  Worth suffering through the read. Where was his editor?...more info
• Ellis Replows the Founding
  Ellis is an "easy" read author. He writes well and is articulate in telling his tale. Despite his stated awareness that authors should not make their evaluations of the character and motivations of their subjects of an earlier era, he proceeds to criticize the founding fathers for not having today's politically correct views on slavery and treatment of the indigenous native populations of the time. Taking that into account, it is still a good read and informative....more info
• Excellent author, great read.
  Excellent work from a very good author, probably the best I have read on this period in our history....more info
• Good book, but a little short
  "Creation", like "Founding Brothers" is an interesting mesh of both historic fact and historic opinion. Ellis is a good story teller and is able to make American History more accessible to the average reader as opposed to many of the more academic history books out there today.
  
  I did feel however that "Creation" was a more ambitious project than "Founding Brothers" in the sense that he was covering a much broader topic and time span. Because of this, Ellis was lacking in detail when it came to many of his topics. Unlike "Founding Brothers", "Creation" seemed to move way too quickly through each story which made it seem that there was a large part of the story that was not written.
  
  This is a fun book, and it does give a brief overview of events that lead to war and the creation of a new nation, but it comes up short in really explaining what was going on during that time and what lead to the decisions that were made. I understand that this would be difficult to do without producing an encyclopedia on American History, but for Ellis to try in a 300 page book was an impossible task. Ellis seems to take for granted that the person reading knows many of the historic facts in the story and just gives a short overview of what was happening and sometimes just one persons perspective on the situation. An example of this was the first story about the Declaration of Independence. Most of the viewpoint is that of John Adams and not that of any of the other participants in this process.
  
  This is not a bad book by any means, I just think if falls short of its objective. It is a quick and fun read, but one should not look at this as being a complete view of the history of that time.
  
  One final gripe, I feel that Ellis' use of the word propitious in his books and interviews has become overwhelming. I wish he would find another word or phrase. This word is used way too often and becomes an annoyance.
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• Most people don't understand history............
  ....but Joe Ellis can go a long way toward correcting that. I was lucky; I was raised by parents who respected history, by a Dad who learned about the Civil War first hand, from his grandfather. Much of history is written WAY beyond the "normal" reader...check my reviews...some of those books get five stars, but with caveats. Joe Ellis writes history [all of it about the Revolutionary period], that is short enough not to be a burden, long enough not to be silly, deep enough that a history professor can learn from it, and understandable to any intelligent person. As in "Founding Brothers", Joe has not tried to be comprehensive...he has given us a series of "snapshots" of our early years, broken up into topical chapters. Joe even gets humor into the preface: during his book tour for "Founding Brothers", folks would ask him why the earlier generation got to choose between Adams and Jefferson, and our choices were Bush and Algore. He would courteously tell them that they had obviously not studied the campaign of 1800. AMEN...it was a disgrace. The various topics looked at were:
  
  [1] "The Year"...1775...when the need for, and possibility of, independence, became apparent to a "critical mass" of influential people. Ellis makes the excellent point that America was never a one man show. Yes, Washington was central, but Adams, Jefferson, and Madison were almost equally central, and there was quite a supporting cast. Other countries...France, Russia, Cuba...have had revolutions dominated by one man, then gone to hell. We have survived, partialy because our nation was never wholly personified in one person.
  
  [2] "The Winter"...at Valley Forge. We almost lost everything right there. Washington held it together by force of will, despite the Conway Cabal, despite disloyal local farmers, despite everything. But, with a big assist from Baron von Steuben.
  
  [3] "The Argument"...over ratification of the Constitution. OK...we won...what do we do now? By 1887, it was apparent that the Articles of Confederation weren't working. A Constitutional Convention, chaired by Washington, was held in Philadelphia [in secret]. Madison, and others produced a federal compact, then sent it to the states. There, the REAL story was written; the Virginia debates, with Madison and Marshall on one side, and Patrick Henry [with help] on the other are the stuff of legend. Ratification won [barely], but Henry and George Mason were able to force a Bill of Rights into the picture. {Later, Henry became a big federalizer, and Madison went the other way, but that's another tale}.
  
  [4] "The Treaty"...with the Creek Indians in 1790. The Indians went to New York, with much pomp, negotiated with Washington, Henry Knox, and Jefferson, and signed the "Treaty of New York". The Indians got the shaft. What else is new? Well, Joe is good enough to make the point that they brought much of it on themselves, and in the process introduces us to the book's closest approach to comic relief, Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray. [OK, Citizen Genet has comic aspects, too]. The Chief was a drunken, double-dealing, genius. Both sides violated the treaty before the ink was dry, and McGillivray got rich....
  
  [5] "The Conspiracy"...by Jefferson and Madison that gave us our modern two-party system. The two founders took a trip to New England in 1791, and politics has never been the same. Till then, "parties" were seen as dishonorable. BUT, except for a minor spot of trouble between 1861 and 1865, we've managed to settle our differences peacefully. This MAY represent Jefferson's greatest gift to us.
  
  [6] "The Purchase"....of Louisiana...Thomas Jefferson took office pledging to shrink the government, and save money. Instead, he gave us an "Empire of Liberty". The purchase [probably] violated the Constitution, but Jefferson played his cards to perfection, and grabbed a once-in-a-millenium opportunity. Of course, there was the minor problem of slavery, and the non-Republican administration of the new territory, but, hey......
  
  Once again, Joe Ellis has given us an absolutely fabulous book. Buy it; more important, study it. We have a great country, and far too few understand how it got that way....more info
• History made exciting
  Another excellent book by Joseph Ellis. His writing has a tinge of humor that makes a big difference for the reader....more info
• Solid survey of a foundational era
  Writing: The subtitle of the book is "Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic," and Ellis sticks with that theme as he reviews various episodes in the early US -- from the Revolutionary War to Louisiana Purchase -- to recount unexpected triumphs that made the US an unexpectedly viable republic, and the unquestionable tragedies (dealing with Indians east of the Mississippi and the issue of slavery) where the Founders were unable (or unwilling) to do what we feel is right.
  
  The text is folksy and episodic, easy to listen to (even if sometimes Ellis overdoes his introductory and wrap-up sections in each chapter). His theme stands up without too much propping, and he manages to treat the Founders in a way neither "idolatrous nor iconoclastic."
  
  Info: Nothing stood out as a glaring inaccuracy or distortion of history from my listening. Though each chapter is relatively short, Ellis manages to include a lot of information.
  
  The seven "episodes" he details are: 1775, which marked a critical mass in the impulse toward independence; Washington at Valley Forge, shifting the war from a traditional European fight to a broadly dispersed insurgency that the British could not afford to fight; the Constitutional Convention, which set up a dynamic between state and federal sovereignties that still has an impact on modern US politics; the Treaty of New York with the Creek Indians, an attempt to establish a "just peace" with a large set of tribes that was doomed from the outset by American demography; the establishment of the (two) party system, which nobody claimed to want, but which quasi-conspiracies against demonized opponents made necessary; the Louisiana Purchase, which established American primacy on the continent, doomed the Indians, made inevitable the Civil War, and, ironically pushed through by Jefferson, spelled the beginning of the end for Jeffersonian states rights.
  
  Of all of these, the Indian chapter is the most fascinating, and probably the least well-known to me, as Washington and Knox -- and the other Founders on the stage -- get to express their repeated desire to make something positive about relations with the Indians, and even go so far as to try to make treaties with them work, but fail due to political clashes and the rapid population growth of the American states.
  
  Re-Listenability: The "small tales" nature of the book makes listening to it in chunks quite doable, and will make it more likely I'll come back to it again.
  
  Audio: John H. Meyer provides a voice both folksily conversation and erudite. Pleasant to listen to, he works with Ellis to be telling a story to the reader, rather than the reader eking a story out of the page. Judging from some of the comments, he does a good job of turning some of Ellis' prose into a more enjoyable "listen."
  
  Technically, okay, though some of the sound levels between recording breaks are off a bit.
  
  Overall: A solid historical survey by Ellis. There are no tremendously new insights here, but it's a refreshingly entertaining review of the Founding period, and of the Founders itself. If there's anything to critiquie, it's that it is just a survey, sprinkled with tidbits of facts, whereas any of the individual chapters -- or people -- here could warrent (and have) full books of their own. But in touching on so many aspects of the Founding, Ellis does a good job in creating a bigger picture in which to examine the period and its players as a whole....more info
• Serendipity
  When I purchased "American Creation" I made a mistake and ordered two books on much the same subject. This book I read first. This is an important book for non-Americans especially those who live in former British colonies. The author is careful to point out that the British were determined not to make the mistakes they made in administering their American colonies a subject he alludes to on a number of occasions. Because I live in Australia there are many other political similarities between the United States and Australia and this book gives a valuable insight into political thinking of 18th century which is relevant to my country. While I expect that many of the events described in the book are very familiar to Americans the issues they faced in the 18th century deserve to be better known outside America. I would recommend this book to people like me who live in former British colonies....more info
• Artfully conceived and finely researched
  Joseph J. Ellis is a premier writer of American history. The Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College, he has won the Pulitzer Prize (FOUNDING BROTHERS) and the National Book Award (AMERICAN SPHINX). The historical landscape he surveys in his latest work is nothing less than the entire crafting of the new American nation, before, during and after the Revolution.
  
  No portion of the book better defines the character of the leadership of the United States in its infancy than that which details "The Treaty" between white Americans and the native peoples then known as Indians. As Ellis sagely comments, whereas Great Britain would go on to further conquest and domination in the world theater, the other losers in the American Revolution, the Indian tribes, would have no "second act."
  
  "The British defeat triggered a tidal wave of western migration on the part of settlers who understood the phrase 'pursuit of happiness' to mean owning their own land." This would require the absolute conquest of the Indians wherever found. It was incumbent on three people to act on behalf of both the Indian tribes and the white settlers: President George Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of War Henry Knox. They had no intention of removing the Indians, because, as Ellis puts it, "revolutionary fires still burned inside them and they knew, deep down, that Indian removal was incompatible with the republican values they cherished." Washington brooded that failure to solve the Indian problem would be a permanent stain on his reputation and bode ill for the new republic. Jefferson, more than any of the others, believed Indians to be equal to whites but for their culture.
  
  Together, this triumvirate attempted to shape a model for future generations by making a firm treaty with the Creek tribe of Mississippi that was led by a racially mixed and diplomatically savvy chief by the name of McGillivray. McGillivray had no reason to trust the whites, as he and his people had seen treaties broken since the incursion of Europeans onto American soil. But after lengthy negotiations, the Treaty of New York was duly signed, and the Creeks sang a song of "perpetual peace." This treaty, like all others, proved unenforceable; Washington decried the "land jobbers" who, in their zeal for territory, constantly broke over into the newly delineated Creek homeland. McGillivray went for help to the Spanish, thus exacerbating the conflict on America's southwest border.
  
  Ellis points out that one failing of the Treaty of New York was that it was a "top-down" operation engineered by Washington, Knox and Jefferson, the sort of fiat that heretofore had been reserved for monarchs. For that reason, if no other, it was unsustainable.
  
  AMERICAN CREATION traces with fine lines the earliest stirrings of democratic thinking that led to the formation of our government. The congressional representatives had to contend with the argument that they, by their aristocratic heritage, were in danger of ignoring the men who wore "leather aprons" --- and Abigail Adams was only too pleased to remind them that they ignored women at their peril. Her gentle admonition "Remember the ladies" was no doubt a constant and considerable irritant. Nor did it help that an anonymous letter was received by John Adams in 1775 asking, "Whot has the negros the africans don to us that shuld tak them from thar own land and mak them sarve us to the da of ther deth?" --- and pointing out that "the gentelman that leads the army" was a slaveholder. It was Abigail who succinctly queried, "If we separate from Great Britain, what code of laws will be established?"
  
  That "code of laws" and its establishment are the essence of this artfully conceived and finely researched book, which strives like no other to present the American founders as human beings engaged together in an exciting workshop of ideas --- ideas with living and lasting consequences. Partly because the founders were unable to deal adequately with certain issues such as slavery and the Indian question, or with the proper balance between federal and states rights, Ellis contends, "The very purpose of government was subtly transformed from an ultimate arbiter to a framework for ongoing argument." This left room for great leaders to follow, new solutions to be sought and found --- and further argument.
  
  --- Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
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• Very Insightful
  
  Anybody who has read Joseph Ellis before knows how much research and analysis is put into his work. This book is no exception. A collection of narratives regarding a few of the most important episodes of our founding years, which includes a brief review of the war and the winter at Valley Forge, the debate over the Constitution, the creation of political parties, post war Indian affairs and the LA purchase. This was a good read, but I found his scholarly tone to sometimes be somewhat less 'accessible' unlike David McCullough which reads like a novel. I still enjoyed it and recommend this book to anybody and everybody interested in this generation of Americans and period of our history.
  
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• hooray for ellis
  This has to be one of the most reader/friendly histories around. Ellis has afine of the absurd as wellas of the important. He writes simply and does not bury a reader in academic trappings. he also is a scholar. That is a trifecta....more info
• A Great Teaching Tool
  No matter what your opinion of Ellis may be, he is one of the best popular history writers out there. His contribution within his introduction to the discussion of how the Founding Fathers should be seen in American history is a must read for not only teachers/students of history, but most importantly the media talking heads. He pin points the faults and greatness of these men with an even hand, and futhermore, explores issues that are rarely if ever discussed when the question of Native-American and African-American treatment is discussed in terms of these men. His chapter dedicated to Washington at Valley Forge gives more insight not only to the Revolutionary War, but most importantly to the insights of Washington himself. The chapter devoted to Native-Americans and the Treaty of New York was enlightening to say the least. One can not help but read it and ask themselves "What If?" Many of the stories within the book have been told many times, but it is the context in which Ellis places them that makes this book a very useful tool especially for teachers who have struggled (like I have myself) with trying to find the middle ground between the greatness and the failures of these men....more info
• Very solid
  This book was written in the same format as the amazing "Founding Brothers," and while it is another excellent effort from Ellis, it's not quite at that same level. Not that many books are.
  
  Ellis takes some stories/events that led to the creation of the republic and describes them well, pointing out positives and negatives of each. It's more analytical than "Founding Brothers." After the first two chapters, this book really picks up and offers an awful lot of good information in a quick-reading style that Ellis is known for.
  
  He pins a significant amount of blame on Jefferson for not stopping the spread of slavery after the Louisiana Purchase, and while I see his point, I don't completely agree. The one thing I wish this book had was an additional chapter on the War of 1812. He stops the book after the Purchase and indicates that it was the final major event en route to the American creation. I believe that until the War of 1812 was resolved, the republic was not really secure, and since it was a founder who oversaw that war, it would have been the ideal place to conclude the book. Regardless, I enjoyed it very much....more info
• The Founding Brothers had flaws, so our Republic is not perfect...
  But, the guys were bright enough to make the Constitution ambiguous enough to allow for future modification and interpretation on the issues they could not resolve. Two of the big ones were slavery and what to do about the Native Americans. Neither of those issues are yet resolved to full satisfaction, but maybe some day. After all, the women of the USA did eventually get the right to vote which was not available to women when the good old boys of the Founders did their thing at the onset of the American Creation......more info
• Briefly and Ably Told
  Joseph Ellis is my favorite historian in recounting the beginnings of the country. This is because he doesn't waste words with minor aspects of issues. He goes for the big picture and the reader is not distracted with trivial sidelines. Ellis makes his case with a minimum of prose. However, it is always concise and well-crafted if not elegant. I have heard other historians refer to Ellis as a "psycho-biographer" in a manner that sounded like a put-down. However, all Ellis does is examine his subject's personal history and show how this experience shaped that individual's thought and future activity. Do we not all learn from experience? This approach does not seem tabloidish to me.
  
  In AMERICAN CREATION, the author deals with the major themes that led to the establishment of the country, the formation of political parties and the acceptance of the new government. His time period is from the Treaty of Paris to the Louisiana Purchase. The founding fathers appear throughout the book in themes in which they star. I must admit that the author is especially irked by Thomas Jefferson. He has been dismantling him ever since AMERICAN SPHINX, and this book extends the argument. Basically, Ellis says that T.J. (and others) were strong states rights advocates because they feared a dominant national government would outlaw slavery. Jefferson's mind could champion great ideals despite massive contrary evidence, and Ellis exposes several of T.J.'s assumptions that strike a modern reader as delusional.
  
  An important chapter deals with the progress of the war and its eventual miraculous culmination. The writing and adoption of the Constitution was equally fortuitous and Ellis concentrates on Madison's efforts and his later reversal to the Jefferson camp. The subject of Indian relations is dealt with in some detail. The treaty with the Creeks (1790) was the first of many that were doomed to failure. Next to slavery, our mistreatment of Natives was our greatest national failing. The Louisiana Purchase is included as an important event in the Creation. America would have been a different country had our growth been restricted to the East coast.
  
  My only disappointment with Ellis is his dismissal of economics as a worthy subject. I understand that the Beards went overboard and Communism folded. Still, the quest for lucre turns many a head at least some of the time. Indeed, Jefferson's more parochial views were fundamentally inspired by his insolvency. Slavery turned a profit. Recently, I saw Woody Holton talking about his new book UNRULY AMERICANS on Book TV. It approaches the Creation more from an economic angle, and I'm curious as to his interpretation. ...more info
• American History As It Should Be Told and Taught
  JJ Ellis has a unique way of presenting history that's both engaging and enjoyable to read. I was enthralled with his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Founding Brothers, which led me to purchase American Creation. I was not disappointed. Unlike most history books, the historical characters and situations discussed in his books are relegated to the reader's long-term, rather than short-term, memory. I highly recommend both of these books for anyone seeking to really understand the individuals, personalities and circumstances that were instrumental in creating this great nation....more info
• Improvising on the Eve Of Destruction
  This is my new favorite book on the creation of America. From the American Revolution, to the Louisiana Purchase. Despite the broad range, Ellis paints a picture with stories I never heard, and insights I never though of.
  
  What I particularly loved was how Ellis painted the founding fathers as genuine people... flawed, yet still remarkable. They were mindful of their place in history, but never felt that their fortune was due to superior wits, superior patriotism, or even destiny. Washington remarked many times that when people tell the tale of the founding of the republic, that everybody would certainly report it incorrectly... because it was so utterly improbable, than nobody would believe the true story!
  
  Many people think there was a grand plan behind the country, which maliciously left many people out. The founders -- Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Madison -- were men improvising on the eve of destruction. There was no plan... they did the best they could to try to hold the colonies together: maximize liberty, and minimize tyranny. Their gift to the world was a complex, jumbled system: one where politicians will bicker, special interests will curry favor, and states will compete with the federal government over who gets the final say... but nevertheless, its a system that will slowly create something better.
  
  They knew their legacy was tainted... slavery was an abomination, but the country couldn't hold itself together without it. Jefferson refused to be happy about the Louisiana purchase, because he knew colonial settlers would force natives off their land... nevertheless, they did something remarkable. The first country-sized republic. The first modern secular state. The ability to criticize your leaders, without fear of getting your head lopped off. The first revolution, perhaps the only one ever, that came with a group portrait...
  
  Some say its more correct to call it the American Evolution, not revolution. I like that... it gives me hope that even if the system fails from time to time, it will eventually create something even better...
  
  Very enjoyable. Highly recommended, even if you're not a Revolutionary War buff....more info
• Adams Thinks He Wrote The Declaration of Independence
  John Adams went to his grave thinking he should have gotten credit for writing the Declaration of Independence. President Washington and Henry Knox tried their best to save the Indians from extermination. Washington hosted the Indian Chief of the Creek nations for a month - with his chiefs in full Indian dress - and the chief was the biggest con artist on the continent. The farmers around Valley Forge sold food and supplies to the British while Washington's troops were starving. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison started the first political party. Whichever party occupies the White House is the one that wants extended executive privilege - even Thomas Jefferson. The other one, by default, wants more authority delegated to the states. Madison and Washington thought the end result of the Constitutional Convention was a miserable failure. The Constitution gave up too much federal authority and made the separation between branches and between federal authority and state authority vague, forcing a never-ending forum for debate in American politics. The American Revolution was almost guaranteed to succeed - as long as we virtually never engaged the enemy.
  
  This book is about several stories in American history - The Continental Congress, starring John Adams; Valley Forge, starring Washington; The Constitutional Convention, starring Madison; the Louisiana Purchase, starring Jefferson with a host of co-stars; and the forming of the first political party, starring Jefferson and Madison. Beautifully written, Ellis picks out enough to tell his stories with overall insight, adding strategic little known facts that make it interesting. Of course, in a book of this size, volumes of detail are missing, but he successfully captures the big picture.
  
  Overall, Jefferson looks worse than usually pictured - he had a chance to address the Indian question and the slavery question with the Louisiana Purchase (which fell completely into his lap), but he blew it. He also looks as much or more partisan than anyone in present day politics. Adams comes off better than I've seen him portrayed before, and Washington is his usual impeccable self. These three and all the other founders range from very interested to obsessed about their legacy in history - to the point of editing old letters and self-censoring new outgoing correspondence.
  
  Highly recommended for the general audience, this book has political insights valid to present-day politics. I may not think much of the current man in the oval office, but Ellis shows that Bush isn't the first President to have over-extended his presidential authority.
  
  
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• fast, easy read, and insightful
  A great book for those who are looking for a quite primer on the founding of America and its mistakes....more info
• Good Coverage of the Post Revolutionary Period
  Having read biographies of Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Hamilton and Vidal's quasi-fictional work on Burr, in addition to other works by McCollough on the revolutionary era, I was far from impressed by the beginnings of this work by Joseph Ellis. You can only rehash the same history from every conceivable angle before the story grows stale.
  
  Fortunately, however, only the first third of this audiobook dealt with the period of 1775-1782. Thereafter, the story turns to the often neglected period after 1782, in which the fledgling republic, struggling under the inadequate Articles of Confederation is dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the Constitutional era. Ellis chooses to make James Madison the hero of this story (perhaps electing not to challenge some of the outstanding biographers of other luminaries). Certainly, Madison is a worthy subject, though arguably no more influential than Hamilton or Jefferson.
  
  After dealing quite well and extensively with the creation and adoption of the Constitution, Ellis moves on to the very worthwhile history of the fledgling Republic's troublesome dealings with the various Indian tribes located between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic colonies. Another period of history not frequently dealt with, but well worth the effort and well covered by Ellis.
  
  Finally, Ellis turns to the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, focusing on the Louisiana Purchase, what he considers the final definitive act in the founding of the American republic. There is some excellent analysis concerning the hypocrisy displayed by Jefferson, not just over the issue of slavery, but the stunning acts of federal power wielded by the face of Republicanism.
  
  As stated above, the first third of the story is a familiar rehash of the Revolutionary War period; nothing much new to offer. Thereafter, however, Ellis takes on the succeeding twenty years, a time in which the fledgling republic was very fragile, held together almost exclusively by the reputation and will of one man, George Washington. With Washington's exit, the rise of party politics led to repeated clashes between advocates of state's and personal rights (republicanism) and advocates of power concentrated at the federal level (federalism). This fascinating interplay and the analysis provided by Ellis make this a worthy investment of your time.
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• Outstanding
  On the heals of Founding Brothers by Mr. Ellis I was very much interested in American Creation. An excellent book with an admirable balance of historical fact, interpertation where appropriate and "I can't say" again, where appropriate.
  
  Significant part of the book read like a novel. Beautifully written and admirably researched.
  
  Dennis Landry
  Fairfax Va....more info
• A clear-eyed look at the founding
  This book impressed me a little less that "Founding Brothers," but it's still very worthwhile. Through a series of essays, Ellis attempts to look at the founding fathers neither as perfect gods nor racist villains, but something in between--talented men who did many great things, but came up short in other ways, particularly in their failure to end slavery and to do justice to Native Americans. The result is a multi-faceted view of the nation's founding, both its achievements and its failures. A good read for anyone tired of caricatured and overly-simple portrayals of the founders. ...more info
• Another masterpiece by Joseph Ellis
  Joseph Ellis has already authored a number of very well received books on early American history: Founding Brothers, American Sphinx (focusing on Thomas Jefferson), and His Excellency (about George Washington). This book is yet another very nice contribution to our understanding of the period from the Declaration of Independence through the early 19th Century. The subtitle, perhaps, says a great detail about the content of this book: "Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic." Ellis notes in his Foreword that (page xi): "This is a story, then, about tragedy as well as triumph, indeed about their mutual and inextricable coexistence."
  
  At the outset, he observes some of the great accomplishments of the Revolution and Founding: the colonies won their independence from the greatest power of the day; the Founders created the first large scale republic; they created a secular state (although I would argue that Ellis overstates matters somewhat with this statement); they divided power among states and the national government; they developed political parties as channels for ongoing debate (although, again, the Founders thought that party was evil, and their development was not understood at the time in such glowing terms). The tragedies? An unwillingness to address slavery and the status of Native Americans. In simplest terms, this represents what this book is about, the development of a new nation and innovative ways of organizing governance--coupled with inherent strains that created their own problems.
  
  One of the special talents of Ellis is his richly drawn characters. Here, Washington, once more, is drawn nicely by Ellis, so that he is not the cardboard figure that often shows up in high school textbooks. Just so, John Adams is nicely portrayed in his complexity--vastly talented, a little uncertain of his place, someone who spent enormous energy on defending his place in American history. Vignettes about the shortest American President, James Madison, and his unusual political brilliance, are telling. One nicely drawn point here: how Madison finally convinced an originally resistant George Washington to be one of Virginia's delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
  
  He spends time on key episodes, such as Washington's dawning realization that, to win the Revolutionary War, he must fight a defensive war, going against everything he wanted to do. Or the machinations of producing a document overthrowing the American government under its first Constitution, The Articles of Confederation (with Madison as a key player). The various historical set pieces conclude with the Louisiana Purchase, under Jefferson's presidency.
  
  In his brief Afterword, he contends that (page 241): "The American Founding lasted for twenty-eight years, from 1775 to 1803. The point? In that historically brief point in time, there was created on this continent a new nation, operating on principles not seen in the family of nation-states at that time.
  
  While I do have some quibbles about this book (as noted earlier), this is a very well done analysis of what happened in the critical era from 1775 to 1803. The reader will have his or her understanding of the Founding challenged and invigorated by this book. Even though I disagree with some elements in Ellis' argument, I am nonetheless impressed with his work and, by grappling with it, have a better sense of what was at stake in that short period of time that he explores.
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• The formation of an almost perfect union
  In the Forward, Mr. Ellis relates a question he was asked: why do we have to choose between Bush and Kerry when 200 years ago they could choose from Adams and Jefferson? I love that question because it captures very well the feeling today that we're faced with less than perfect choices whereas the men who founded this nation are regarded essentially as "demigods." And while Ellis acknowledges his admiration and awe at what the Founding Fathers accomplished, he also realizes that they were just as human as we are today; imperfect and succeptible to failings, but who nonetheless arose to the occasion and created something truly great.
  
  And this is an approach to history that I appreciate - neither idolizing nor condemning. Chapter 1 covers many of the contributions John Adams made to the revolution and the Declaration of Independence. Chapter 2 covers the strategy Washington was forced to take in fighting a far superior enemy, and the difficulties his army faced at Valley Forge. Chapter 3 discusses James Madison's contributions to the Constitution. Chapter 4 tells of Washington's attempts at a treaty with the Indians. Chapter 5 returns to Madison and Jefferson and the beginnings of a two-party political system. And chapter 6 talks about Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, and how it played into the practice of slavery and doomed the nation to eventual civil war.
  
  Mostly a very entertaining book, although a few parts drag occasionally. The main theme of the chapters/essays is that the founding of the nation was an "evolutionary revolution" which happened over about 25 years. The men who accomplished this were not perfect, often obsessed with their legacy and jealous of each other, but nonetheless created a form of government unlike no other. Their failures were in not dealing fairly with the Indians or resolving the issue of slavery. In the end, our seemingly less-than-ideal choices today probably aren't very different than those 200 years ago, except that the situation has changed.
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• Excellent portrayal of both the high and low points in our nation's beginning
  This work is especially descriptive of the apparently inescapable consequences of creating a union of states with disparate values, as well a a mutual desire to expand geographically, independent of the havoc created on the indigenous peoples.
  
  While many of the "founding fathers" disapproved of slavery since this institution was fundamentally in disagreement with the principles upon which the war for independence was based, this did not deter them from compromising these principles in the need to form the initial union of 13 states. As is well known, this compromise, while apparently unavoidable at the time, ultimately resulted in a terrible civil war many years later, the aftermath of which is still apparent in many respects.
  
  What was especially interesting to me was this book's description of the initial efforts of George Washington and others in the government to attempt to effect some sort of respect for the rights of the native Indian tribes to maintain ownership over there own land. In spite of these attempts by the early government leaders the uncontrollable push westward by white settlers eventually resulted in the near-holocaust destruction of most of the Indians. This hypocrisy remains a historical stain on our nation.
  
  Another interesting point brought out by the author was the changing political views of the early government leaders, many of whom reversed there politics to suit the situation. Thomas Jefferson, for example, who claimed to be an anti-Federalist, probably assumed the greatest federal authority in our history when he authorized the purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory, an obvious coup of immeasurable importance. ...more info
• A Liberal Progressive Revisionist History of American Creation
  An interesting read with some new information, most of which can be found in any number of other Revolutionary History books, without all the opinion. Ellis' book is a comprehensive analysis of the founding of the USA from a modern-day Progressive viewpoint. Whether it's boldly (and without any supporting evidence) claiming that many of the key Founders were either atheist or agnostic, or stating as a matter of fact that multiculturalism is the ideal form of society, Ellis pulls no punches in forcing his viewpoint on the reader.
  
  I would not have read this book had I known that its goals were to try to illustrate that dumb luck was one of the most important factors in the miraculous founding of the USA, and that the very creation of America was on balance some sort of "neutral" event in history.
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• A great history book from a proven author.
  Joseph J. Ellis' tract record as one of this country's premier historical authors is extended even farther by American Creation. Like His Excellency: George Washington; or Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation; or even American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, American Creation will enlighten and inform anyone who reads it. You do not have to be a historian to enjoy the book.
  
  Unlike earlier works, American Creation, is composed of separate essays that each look at a particular period or event relevant to the Revolution. Separate, but equal. Whether looking at the debate before the Declaration of Independence, the difficulty of Valley Forge, or the failure of the founding fathers to corral the issue of slavery, each essay becomes a focal point of study. How did each of these events effect ultimately the country we became?
  
  Well researched, superbly written, American Creation is worth the time to read. If you like to spend time with the Notes section, you'll find plenty to study. I also recommend the Afterword.
  
  Enjoy, I highly recomment American Creation....more info
• The Twin Tragedies of the American Founding
  
  Have you ever wondered by the founding fathers failed to address the two issues of native assimilation and chattel slavery into the organic laws of the new American nation? Joseph J. Ellis, award winning historical author has provided background and lucid reasoning, through his research, for these elemental questions.
  
  The book tells of a series events which collectively framed our nationhood and then resulted in inevitable conflicts over those two issues mentioned above. Ellis particularly offers an unknown chapter in history concerning the first-ever negotiated treaty with a native American nation, the Creeks, which would have provided for a peaceable settlement of the lands east of the Mississippi for the relentless tide of white emigrants, and the lands west of the Mississippi for the relocated natives. President Washington and Secretary of War, Henry Knox, sought a model conciliation with Alexander McGillivray, the Creek leader. This segment of our history is fresh and offered a perspective redolent with possibilities for peace and coexistence.
  
  Ellis' prologue and epilogue are my favorites stating and restating the elements covered. This book is definitely worthwhile; in fact, I recommend it be reread and revisited frequently. ...more info
• My curiosity satisfied
  Perhaps it's presumptuous for an Australian to become sceptical about the way the given narrative describes the principal characters and events in North America from 1775 to 1803, but after a visit to the historic cities and sites last year I came home wanting to peek behind the facade to learn why they chose each a particular course of action, why there was so little publicly displayed dissent between them , how they managed to maintain the moral high ground while ignoring the contradictions of slavery and the place of the pre European inhabitants. Mr. Ellis has explained all those queries to my satisfaction in beautiful, lucid prose without hyperbole or evasion. ...more info