Founders

More about the book

The Founding Fathers--Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Madison--have been the subjects of countless histories, novels, movies, and television programs. Everyone knows that this small group of brilliant men were major players in our struggle for independence and had key roles in forging a new nation. That much our history books tell us. But that's only part of the story. In <i>Founders</i>, historian Ray Raphael explores the margins of history and finds a rich array of fascinating characters whose exploits were crucial to the success of the Revolution and whose own dramatic stories have been long forgotten. He provides a stirring account of these true unsung heroes who affected events during the turbulent decades that began with the first signs of political unrest in 1761 and ended with the establishment of our nation. Some were famous at the time, such as Robert Morris, perhaps the most powerful citizen in Revolutionary America. His wealth essentially financed the war effort, and he is considered one of the founders, along with Alexander Hamilton, of the American financial system. Yet he is strangely neglected today. Others were ordinary men, like Joseph Plumb Martin, a private in Washington's army who wrote about some of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War from a simple soldier's perspective, and Timothy Bigelow, a small-town blacksmith who helped engineer the first overthrow of British authority in 1774. Some were women; Mercy Otis Warren became an adviser to many political leaders, including Washington, Jefferson, and John Adams, and wrote one of the first American histories. And some were very unlikely heroes, whose upbringing and professions were far from revolutionary: Henry Laurens, a rich, conservative southern slave owner became the only American ever to be imprisoned in the Tower of London and remains the highest-ranking civilian ever taken by an enemy in our nation's history; Thomas Young was a country doctor turned radical, who fomented rebellion in seven states. Together, these forgotten champions of freedom remind us who really crated our nation--the common people. Farmers, soldiers, laborers, artisans, and merchants put their lives and livelihoods on the line for the American cause. If the United States is a country <i>about</i> the people, the our national narrative should be, too.