Ellis examines both failures in chapters devoted to the doomed 1789 treaty with the Creek Nation and an especially thought-provoking discussion of the Louisiana Purchase, where, he maintains, the United States missed the last, best opportunity to resolve the slavery issue peacefully. They knew, for example, that the policy of removing Indians from their lands and the institution of African slavery were incompatible with the revolution’s republican values, but they were unable to summon the will and the courage required to put a stop to either.

Rejecting caricatures of the Founders as either demigods or demons, he presents them as talented but flawed, enmeshed in and attempting desperately to control difficulties where their blindspots sometimes proved greater than their brilliance. Though he covers roughly the same historical period as Jay Winik’s recent, magisterial The Great Upheaval (2007), Ellis focuses almost exclusively on Americans, highlighting select issues and events that shaped the young republic and continue to inform its character today.

His Excellency: George Washington, 2004, etc.) tells six stories, each revealing the genius and the shortcomings of the Founders.

American creation ellis