Revolutionaries

Revolutionaries by Jack Rakove

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010

442 pages

History, US

4.5/5 stars

Source: Received for review through Netgalley

Summary: Covering approximately 1773 to 1792, this book aims to reveal the Founding Fathers as never before seen. They were private citizens who appeared on the public scene as leaders and thinkers as they shaped what would become the United States of America.

Thoughts: I had trouble getting in to this book, partly because it is an ebook and my preference is still for hard copies. Regardless, this week I started buckling down and reading a goodly number of pages a day. I also recently watched "1776" and I loved some of Franklin's lines including one where he says that future people will recognize that the Founding Fathers weren't demigods, but were merely human. Rakove follows that approach, situating them in their time and explaining their very real worries and their different backgrounds and how that lead to what happened.

I clearly have not read enough about the Revolutionary War because I was largely unfamiliar with the leaders who fought (except of course for Washington) and I was embarrassed that I didn't recognize most of the names involved. There were the familiar conflicts but new faces for me to meet and learn about.

Henry Laurens and his eldest son Jack were in chapter 5 and they were completely new to me. Henry earned his money through the slave trade and then invested in land and more slaves making himself very wealthy but Jack was supportive of the antislavery movement. Henry evolved in to also supporting it but Jack was even further. Note that is not the abolition movement nor did it encourage enfranchisement's of slaves necessarily but it was a big step ahead of most people, especially of those who benefited from slavery so much.

I really enjoyed the mix of public and private life showed here although I was disappointed in several aspects. Martha Jefferson is probably the most-mentioned female and she dies during it! Abigail Adams is rather neglected in my view and Martha Washington isn't much mentioned either. The Articles of Confederation also could have had more explanation-even now I'm not sure how they were written and agreed upon although the process of developing the Constitution is well-covered.

My text didn't have any footnotes, using a format whereby certain quotes appear in the back under the Notes section and that links to the source. It is not my preferred method and while I can accept it in non-fiction in general, I don't think it is the best method for history books.

Overall: Great writing and I think it's a fascinating period.

Cover: I love this cover-it has fighting and writing, showing the different sides of the revolutionaries.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (or Happy 4th of July!)

Happy July 4th to my American readers out there! While my personal favorite holiday is Flag Day, Independence Day is the one that gets all of the attention. In honor of it, I wanted to talk about my favorite patriotic movie, the biopic "Yankee Doodle Dandy" starring Academy Award winner James Cagney as composer George M Cohan.

My family watches this pretty much every year as it opens with Cohan being born on the fourth of July. Now that is patently false as it was the third and truthfully as a biopic, this film FAILS hard but it has wonderful catchy songs, an interesting story and the amazingness of Cagney. Cagney is in fact my second favorite actor and I love him in comedies. If you want a fun, patriotic film to celebrate with this year, definitely check this one out!

A People's History of the United States

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

HarperPerennial, 2003

688 pages

Genre: History; Non-fiction

Summary: "America's story from the point of view of--and in the words of--America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers." (from back cover)

Why I Read It: Well my focus is American history for my major so one would expect that I would read this but this was assigned for a class because Zinn recently died and this is such an important book to the study of history.

Thoughts: This book starts right out saying how it is going to be different than the history you learned in high school. You know Christopher Columbus, that guy who get a day off for and who discovered America? Yeah, he basically started a genocide on the Indians living in the Americas. And that is never really mentioned; instead he is celebrated for his vision and will. So Zinn's purpose is to bring stories such as this to the forefront-those who are celebrated and maybe shouldn't be? For example, did you know about Andrew Jackson's brutal treatment of American Indians? (Well I did because I despise him and have a lot of problems with him but a lot of people don't). What about socialist movements in the 1920s? Obviously the word "socialist" is a trigger word for many people but what do you seriously know about them? Besides deconstructing some of the American myths, Zinn also highlights underreported movements such as various labor protests.

One flaw, which he acknowledges, is the lack of discussion regarding Latino/a and queer movements (I read this for a college course and this came up). Obviously he can't cover everything but this is called a people's history so by excluding some people, what does that say to them when they're already excluded from traditional narratives?

Overall: It may seem like I really loved the book but I really didn't: 3 out of 5. So long and dense and boring. Not my cup of tea. But most of the people in my class loved it and got a lot out of it.

The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers

The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers by Thomas Fleming

This book is taking a closer look at the personal lives of the six most famous founding fathers, in particular their relationships to their wives and other important women in their lives. I'm not sure why the order of the sections is as it is (I think it should have started with Franklin as the oldest rather than Washington).

1. George Washington: it addresses the rumors of an affair with his friend's wife Sally Fairfax but concludes that GW was very happy with Martha. It was interesting to see how they welcomed all of their assorted relatives to their home and how she worked to maintain a pleasant home for him.

2. Benjamin Franklin: was married by common-law to Deborah (who was actually officially married to another man who had abandoned her) but during his time in London seemed to acquire another woman who acted as wife. I knew Franklin wasn't exactly big on propriety but I didn't realize the full extent of it. I also tend to think of him as an old, gout-ridden man so it was eye-opening to read about his younger self.

3. John Adams: I've always been fond of the Adamses. It was heartwarming to read about her support of him especially considering the tumultous relationships of the couples before and after them in this book. She was so essential to him and they had an amazing relationship sustained over long stretches of separation.

4. Alexander Hamilton: He was a real creep to his wife Elizabeth, what with his affair and subsequent humiliation for her. But after his death she devoted herself to preserving his memory and brilliance.

5. Thomas Jefferson: I was really creeped out by his daughter Martha's devotion to him. She was one of his few remaining relatives but she seemed to want to do everything for him even to the point of alienating her husband and possibly ignoring her children. And I felt too much time was spent on Sally Hemings. At some point, someone with Jefferson DNA raped her and caused her to have children. I don't really care if it was TJ or one of his nephews (as the author claims). There was too much time spent on this speculation for my taste. I also don't really like TJ, with his hypocrisy over liberty/slavery; championing states rights; denigrating the part women should play in politics; depletion of the army/navy under his low taxes so that America was left largely undefended; his insistence on small farmers in an agrarian society (not of course that he was a small farmer) in the face of Hamilton's support for a great industrial power (who won that battle?)

6. James Madison: He had an awesome wife (Dolley!) who was probably the most helpful of all the women mentioned here to helping Madison with his political career. And then after his death, she continued to champion his memory and legacy. She also joined forces with Hamilton's widow to help create the Washington Monument. My favorite part of this though was Madison's statement even as he dies that the Union was made indissoluble; as the writer of the Constitution, it is clear that there is NO basis for secession or the breaking up of the Union. (I'm studying the Civil War this semester so these thoughts are on my mind.)

Overall: 4.5/5 Definitely recommended to those who'd like to see a different side to the Founding Fathers.