Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis Essay
Founding Brothers Essay The founding fathers, or as the book calls them the founding brothers, are an assorted group of men from wildly different backgrounds. In political terms, they were divided. Yet, they came to together to help shape this country into the place it is today. Now on their journey towards the making of this country they did encounter some trouble. They encountered heated debates among themselves though for getting through these debates they show just why they deserve to be called, founding brothers. There were several issues in which the founding brothers found themselves on opposite sides of an issue. In the case of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton had questioned Burr’s qualifications in Burr’s run for governor of New York. One situation lead to another issue in which the line between personal and political criticism was blurred which lead to Burr ultimately challenging Hamilton to a duel. In another case, Hamilton had been pushing for a Funding/Assumption policy to be used by the United States of America so that they could start paying off wartime debts and also avoid a financial ruin that could break the union. Another thing that was proposed was the abolition of the slave trade, which was first brought to light by two quakers and eventually backed by Benjamin Franklin. Jay’s Treaty, which was another instance in which the founding brothers found themselves at odds with each other, was proposed as a peace treaty with the British and heavily favored the British. Finally, the Sedition Act allowed the persecution of Republican editors who opposed the government. In the duel between Burr and Hamilton, Burr finally had enough of what Hamilton was doing and sent him a duel request. Duels were usually sent in the preservation of honor, as Burr’s honor had been tarnished by Hamilton in the papers. As the two men went to duel, Hamilton had no intention of actually shooting Burr but still let loose a round. Burr shot back, mortally