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1-Page Summary of American Creation

Overall Summary

American Creation is a book that covers the successes and failures of the founders of United States from 1775 to 1803.

The colonies declared independence and started revolting against England in 1776. The British made this possible by doing things that angered the colonists, such as passing the Intolerable Acts and trying to seize their guns. Some of the rebels included Patrick Henry and John Adams, who were both outspoken about not wanting to be ruled by England anymore. However, Thomas Jefferson is credited with writing most of the Declaration of Independence because he came up with its unique Preamble that described what America stood for.

Ellis describes how Washington and his troops were forced to endure the winter in Valley Forge. They faced difficulties that taught him important lessons about leadership, which he took with him into future battles. These hardships also led to a change of strategy that would help them win their war against the British. The difficult winter was instrumental in shaping Washington’s views on government and politics; he became an advocate for strong central government.

The United States of America was formed in 1776. James Madison helped create the US Constitution, which created a more effective form of government than the confederation that preceded it. This constitution allowed for a stronger central government while still honoring states’ rights.

In the 1790s, a political party was formed. This political party had an opposition to the government and its administration. It also accused some members of Washington’s administration of secretly colluding with northern financiers to control the government. In response, they created what would become an opposition party called Republicans (the modern-day Republican Party). At this time, it was considered bad form for politicians to create or lead parties; however, Jefferson did just that anyway because he felt it necessary in order to debate opposing ideas effectively.

Finally, Ellis discusses the Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon was trying to make France a superpower again by conquering all of Europe and North America, but he failed miserably. He decided to get rid of the territory in order to have money for his war efforts. The United States doubled its size overnight and became an empire with challenges as well as advantages. It could move westward and reap the land’s rich natural resources without worrying about other countries invading it or having another country take it over because they wanted more land. However, this expansion led to slavery and curtailing Native American rights—two great failures that we still deal with today.

Foreword

In his foreword, Joseph Ellis explains that the origins of this book lie in George W. Bush’s election to president over Al Gore despite losing the popular vote. People asked Ellis why the founders created such a system and whether candidates like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were better than those in recent years. To answer these questions, he put together stories from both successes and failures of statesmen during the 18th century, which became this book.

Prologue: “The Founding”

The prologue is about the accomplishments of America in the late 1700s. It explains that the country had a new form of government, which was different from other forms and has become more common than them today. The author says that this happened because it was at an important time in history (the Enlightenment) and because America had natural resources like land and gold, which helped it get started as its own nation. He also says that people who were involved with creating this new system shouldn’t be given too much credit for doing so; they were just ordinary men, not gods or heroes or anything like that.