It is more illuminating to view the pervasive passion for fame and honor as a collective, cultural imperative, a vacuum that nature and nurture abhorred.Joseph J. Ellis
The revolutionary generation found a way to contain the explosive energies of the debate in the form of a nationalism that was, I believe, suitably contrived to absorb political divisions.Joseph J. Ellis
No event so demonstrated the practicality of their vision of American nationalism as the crisis that threatened to divide the United States.Joseph J. Ellis
In a letter to his daughter, John Adams offered perhaps the best way to conclude the Revolutionary generation, that they were not just Fathers but also Brothers.Joseph J. Ellis
Hamilton and Madison, the collaborationists of The Federalist, were now the chief combatants in a nasty public brawl that seemed more about personal honor than political principles.Joseph J. Ellis
The prevailing strategy was to avoid the debated issue rather than confront it, smile and change the subject rather than engage in inflammatory conversation.Joseph J. Ellis
Jefferson never did come fully to grips with the possibilities or perils of French radicalism, whereas Adams, though he never visited France, understood it quite well.Joseph J. Ellis
Neither Jefferson nor Madison spent any considerable time contemplating the meaning of My Brother’s Keeper.Joseph J. Ellis
There was nothing casual about these arrangements; it was as if the revolutionary generation wished to leave future generations an unmistakably clear record of their legacy.Joseph J. Ellis
The leaders of the revolutionary generation handed over power to the leaders of the republican generation, literally a'peaceful transfer of power' from one group to another, from one set of men to another, from one generation to anotherJoseph J. Ellis