Founding Fathers

I've been on a bit of a tear the last six to eight months when it comes to books. Thus far, I've managed to read biographies of Mozart, George Washington, John Adams, and a book by Rush drummer Neil Peart. I'm currently reading Richard Brookhiser's tome on Alexander Hamilton, which clocks in at a paltry 217 pages. (Chances are I'll be reading the Thurow biography on Hamilton after I'm done with the Brookhiser one. That one clocks in at a more respectable 600 plus pages.) I'm also almost done with How To Think Like Da Vinci, a kind of self-help book that has some useful stuff on how to stretch one's mind and what-not. (I typically like to read something light after finishing something heavy, which thus explains the Peart and Da Vinci books being sandwiched in with the textually heavier aforementioned bios.) So the last six or so months have seen some intellectual growth, and it has been fun.

Anyway, back to the Founding Fathers. I've keyed in on a couple of key concepts regarding the Founding Fathers that I hadn't known previously. Among them are:

-Thomas Jefferson was a duplicitious, two-faced jerk-off. Despite his obvious brilliance (as demonstrated within the text of the Declaration of Independence), Jefferson was prone to flights of weirdness. (Example: Whilst writing the Declaration of Independence, he tried to insert a passage that blamed the immoral concept of slavery on George III. John Adams, his good friend at that time, thought Jefferson slightly barmy.) He also ghostwrote editorials in the Philadelphia Aurora (a prominent newspaper of the time) that viciously attacked Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and of all people, George Washington. Jefferson so alienated Washington by accusing Washington of being a senile stooge and doltish victim of Hamiltonian machinations that Washington, who once considered him a surrogate son, cut off all relations with him. Jefferson also secretly employed newsmen James Callendar and Benjamin Franklin Bache, and fed them rumors and innuendos to damage his political opponents. This ugly behavior of Jefferson's is a running theme through both the Adams and Washington biographies. I anticipate that the theme will continue through the Hamilton biography as well, as of all the political enemies Jefferson ever had or made, Hamilton was by far the man most hated by Jefferson. (And vice versa.)

-It was John Adams, more than any other Founding Father, that managed to keep the Continental Army afloat through his diplomacy, which resulted in much needed financial loans, specifically from the Dutch. (Who'd have thought?)

-John Adams, a man of high education but not substantial wealth, died with assets totalling $100,000. (Adams never employed slaves to till the land of his farm, preferring to use hired hands as well as employing himself in the endeavor.) This is quite a substantial sum to have in the early 1800's. Conversely Jefferson, who employed slaves (and unlike Washington, never had the historical foresight to set them free on his death), died with debts exceeding $100,000. Adams lived in typical New England yankee fashion: mindful of his money and simple in his tastes. Jefferson lived like a European dandy: overly expensive wines, overly large residence, addicted to material finery. But in the end, the irony of it all was that the man who employed slave labor died in substantial debt, and the man who was fundamentally opposed to it and never employed slave labor died with a substantial estate. And we all know the historical judgement of those who engaged in the slave labor trade.

-On the subject of slavery: There's been a campaign of sorts the last few years to depict the slavery issue as one of secondary importance from the time of independence through the Civil War. Primary source material on the issue points out that this charge is a lie. It is fairly obvious that those who seek to depict the United States as a "wicked" nation have sought to paint all of its leaders as callous, racist, and either unaware or apathetic about the plight of African slaves within the United States. This concept couldn't be further from the truth. In both the Washington and Adams biographies, slavery is a running theme throughout, and primary source material shines light on how both Washington, Adams, and Hamilton felt about this immoral horror. Given that the United States was a much more Christian nation then than it is now, there was an audibly loud revulsion throughout the land concerning the institution of slavery, not only because its existence was in direct conflict with the underlying principles of the Revolution ("We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, et al."), but more because it was considered a grave and horrible sin. Even Jefferson, an owner of more than 200 slaves, wrote to Adams that "[slavery] was an immoral, depraved necessity". Adams would call slavery a "foul contagion in the human character", and that "negro slavery is an evil of colossal magnitude". Enough said.

Anyway, those are the key themes I've come across in these bios about the Founding Fathers. When I'm done with Hamilton, I might have to hold my nose and read one on Jefferson. In the interest of fairness, I probably should find out his side of the story, no?