Reading Old Books ( "Revolutionaries" by Jack Rakove )

 Or, if not that, then read books about old subjects.

Also note: I read an article lately which pointed out that professional librarians have been instructed to discard old books in favor of newer titles and electronic books. The author learned this when he failed to locate an titles by Dostoyevsky in his local library, and dug deeper.   

Treasure the Second Hand Book Store, I guess.

I finally completed "Revolutionaries-A New History of the Invention of America" by Jack Rakove.

He takes a modern approach to analyzing the characteristics of the principals of the American Revolution. In turn, he discussed the entire situation they faced: the crisis of the French and Indian War caused the British to try to force the Colonies to pay the costs of having the British Army's protection by imposing several new taxes and fees on every aspect of life and commerce. The Colonists figured they could protect  themselves, if allowed.

The book felt like an associated group of essays packaged together for a book. But that was ok.

Things I learned:

The Boston Tea Party: today, it is taught as if it was a joke or a prank; it was a huge assault on British commerce: the value of the tea was nine thousand pounds sterling. Real money in those days.

John Adams--the crankiest Founding Father. He might have been a teacher or a minister, but he chose to study the law. Rakove says that of all the Founders, Adams' life changed the most from his humble beginnings: most of the others were wealthy business men or gentlemen of the Planter Class.

Today, we know his cousin Samuel Adams from the beer label. But Sam Adams managed to bankrupt the family brewing business. He was a born revolutionary politician.

I did not realize that Benjamin Franklin (among the oldest Founders) was already world famous for his time, by the 1770's. He had lived in Britain, representing the Colonies. He was a complete, one-of-a-kind character. He and John Adams did not get on well: Adams was too brittle and sensitive; Franklin didn't care.

General Washington: by the end of his relatively short life, his popularity had reached Devine proportions. Though he surveyed the wilderness and fought in the French and Indian War, his ability as a general in the Revolution came from the skills he had learned managing this large plantation in VA: managing men, managing material, patience, honesty, authority. He was unusually able to compartmentalize--keep working "forward" in spite of what might be going on (or going wrong!) at the moment.     And George Washington Prayed All The Time. God was his best friend.

George Mason's vision of independence, due to his interest in the Virginia constitution was more important than I knew. As a child, I was taken to visit his beautiful plantation home, Gunston Hall, near Mt. Vernon. He and Washington were neighbors.

It is a meaty book. The author provides a deep dive into the life of the American diplomats: Franklin, Lee, Adams, John Jay and eventually Thomas Jefferson. They lived in a separate world from the fighting back home.

Often, Jefferson is idolized. This book also mentions his rather selfish tendency to concentrate on his own "pursuit of happiness" (remaining in Virginia when he was needed in Philadelphia with the Congress during the War), such profligate spending that enslaved families had to be separated by sale to clear his debts after his death. We will never truly understand his relationship with Sally Hemmings. As a reader of Faulkner, I am suspicious.

James Madison. We owe him everything for the elegant Constitution he crafted and nurtured. It was a complicated process to get the unique document into law. Shame it is being ruined.

Was Alexander Hamilton like a Trump of his day? He was not born rich, but found a way to be rich, he never took no for an answer but kept campaigning for what he wanted. He wanted a strong, central Federal government on sound financial standing. 

I didn't know how many of the Founders did not get along well: Hamilton was at odds with Jefferson and Madison. And Aaron Burr was just a bad operator--always cooking up some kind of trouble, besides killing Hamilton. Adams was prickly and insecure; besides Franklin, there were times he was at odds with others, like Jefferson. Though they died on the same day: July 4, 1826.