American Creation by Joesph Ellis Free Essay Example, 1000 words

This uniqueness was what President Abraham Lincoln expressed when he called America, â€Å"the last, best, hope of earth†. The two-party System, which then was a novel idea, is the most shining legacy left behind by the founding fathers. A Constitution with virtues of ambiguous sovereignty, a nation without a state religion and the creation of the first geographically large republic are the other legacies. But the inability to abolish slavery and the failure to reach a just settlement with the native Indians are two tragedies, which still has repercussions in the body polity of the United States, according to Ellis. The author’s thesis emphasizes on every thing from the strange strategy that won the Revolutionary war to the great wisdom and genius that made possible a constitution and a large republic. Ellis goes through some historical situations very dramatically and raises some strange questions. How much did the element of luck play in the victory of American Revolution over Great Britain, in Valley Forge? George Washington was commanding an ill trained continental army in 1775. It was with this ill equipped army, of a group of amateurs as generals, that he fought the better equipped British Army for six grueling years and won the revolutionary war. We will write a custom essay sam ple on American Creation by Joesph Ellis or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Fall back slowly and then strike unexpectedly was Washington’s strategy which resembles the modern guerilla war strategy. The war at the Valley Forge was a real turning point during the winter of 1777-78. Outer Philadelphia was a great farming area. But the farmers refused to sell wheat and grains to their army, because they were paid poor. So they were selling food products to the British army who paid them in pounds sterling. About two thousand soldiers died of starvation and cold. But before the whole citizenry ended up siding with the British, lured by pounds sterling, Washington deployed his soldiers in an arc around the country side and took control of the country side. It worked and turned out to be decisive in the victory of the Revolution. Like Washington’s strategy, it was James Madison’s wisdom that made the United States of America possible, argues Ellis. After the war there were separatist arguments for each of the former colonies to go their ways. A big republic was impossible. All republics were small like Swiss cantons or Greek city states. A republic wouldn’t work on a large mass of land. It was James Madison’s wisdom and genius that countered these arguments convincingly in the constitutional convention, argues Ellis.