To the framers of the Constitution, political parties were a fatal threat to republican virtues. They had suffered the consequences of partisan politics in Britain before the American Revolution, and they wanted nothing similar for America. Yet parties emerged even before the Constitution was ratified, and they took firmer root in the following decade.
Adam and H.W. Brands discourse about Brands’s latest book Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, which offers readers an incisive look at the perils of partisanship which played not only a key role in our founding but remain foundational to the American experiment in all its messy glory. Enjoy!
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We discussed his latest book, but he has written a healthy handful of incredible reads! Check them out here —> H.W. Brands on Amazon
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H.W. Brands