George Washington claimed that anyone who attempted to provide an accurate account of the war for independence would be accused of writing fiction.
At the time, no one called it the “American Revolution”: former colonists still regarded themselves as Virginians or Pennsylvanians, not Americans, while John Adams insisted that the British were the real revolutionaries, for attempting to impose radial change without their colonists’ consent.
With his latest book, The Cause, Joseph J. Ellis sits down with Adam and discusses how his book takes a fresh look at the events between 1773 and 1783, recovering a war more brutal than any in American history save the Civil War and discovers a strange breed of “prudent” revolutionaries, whose prudence proved wise yet tragic when it came to slavery, the original sin that still haunts our land.
Joseph J. Ellis is a leading scholar of American history and is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner for his biographies of our nation's earliest presidents. Ellis is a distinguished professor and seasoned speaker who regales audiences with stories of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other U.S. presidents.
Explore the work of Professor Ellis on his website here
While his fine books are certainly available everywhere, Professor Ellis encourages you to shop at your local independent bookstore :) Click here to find one near you.
Enjoy the video version of Adam’s conversation with Joseph Ellis on YouTube below. Don’t forget to Subscribe once you get there!
Thanks for helping us save democracy one episode at a time
Joseph Ellis