{"product_id":"the-great-contradiction-the-tragic-side-of-the-american-founding-hardcover","title":"The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJoseph J. Ellis\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA major new history from our most trusted voice on the Revolutionary era, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning \u003ci\u003eFounding Brothers\u003c\/i\u003e and the National Book Award winner \u003ci\u003eAmerican Sphinx\u003c\/i\u003e, and featured in THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, on PBS. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn astounding look at how America's founders--Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Adams--regarded the issue of slavery as they drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A daring and important work that ultimately reckons with the two great failures of America's founding: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOn the eve of the American Revolution, half a million enslaved African Americans were embedded in the North American population. The slave trade was flourishing, even as the thirteen colonies armed themselves to defend against the idea of being governed without consent. This paradox gave birth to what one of our most admired historians, Joseph J. Ellis, calls the \"great contradiction\" How could a government that had been justified and founded on the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence institutionalize slavery? How could it permit a tidal wave of western migration by settlers who understood the phrase \"pursuit of happiness\" to mean the pursuit of Indian lands? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith narrative grace and a flair for irony and paradox, Ellis addresses the questions that lie at America's twisted roots--questions that turned even the sharpest minds of the Revolutionary generation into mental contortionists. He discusses the first debates around slavery and the treatment of Native Americans, from the Constitutional Convention to the Treaty of New York, revealing the thinking and rationalizations behind Jay, Hamilton, and Madison's revisions of the Articles of Confederation, and highlights the key role of figures like Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet and Creek chief Alexander McGillivray. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEllis writes with candor and deftness, his clarion voice rising above presentist historians and partisans who are eager to make the founders into trophies in the ongoing culture wars. Instead, Ellis tells a story that is rooted in the coexistence of grandeur and failure, brilliance and blindness, grace and sin.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJOSEPH J. ELLIS is the author of many works of American history, including \u003ci\u003eFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation\u003c\/i\u003e, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and \u003ci\u003eAmerican Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, \u003c\/i\u003e which won the National Book Award. He lives on Hawk Mountain, in Plymouth County, with his wife and two labradoodles\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 9.3 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 28, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978331849005,"sku":"9780593801413","price":29.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/3VsimqdXGU9780593801413.webp?v=1775801713","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/the-great-contradiction-the-tragic-side-of-the-american-founding-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}