Founding Fathers: the Men Who Shaped Our Nation and Changed the World (2000)
Founding Fathers: the Men Who Shaped Our Nation and Changed the World (2000) An ambitious and successful 4-video History Channel endeavor to highlight the personalities of key figures in revolutionary America. It covers many of the personalities discussed in Joseph Ellis’ Pulitzer-winning Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation. Though some of the background is simplistic for scholars, this is excellent for persons with a casual knowledge. This tells an important story of the strengths and weaknesses of key historical movers and shakers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams. Keener human insights can be found in two recent, masterful studies: David McCullough's John Adams and Stanley Elkins' & Eric McKitrick's The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic: 1788-1800. Richard Morris's earlier assessment, Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: the Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries(1973) still merits attention.
