The Traul and Error of the Indian Story

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Washington tries to get a treaty with the Cree- Right. What... tell our listeners what happens. Well, he thinks that the Advising Consent Language of the Constitution means he has to go to the Senate to formally request their support for the treaty. The two-thirds vote is required and en-as-per-their advice as well as their consent. And he goes there and it's off. They don't know how to address him. Then they say, well, we can't vote on this until we see all the documents. And Washington gets up and says, this defeats my whole purpose for coming here.

Joseph Ellis, of Mt. Holyoke College and author of American Creation, talks about the triumphs and tragedies of the founding of the United States. His goal in the book and in this podcast is to tell a story for grownups rather than for children, where the Founders are neither saints nor evil white, patriarchal slave-holding demons. It is a nuanced story of triumph--a military victory over a seemingly unbeatable vastly more experienced army, the creation of the first geographically large republic, a nation without a state religion, a nation that creates a party system with a loyal opposition, a Constitution with the virtues of ambiguous sovereignty, and tragedy--the failure to resolve the slavery issue, and the tragic conflict with the Native Americans. Some of these outcomes were intended by the Founders, others emerged unintended.