The Importance of Honesty in the War

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Rain: Washington is a man of honor and character in a very elevated sense. He regards war as a summons to do with General Howe or later General Clinton presents his army. And he's sort of forced into it, as you say, simply because he doesn't have the troops to... Were the provisions to be able to match the British army and let's say attack New York,. That's what he really wants to do. But the absence of resources makes it impossible for him to do that.

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.