The Triumph of James Madison

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During the war, sovereignty doesn't reside in Congress, it resides in the States. At the end of the war, instead of creating a Republican nation, the United States become a confederation where again, political sovereignty resides in the states. But they are essentially saying, we as separate colonies and States have come together to defeat the British, but now we're going to go our separate ways. It was never our intention to set up a separate and sovereign nation, the States.

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.