The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789

(Paperback)

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The prizewinning author of Founding Brothers and American Sphinx now gives us the unexpected story--brilliantly told--of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. After the triumph of the American Revolution there was no guarantee that the colonies would relinquish their independence and accept the creation of a federal government with power over their individual autonomy. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men responsible--some familiar, such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, and some less so, such as Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris. Through their efforts, they diagnosed the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, conspired to force a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, orchestrated the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafted the Bill of Rights, which assured state compliance with the new constitutional settlement.

Reviews

Historian Joseph Ellis masterfully illuminates the untrodden path, as Washington put it, that led to that crucial stage of sewing up the elements of the new country. . . . Deeply insightful. New York Review of Books

The dissentersGeorge Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madisonfaced no less a task than redefining the meaning of the War for Independence in what amounted to a Second American Revolution. How they did so is the burden of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis' The Quartet, an engaging reconsideration of the arduous path to the Constitution. The Wall Street Journal

Customary, graceful prose. His portraits [show] his sure touchhighlighting Washingtons dignity, Hamiltons energy, Madisons learning and Jays diplomacy. New York Times Book Review

The author is a sure-handed and entertaining guide through the thickets of argument, personality and ideology out of which the American nation emerged. The Economist

Ellis shows the extraordinary capacity of these four leaders to understand the events, discuss them dispassionately, explain them to the American people, reach compromise, rise above pettiness and sacrifice personal wealth, power and popularity for the long-term public good. Given the rarity of these qualities today, Ellis book is a compelling reminder of the political virtues that created the American republic. Star Tribune

Ellis lives and breathes the Founders, and he deploys his customary zip and trenchant scholarship in showing how four central figuresWashington, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madisonconceived and promoted a new political framework built on the Constitution." Newsday

This is more than just a reinterpretation of a vital transition in our history; it is a reflection of new material from an episode that occurred two and a quarter centuries ago. . . .Having set forth the analysis, Ellis plunges into the narrative. His is an inviting voice and his story compelling, built around irresistible figures who, as the annual publishing lists amply display, retain their appeal in our own time. The Boston Globe

The Quartet achieves its purpose, providing a clear explanation of how the real United States of America came into being. Miami Herald

Ellis, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for Founding Brothers, reminds us that what Catherine Drinker Bowen has called the Miracle at Philadelphia wasnt destiny or ordained by God. It was created by perceptive men who understood human nature, history and politics and could foresee what this country could become should its people choose to have a strong central government. St. Louis Post Dispatch

An author who breathes life into the dead and immediacy into the past, Ellis illuminates Americas rebirth, the men who made it possible and the framework they created. With rich research and intelligent interpretation, The Quartet burnishes his reputation as a writer, a thinker and a humanist. Richmond Times Dispatch


Absorbing in its details, and convincing in its arguments, The Quartet is sure to appeal to history nerds and American politicos. As another election season approaches, a look back at the creation of the government, and the reasons why these founding fathers did what they did, is sure to be engrossing reading for anyone. Shelf Awareness


A brilliant account of six years during which four Founding Fathers, in disregard of public opinion, carried the American story in a new direction. In a virtuosic introduction, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Ellis maintains that Abraham Lincoln was wrong. In 1776four score and seven years before 1863our forefathers did not bring forth a new nation. . . . Ellis reminds us that the 1776 resolution declaring independence described 13 free and independent states. Adopting the Constitution in 1789 created the United States, but no mobs rampaged in its favor. . . . Ellis delivers a convincing argument that it was a massive political transformation led by men with impeccable revolutionary credentials. . . . This is Ellis ninth consecutive history of the Revolutionary War era and yet another winner. Kirkus (starred review)

Author Bio

JOSEPH J. ELLIS is the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Founding Brothers. His portrait of Thomas Jefferson, American Sphinx, won the National Book Award.He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife, Ellen, his youngest son, three dogs, and a cat.