My favorite period of history is early American history when the United States was being founded based on individual rights and “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. This period contains the lives and works of the Founding Fathers and their influences. Below are favorite individuals and suggested writings and books by, or about, each.
John Locke (1632-1704)
Second Treatise of Government (1689)
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1793)
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
George Washington (1732-1799)
Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Common Sense (1776)
The American Crisis (1776)
The Rights of Man (1791)
Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations by Craig Nelson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1777)
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
James Madison (1751-1836)
The Bill of Rights (1789)
James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney
Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America by David O. Stewart
James Monroe (1758-1831)
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness by Harlow Giles Unger
General History
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis
The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 by Joseph J. Ellis
Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America by Thomas Fleming
1776 by David G. McCullough