Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers: The Fight for Control of the American Revolution

by Michael E. Newton

Angry mobs launched the American Revolution when they protested against British acts of tyranny. These rebels threatened, harassed, and chased away British officials and Loyalists. The Founding Fathers agreed with the goals of these Patriots, but not with their methods. Fearing anarchy, the Founders channeled the passion of the mobs toward independence.

Working together, the angry mobs and Founding Fathers defeated the mighty British army and won independence, but the new nation that emerged was anarchic and chaotic, much like the angry mobs themselves. Meeting behind closed doors, the Founding Fathers conspired to depose the Confederation government, wrote a new constitution, and created the world's most successful republic.

Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers tells the little-known story of how these two groups fought for control of the American Revolution.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Law, American History, Ebooks, Politics

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 14, 2011

About the author

Michael E. Newton graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors from Arizona State University with degrees in finance and computer information systems. He was a portfolio manager for ten years and writes about economics, finance, and the market. Michael Newton has always had a passion for history, politics, and economics, which led him write The Path To Tyranny: A History of Free Society's Descent Into Tyranny. His newest book, Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers: The Fight for Control of the American Revolution, was just published in July 2011.

Reviews

[Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our understanding of the birth of our Nation shapes our political, social, and moral viewpoint today. In "Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers", Michael E. Newton retells the story from the perspective of the two main forces driving for change. Refusing to paint history from a 21st century perspective, the author richly quotes from those who participated in our Nation's founding and their contemporaries, a much more difficult and rewarding endeavor. A surpisingly compact and easy read, "Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers" brings clarity to the most critical years of U.S history.

Disclosure: I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

[John Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reads almost like a history textbook. While not an easy read, it was very informative, and pointed out aspects of the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention that I was unaware of. For instance, the author points out how diverse opinion was during the revolution, and how it was as much a civil war as it was a battle against Britain. And also he indicates that only a few Americans really fought in the revolution. Regarding the Constitution, he discusses the goal of the authors to put in lots of checks and balances so that the new government might survive. And he describes the battle over slavery, which was not outlawed by the Constitution. The Founding Fathers were very concerned that they could not get the Constitution ratified if they outlawed slavery, so knowingly made that compromise in the interest of pragmatism. The major theme of the book is that there were two groups that drove America during this period: angry mobs that rebelled with much emotion and founding fathers, a less emotional group, but a wise, pragmatic bunch that set the stage for the nation to survive. One surprise for me was that there was debate over how long the Constitution should last, with some feeling that it should be rewritten each generation as no generation had the right to dictate to the next generation. One can learn a ton from this book, which is relatively short.

[John Vibber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most modern authors extol the roles of liberty and democracy in the American Revolution. Michael Newton tells how these concepts actually posed problems for the Founding Fathers when they set out to win a war and design a government. The mobs which provided the raw energy needed for revolution embodied a democracy based on the tyranny of the majority in which one person's liberty was obtained at the expense of another's. The Founding Fathers knew that this tendency if unrestrained would make equality impossible. Here is the story of immense domestic problems and the the special few who's collective insight led to to the world's first enduring representative government. It's a Goodread.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, yet easy read

Great read for a basic understanding of the Americans Revolution and the politics that delve from it. Highly recommended for anyone.

[MJ Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much is written of the Founding Fathers it's easy to believe that the American Revolution was fought by a total of fifty-six men. (Give or take a few, depending on your perspective.) I have been looking for something that gave me more insights into the views of the average rabble-rousing colonial or even those caught in the middle. As with my fiction reviews, it makes sense to focus on the two main characters in the story.

The Angry Mobs: For the most part, these "mobs" remain the nameless, faceless masses of colonials they are in almost every history book. There is some mention of names, especially with mob action that was associated with a specific person, e.g., Shay's Rebellion. However, even with a discussion on the motivation of the mobs, I came away with the feeling that one mob was much like another. Yet, I have to wonder if they weren't as different from each other, not just in their ideologies but also in their approach, as the Occupy Wall Streeters are from the Tea Party.

The Founding Fathers: On this side of the equation I got more than I hoped for. Unlike many historians, Mr. Newton has a background in economics and was able to add a layer of detail that is lacking in accounts of the Revolution and the years that followed. If you've ever wondered how the United States went from a country struggling with war debt and under constant threat of war between the states to one of the most prosperous nations on Earth within a few decades, Newton lays it all out for you in details that even the non-economist can appreciate. Hint: He spends a fair amount of time on Alexander Hamilton's role.

I'm giving this one four stars mostly because I felt it could have been two books: one that did the title justice and focused more on the mobs, and a second that focused on the economics of the Revolution and the nation-building years.

[Mike Harbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. The premise is certainly interesting, but the narrative is heavy on redundancy. As I read further into the book, I could not escape the feeling that the chapters were a series of college or grad school essays that were hurriedly linked together with an attempted narrative thread. There were many redundancies, and at times I felt that Mr Newton was trying to bludgeon me with his main themes over and over.

In my opinion this book lacks narrative continuity and critical analysis. Historical method appears largely absent, and as narrative history it just isn't told as a compelling story. Mr Newton relies heavily on secondary sources and offers little that is new.

There are better historical works out there, and I recommend that serious readers pass this one over.

[Allan Ashinoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading late in high school with a teacher who actually understands the material. Its not hard to fathom where we've gone off the rails, particularly when you have context to work with.

[Paul Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

With politicians calling for a return to the Founding Fathers' intent -- while most of the time showing very little understanding of what that might mean -- this book makes for timely reading. The Founding Fathers are not a monolithic collection of inspired men who produced by divine inspiration a document for the ages. They were idealists tempered by practicality. They met to create the Constitution at a time when the entire revolution could have been undone. Despite myths, the Revolution itself had not been a monolithic event. British oppression had not been so oppressive to rally everyone to the battlefield. There were conflicting interests. Britain more lost the war than the Americans won it, and might have strolled back in to clean up the mess, had the Constitution not been hammered out amidst conflict, ratified despite regional self-interests, and implemented rather boldly. Michael E. Newton tells the story from the earliest British taxes through the War of 1812 and a bit beyond clearly and engagingly. Many simplistic notions about how the United States got its start and what that start means for us today are exposed to the light. We need light today.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly enlightening or revealing, but this was certainly a good history read I got from Amazon free for the Kindle. Newton focuses on the desire of founding fathers to preserve government control for and by the wealthy and landed and fear the unpropertied masses and any movement with a large, democractic base. I doubt any ardent Tea Party advaocate has read this book.

:)


It basically spans from pre-Independence times to The Age of Jackson when the United States setting into the cyclical nature of modern American politics in which the pendulum swings from liberal to conservative dealing with the constrasting views that that Newton very well sums up as:

"Liberty without government leads to anarchy while government without liberty leads to tyranny. Liberty and limited government must work together to promote “the perfect balance between liberty and power.”"

[Polly Glowatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enlightening. Now when people say we our country has gone to the dogs etc. I say we have the best democracy in the world. this book makes me want to visit Williamsburg, Philadelphia and boston. I want to watch and read about Washington,Jefferson and all the others. Great overview for a beginner in history of the US.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a very interesting read with not necessarily entirely new information but more detail on information I already knew. It involved a lot of dates and at times I wish it would have stayed in the order of the dates rather than jump back and forth so much.

[Michael Newton · Rating 5 out of 5]

List of reviews from other sites available at:
http://michaelenewton.com/angry-mobs-...

[Sue]

This book may bring to light some of our family stories from my g(7) grandfather and his family that were participants in the revolution- Brandywine, Valley Forge and Trenton.

[Pkstod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry. Learned a few things which was cool. Lots of dates.

[Beth Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but only people who are into history will really enjoy it

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. I learned a lot. It is a great history lesson giving a couple of perspectives.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It is very informative and enlightening. It should be used in the classroom to teach a more in-depth look into the founding of America.

[Therese]

$0.0

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly readable and informative history of the founding of the United States.

[Jeff Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a free ebook when I got it. This is a good example of getting what you pay for. I was unable to finish it because it was boring and poorly written.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent source of information, but not particularly well written and quite redundant.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this account of the founding of the USA and its early years.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the continued references to BALANCE and COMPROMISE. Seems like we could use some of that today.

[Dora · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book did give some great insight into the interplay between complete democracy and the making of our republic.