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The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding
A major new history from our most trusted voice on the Revolutionary era, the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award winner American Sphinx, and featured in THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, on PBS.
An astounding look at how America’s founders—Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Adams—regarded the issue of slavery as they drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A daring and important work that ultimately reckons with the two great failures of America’s the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal.
On the eve of the American Revolution, half a million enslaved African Americans were embedded in the North American population. The slave trade was flourishing, even as the thirteen colonies armed themselves to defend against the idea of being governed without consent. This paradox gave birth to what one of our most admired historians, Joseph J. Ellis, calls the “great contradiction”: How could a government that had been justified and founded on the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence institutionalize slavery? How could it permit a tidal wave of western migration by settlers who understood the phrase “pursuit of happiness” to mean the pursuit of Indian lands?
With narrative grace and a flair for irony and paradox, Ellis addresses the questions that lie at America’s twisted roots—questions that turned even the sharpest minds of the Revolutionary generation into mental contortionists. He discusses the first debates around slavery and the treatment of Native Americans, from the Constitutional Convention to the Treaty of New York, revealing the thinking and rationalizations behind Jay, Hamilton, and Madison’s revisions of the Articles of Confederation, and highlights the key role of figures like Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet and Creek chief Alexander McGillivray.
Ellis writes with candor and deftness, his clarion voice rising above presentist historians and partisans who are eager to make the founders into trophies in the ongoing culture wars. Instead, Ellis tells a story that is rooted in the coexistence of grandeur and failure, brilliance and blindness, grace and sin.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with maps and charts from the book.
An astounding look at how America’s founders—Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Adams—regarded the issue of slavery as they drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A daring and important work that ultimately reckons with the two great failures of America’s the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal.
On the eve of the American Revolution, half a million enslaved African Americans were embedded in the North American population. The slave trade was flourishing, even as the thirteen colonies armed themselves to defend against the idea of being governed without consent. This paradox gave birth to what one of our most admired historians, Joseph J. Ellis, calls the “great contradiction”: How could a government that had been justified and founded on the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence institutionalize slavery? How could it permit a tidal wave of western migration by settlers who understood the phrase “pursuit of happiness” to mean the pursuit of Indian lands?
With narrative grace and a flair for irony and paradox, Ellis addresses the questions that lie at America’s twisted roots—questions that turned even the sharpest minds of the Revolutionary generation into mental contortionists. He discusses the first debates around slavery and the treatment of Native Americans, from the Constitutional Convention to the Treaty of New York, revealing the thinking and rationalizations behind Jay, Hamilton, and Madison’s revisions of the Articles of Confederation, and highlights the key role of figures like Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet and Creek chief Alexander McGillivray.
Ellis writes with candor and deftness, his clarion voice rising above presentist historians and partisans who are eager to make the founders into trophies in the ongoing culture wars. Instead, Ellis tells a story that is rooted in the coexistence of grandeur and failure, brilliance and blindness, grace and sin.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with maps and charts from the book.
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First published October 28, 2025
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About the author
Joseph J. Ellis
38 books1,340 followersJoseph John-Michael Ellis III is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson won a National Book Award in 1997 and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. Both of these books were bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
December 30, 2025
This is a well-written, entertaining, informative non-fiction book. It explores the conflict of the founding fathers' pursuit of liberty while supporting slavery and the relocation of the Native American people from their lands in a clear and concise manner. The opinions of George Washington, Henry Knox, and Philip Schuyler on the topic of the Native American situation were fascinating. Ms. Kimberly Farr does an outstanding job narrating the audiobook.
March 2, 2026
This was a powerful and thought-provoking book. Joseph Ellis, one of our most preeminent historians and writers, delivers a hard-hitting examination of America’s founding — not as a mythic triumph, but as a fragile and morally complicated beginning.
What struck me most was Ellis’s unflinching description of how the Founding Fathers effectively punted on two of the most explosive issues facing the young republic: slavery and Native American sovereignty. The priority was winning independence and holding the union together — with the hope that slavery might somehow “work itself out” over time. Reading this with modern hindsight is sobering. It reframes the Constitution not just as a work of genius, but as a document shaped by avoidance, compromise, and political necessity.
Ellis provides incredible insights into figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. One fascinating takeaway — without spoiling too much — is Ellis’s argument that Washington, had he lived later, would almost certainly have fought on the Union side in the Civil War. That alone speaks volumes about Washington’s evolving views on national unity and slavery.
I also appreciated the attention given to lesser-discussed but crucial figures. Learning more about Alexander McGillivray — the brilliant Creek leader who negotiated directly with Washington — added an essential Native diplomatic dimension that often gets overlooked. And as always, I loved seeing familiar Revolutionary War personalities like Joseph Plumb Martin and the “battling bookseller” Henry Knox make meaningful appearances. Ellis has a gift for weaving these lives together into a living narrative.
My only real critique is structural. The book ends somewhat abruptly. Just as we’re deep into Jefferson’s later life — his financial ruin, his contradictions, his legacy — the narrative simply stops. No epilogue, no extended reflection, no afterword to help land the plane. It felt like the intellectual momentum deserved a more deliberate closing.
Still, this book gave me a deeper understanding of the origins of America’s enduring racial struggles and political fractures. Reading it around Lincoln’s birthday made the connections even more powerful. Lincoln, in many ways, was forced to confront and resolve the moral crises that the founders lacked either the unity or the gumption to face directly.
Ellis doesn’t tear the founders down — but he does humanize them. And in doing so, he reveals how the contradictions present at the creation still echo loudly today.
A compelling, unsettling, and necessary read.
What struck me most was Ellis’s unflinching description of how the Founding Fathers effectively punted on two of the most explosive issues facing the young republic: slavery and Native American sovereignty. The priority was winning independence and holding the union together — with the hope that slavery might somehow “work itself out” over time. Reading this with modern hindsight is sobering. It reframes the Constitution not just as a work of genius, but as a document shaped by avoidance, compromise, and political necessity.
Ellis provides incredible insights into figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. One fascinating takeaway — without spoiling too much — is Ellis’s argument that Washington, had he lived later, would almost certainly have fought on the Union side in the Civil War. That alone speaks volumes about Washington’s evolving views on national unity and slavery.
I also appreciated the attention given to lesser-discussed but crucial figures. Learning more about Alexander McGillivray — the brilliant Creek leader who negotiated directly with Washington — added an essential Native diplomatic dimension that often gets overlooked. And as always, I loved seeing familiar Revolutionary War personalities like Joseph Plumb Martin and the “battling bookseller” Henry Knox make meaningful appearances. Ellis has a gift for weaving these lives together into a living narrative.
My only real critique is structural. The book ends somewhat abruptly. Just as we’re deep into Jefferson’s later life — his financial ruin, his contradictions, his legacy — the narrative simply stops. No epilogue, no extended reflection, no afterword to help land the plane. It felt like the intellectual momentum deserved a more deliberate closing.
Still, this book gave me a deeper understanding of the origins of America’s enduring racial struggles and political fractures. Reading it around Lincoln’s birthday made the connections even more powerful. Lincoln, in many ways, was forced to confront and resolve the moral crises that the founders lacked either the unity or the gumption to face directly.
Ellis doesn’t tear the founders down — but he does humanize them. And in doing so, he reveals how the contradictions present at the creation still echo loudly today.
A compelling, unsettling, and necessary read.
January 1, 2026
Joseph Ellis has written a number of books about the American founding fathers. For this book he has gone through his notes one more time and prepared this book's narrative focusing on the contradiction between slavery and displacement of Indians with the spirit of liberty and equality that justified their formation of a new republic.
Most people at the time identified as citizens of their State first, and identification as part of a United States came second. A majority of the population at that time were satisfied with the government operating under the Articles of Confederation, and it was a small group of elites that felt it needed to be improved. Thus getting it changed required some skilled manipulations. Ellis refers to it as a coup d'état.
Ultimately the southern states valued slavery more than unity, and they were willing to vote no on any unity plan if slavery was threatened. The northern states were not willing to do the same with their antislavery position. The solution was to avoid discussion of slavery to the extent possible.
It was interesting how the newly prepared constitution was interpreted differently between northern and southern states. Many in the north felt that it provided for a strong central government that would have sufficient power to end slavery sometime in the future. Proslavery leaders in the south felt that the Constitution protected their interests. It was good that they both felt that way they did, because otherwise the Constitution would have never been adopted.
The book includes a chapter on negotiations between the early government and native Americans. One thing the new Constitution provided for was that the Federal Government was the entity that made treaties with the Indians. It's obvious from the following language in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 by the Confederation Congress that their early intent was to treat native Americans with respect.
The book ends with a chapter discussing the fate of Washington's and Jefferson's slaves. Both their estates were heavily in debt and slaves were their most valuable asset. Washington was still able to free his slave after his death through his will, but creditors forced the sale of Jefferson's slaves.
Below are some quotations from the book with my introductory comments.
Slavery which is so obviously evil to us today was not so obviously evil prior to the eighteenth century. It's interesting to note that among all the great philosophers and thinkers of the ancient Greeks and Romans, there was not a single abolitionist. The following excerpt from this book expands on that observation.
Most people at the time identified as citizens of their State first, and identification as part of a United States came second. A majority of the population at that time were satisfied with the government operating under the Articles of Confederation, and it was a small group of elites that felt it needed to be improved. Thus getting it changed required some skilled manipulations. Ellis refers to it as a coup d'état.
Ultimately the southern states valued slavery more than unity, and they were willing to vote no on any unity plan if slavery was threatened. The northern states were not willing to do the same with their antislavery position. The solution was to avoid discussion of slavery to the extent possible.
It was interesting how the newly prepared constitution was interpreted differently between northern and southern states. Many in the north felt that it provided for a strong central government that would have sufficient power to end slavery sometime in the future. Proslavery leaders in the south felt that the Constitution protected their interests. It was good that they both felt that way they did, because otherwise the Constitution would have never been adopted.
The book includes a chapter on negotiations between the early government and native Americans. One thing the new Constitution provided for was that the Federal Government was the entity that made treaties with the Indians. It's obvious from the following language in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 by the Confederation Congress that their early intent was to treat native Americans with respect.
“... the utmost good faith shall always be observed towards Indians; their land and property shall never be taken from them without their consent.”The book describes the negotiations between the new Federal government and the Creek Nation (1790 Treaty of New York). The book says that George Washington felt his honor was besmirched by the later invasion of new settlers into the Creek territory in violation of the treaty. The Federal government was powerless to keep settlers out of Indian country.
The book ends with a chapter discussing the fate of Washington's and Jefferson's slaves. Both their estates were heavily in debt and slaves were their most valuable asset. Washington was still able to free his slave after his death through his will, but creditors forced the sale of Jefferson's slaves.
Below are some quotations from the book with my introductory comments.
Slavery which is so obviously evil to us today was not so obviously evil prior to the eighteenth century. It's interesting to note that among all the great philosophers and thinkers of the ancient Greeks and Romans, there was not a single abolitionist. The following excerpt from this book expands on that observation.
For more than four centuries the most important voices of Western civilization remained mute as a highly organized program of unspeakable barbarity with genocidal implications flourished throughout Europe. Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Aquinas, Erasmus, Locke, and all the Catholic popes regarded slavery and the slave trade as acceptable features of European society. Western civilization lacked a conscience.The following quote from the book is a reminder that African Americans have deeper roots in American than most whites.
Since a majority of the white population in the United States arrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans as a group can trace their origins as Americans further back in time than a majority of whites.The slave trade was financially the most lucrative business available to traders of that era which explains their moral blindness.
Moral blindness made eminent economic sense.
December 6, 2025
4.5 Stars!
"Western civilization lacked a conscience."
"We are beginning to forget that the patriots of former days were men like ourselves."
The Great Contradiction, to which this book speaks is the original sin of The United States: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal. I agree on both counts. You can't talk all this shit about "Freedom" while enslaving Black people and committing genocide against Native Americans. I mean not only did the founders do nothing to abolish slavery they actually endorsed it by passing the original Fugitive Slave Act. So even the founders who were against slavery morally, were perfectly ok with slavery in practice.
"Within the Virginia political universe, the most self-evident truth of all was white supremacy."
This is a short and very easy to read book about the founding of the United States. You don't need to be a History buff to enjoy this book.
"Next to the failure to end slavery, or at least put it on the road to extinction, the inability to reach a just accommodation with Native Americans was the greatest failure of the revolutionary generation."
"Western civilization lacked a conscience."
"We are beginning to forget that the patriots of former days were men like ourselves."
The Great Contradiction, to which this book speaks is the original sin of The United States: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal. I agree on both counts. You can't talk all this shit about "Freedom" while enslaving Black people and committing genocide against Native Americans. I mean not only did the founders do nothing to abolish slavery they actually endorsed it by passing the original Fugitive Slave Act. So even the founders who were against slavery morally, were perfectly ok with slavery in practice.
"Within the Virginia political universe, the most self-evident truth of all was white supremacy."
This is a short and very easy to read book about the founding of the United States. You don't need to be a History buff to enjoy this book.
"Next to the failure to end slavery, or at least put it on the road to extinction, the inability to reach a just accommodation with Native Americans was the greatest failure of the revolutionary generation."
August 28, 2025
Short, insightful, and pulls no punches.
p 5 "Moral blindness made eminent economic sense"
p 135 “Next to the failure to end slavery, or at least put it on the road to extinction, the inability to reach a just accommodation with the Native Americans was the greatest failure of the revolutionary generation.”
Full review coming soon for Shelf Awareness.
p 5 "Moral blindness made eminent economic sense"
p 135 “Next to the failure to end slavery, or at least put it on the road to extinction, the inability to reach a just accommodation with the Native Americans was the greatest failure of the revolutionary generation.”
Full review coming soon for Shelf Awareness.
May 4, 2026
A thoughtful, succinct presentation of the American Founding as it relates to the intentions behind key phrases within the Declaration of Independence, such as:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Just how self-evident are these truths, given how often they have been subverted by subsequent political leaders? Does the category of "all men" include women, immigrants, or people who do not identify as White? And, if so, how to reconcile our ongoing failure to fully uphold such principled treatment of our fellow human beings?
In this book, the persistence of the Atlantic Slave Trade beyond 1808, and (to a much lesser degree) the lead up to the Indian Removal Act of 1830, are scrutinized carefully. I admit that the informational details found here were not included in my own public school American History education during the time of Kennedy through Reagan.
Ellis does an excellent job of blowing much of the dust off of what has been a hagiographic representation of America's first statesmen and politicians. At the same time, he emphasizes and recognizes how most of these individuals grappled honorably and sincerely with the many extremely difficult points of contention which threatened to undermine the possibility of forming a unified nation from disparate states. Even so, what does seem self-evident is that we have not heeded such basic, ancillary wisdom as that:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana, 1905
The conditions which jeopardized and complicated America's founding have not disappeared and - more recently - have been further strengthened and given free reign:
The single voice of reason was drowned by the howlings of a triple-headed monster in which Prejudice, Avarice & Pusillanimity were united.
John Laurens, 1782
Sadly, many in our citizenry today can describe our current bipartisan elected leaders' governing dynamic in precisely these terms. And the worries and fears which accompanied Laurens, Franklin, Hamilton, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe to their graves remain with us. As Ellis painfully but honestly summarizes:
Looking forward, one could safely predict that prominent leaders... would wrap themselves in the Confederate flag, embrace the myth of the "Lost Cause", vehemently oppose the civil rights movement, and derive their sense of significance by standing proudly on the wrong side of American history.
The unvarnished truth of America's origin story still contains lessons for how we might govern today. We Americans of all stripes do have a time-limited set of choices before us. Let's not let Apathy, Equivocation, or Moral Indolence keep us from participating in a system that is purportedly "of the People, by the People, and for the People".
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Just how self-evident are these truths, given how often they have been subverted by subsequent political leaders? Does the category of "all men" include women, immigrants, or people who do not identify as White? And, if so, how to reconcile our ongoing failure to fully uphold such principled treatment of our fellow human beings?
In this book, the persistence of the Atlantic Slave Trade beyond 1808, and (to a much lesser degree) the lead up to the Indian Removal Act of 1830, are scrutinized carefully. I admit that the informational details found here were not included in my own public school American History education during the time of Kennedy through Reagan.
Ellis does an excellent job of blowing much of the dust off of what has been a hagiographic representation of America's first statesmen and politicians. At the same time, he emphasizes and recognizes how most of these individuals grappled honorably and sincerely with the many extremely difficult points of contention which threatened to undermine the possibility of forming a unified nation from disparate states. Even so, what does seem self-evident is that we have not heeded such basic, ancillary wisdom as that:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana, 1905
The conditions which jeopardized and complicated America's founding have not disappeared and - more recently - have been further strengthened and given free reign:
The single voice of reason was drowned by the howlings of a triple-headed monster in which Prejudice, Avarice & Pusillanimity were united.
John Laurens, 1782
Sadly, many in our citizenry today can describe our current bipartisan elected leaders' governing dynamic in precisely these terms. And the worries and fears which accompanied Laurens, Franklin, Hamilton, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe to their graves remain with us. As Ellis painfully but honestly summarizes:
Looking forward, one could safely predict that prominent leaders... would wrap themselves in the Confederate flag, embrace the myth of the "Lost Cause", vehemently oppose the civil rights movement, and derive their sense of significance by standing proudly on the wrong side of American history.
The unvarnished truth of America's origin story still contains lessons for how we might govern today. We Americans of all stripes do have a time-limited set of choices before us. Let's not let Apathy, Equivocation, or Moral Indolence keep us from participating in a system that is purportedly "of the People, by the People, and for the People".
October 31, 2025
Remarkably truthful. Amazing insight in relatively few pages. Ellis is an American treasure. The shadow of the Great Contradiction continues to hang over the United States. Understanding our history in its entirety is a necessary step toward healing.
April 19, 2026
All thanks go to Joesph Ellis and his book “Revolutionary Summer” for showing me how history can come alive. If I hadn’t read that book ten years back, there’s no saying how my relationship with reading would look today—likely not as strong. So when I saw that Ellis (age 82) recently published a book expounding the Great Contradiction of the American founding, how could I not immediately pick it up? To have this Titan of American historical scholarship, in 200 pages no less, unfurl the shade of America’s past and present in the time of MAGA can be nothing more than a godsend.
I’ve been reading quite a bit about American history this past year and I’ve been struggling with what it means to me to be an American. For all the patriotic talk that I and many others have heard growing up in the US, the current political moment has forced me to go back and rediscover America and what she stands and has stood up for. Truthfully, things don’t look great. In a simple model, American history is comprised of two currents: (1) a belief that white folks have been preordained to dominate this land and by manifest destiny, maintain the freedom TO subjugate others to their whims and interests, and (2) a belief that the nation’s founding principles of freedom and liberty for ALL people is worth fighting for and that the people should have the freedom FROM others exercising their will on them. The only thing maintaining my love of country is the latter.
Joesph Ellis lays this dissonance at the very feet of the founders. How could men, whose liberal ideals were foundational to rallying others behind their revolutionary cause, be so blind to their own betrayal of those very ideals by allowing the enslavement of other human beings as well as the genocide of native peoples?
As Ellis reminds us, it’s not that simple. In fact it would be foolish and historically immature to moralize the actions of these men of a bygone era. As Ellis rightly states, in order for slavery to be abolished the founders needed to create a strong national government that would enforce its emancipatory policy over the states, but in order to form this more perfect union they had to acquiesce to the slaveholding-interests of the southern states. It isn’t pretty, but when has politics ever been so? This isn’t to say that the we can’t make moral judgments about the past; rather, we should be careful to note that moral judgments can obscure a deeper understanding of the history.
Much like Ben Franklin and his final politically-risky public denunciation of slavery before his passing, this too feels like a last uncensored State of the Union from one the greatest historians of our time.
I’ve been reading quite a bit about American history this past year and I’ve been struggling with what it means to me to be an American. For all the patriotic talk that I and many others have heard growing up in the US, the current political moment has forced me to go back and rediscover America and what she stands and has stood up for. Truthfully, things don’t look great. In a simple model, American history is comprised of two currents: (1) a belief that white folks have been preordained to dominate this land and by manifest destiny, maintain the freedom TO subjugate others to their whims and interests, and (2) a belief that the nation’s founding principles of freedom and liberty for ALL people is worth fighting for and that the people should have the freedom FROM others exercising their will on them. The only thing maintaining my love of country is the latter.
Joesph Ellis lays this dissonance at the very feet of the founders. How could men, whose liberal ideals were foundational to rallying others behind their revolutionary cause, be so blind to their own betrayal of those very ideals by allowing the enslavement of other human beings as well as the genocide of native peoples?
As Ellis reminds us, it’s not that simple. In fact it would be foolish and historically immature to moralize the actions of these men of a bygone era. As Ellis rightly states, in order for slavery to be abolished the founders needed to create a strong national government that would enforce its emancipatory policy over the states, but in order to form this more perfect union they had to acquiesce to the slaveholding-interests of the southern states. It isn’t pretty, but when has politics ever been so? This isn’t to say that the we can’t make moral judgments about the past; rather, we should be careful to note that moral judgments can obscure a deeper understanding of the history.
Much like Ben Franklin and his final politically-risky public denunciation of slavery before his passing, this too feels like a last uncensored State of the Union from one the greatest historians of our time.
January 19, 2026
A concise and unvarnished examination of the central contradiction at the heart of the American founding: a government born from the ideals of the Declaration of Independence that simultaneously preserved and protected slavery. Joseph Ellis argues that this tension was not accidental but a deliberate political compromise, understood by the Founders and deferred to future generations. The book situates this unresolved moral failure as a defining legacy of the nation’s history rather than a problem safely confined to the past.
December 25, 2025
I loved this book. History books that are under 200 pages are a refreshing companion to longer, denser historical records. I felt this book portrayed the founding fathers well: principled and brilliant white men who lived with contradictions as it related to African Americans and Native people. Ultimately, different decisions could have been made but they were deferred to future generations. Facing history in its atrocity and reality is a necessary step in becoming the nation we are capable of.
December 25, 2025
Although Ellis covers no real new ground here, he brings forward ideas from previous works that shine a harsher light on two ideas: 1, How the Founders accepted slavery to achieve and maintain a union between the end of the Revolution and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and 2, initial attempts to share land with Native Americans.
The book itself focuses far more on the former topic, though its chapter on the Treaty of New York is a fascinating look at how Washington et al. attempted to demonstrate the strengths of a newfound nation’s ideal as a republic and as a diplomatic force with the sovereign Creek Nation.
Regarding slavery, the book concludes with brief examinations of how Washington and Jefferson considered their legacies — or, perhaps more properly, how history would remember them. Both men, both architects and leaders of The Cause, were of the Virginia planter class — and Jefferson, at least, would live to see how Old Dominion would lose its stature due to the very reason it was able to establish itself in early America.
Washington, Jefferson and several other Virginians — including Madison and Monroe — died in debt; they were presidents who would live on in the history books, beneficiaries of an abhorrent practice they claimed to detest though didn’t always seem (if at all) to grasp the contradiction of their reluctance to end slavery.
Ellis, as always, puts the reader in the time and setting of his subject; however, in “The Great Contradiction,” the 82-year-old author adopts a looser dual standard approach. Here, he seeks understanding for the actions, within their context, while still holding them accountable for their inexplicable behavior. (Or, at least he did so more than he has in his previous books.)
The answer, as he has returned to time and again over the course of his bibliography, is we simply wouldn’t have an America to write about had it not been for the exact course our leaders have taken — and, ever-curious, he joins the reader in finding out why.
The book itself focuses far more on the former topic, though its chapter on the Treaty of New York is a fascinating look at how Washington et al. attempted to demonstrate the strengths of a newfound nation’s ideal as a republic and as a diplomatic force with the sovereign Creek Nation.
Regarding slavery, the book concludes with brief examinations of how Washington and Jefferson considered their legacies — or, perhaps more properly, how history would remember them. Both men, both architects and leaders of The Cause, were of the Virginia planter class — and Jefferson, at least, would live to see how Old Dominion would lose its stature due to the very reason it was able to establish itself in early America.
Washington, Jefferson and several other Virginians — including Madison and Monroe — died in debt; they were presidents who would live on in the history books, beneficiaries of an abhorrent practice they claimed to detest though didn’t always seem (if at all) to grasp the contradiction of their reluctance to end slavery.
Ellis, as always, puts the reader in the time and setting of his subject; however, in “The Great Contradiction,” the 82-year-old author adopts a looser dual standard approach. Here, he seeks understanding for the actions, within their context, while still holding them accountable for their inexplicable behavior. (Or, at least he did so more than he has in his previous books.)
The answer, as he has returned to time and again over the course of his bibliography, is we simply wouldn’t have an America to write about had it not been for the exact course our leaders have taken — and, ever-curious, he joins the reader in finding out why.
April 27, 2026
I listened to this whole book after already getting a quarter of the way into Daring to Be Free: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World, which gave me some perspectives that affected my take on Joseph Ellis's historical narrative. Namely, despite sometimes opting for the language of "enslaved Africans" rather than "slaves," I noticed multiple sections where he refers to various groups of enslaved Africans/African-Americans as helpless victims and commodities. Certain commonly used phrases really do reinforce the white supremacist mentality. I'm indebted to Sudhir Hazareesingh for helping to enlighten me about that.
Here are some of the notes I took while listening:
“African-American” was first used in 1782. Most African-Americans’ lineage has been here in America longer than most white people’s.
Among white/European people, the first to speak out and break the hundreds of years of silence about slavery was Anthony Benezet and other Quakers and religious (Protestant) people.
The first paragraph of the most famous speech in American history is factually incorrect. “Four score and seven years ago … “ (bc at that time the colonies were all set up as independent but separate states, not intended to remain a single union beyond uniting to rebel for independence from Britain.
“Freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was a modification by Thomas Jefferson from “property” instead of “pursuit of happiness” - which then includes everyone.
But later others (in the making of the Virginia constitution) amended it to also say “Those who enter into a state of society,” a “clever, lawyer-like” phrase that excluded, in their eyes, enslaved African-Americans and Native Americans.
When Pennsylvania finally added emancipatory laws to their state constitution, they did it so only the children of the currently enslaved people would become free, only once they reached the age of 28. Even this weak, in-the-future clause only passed 24-21.
Here are some of the notes I took while listening:
“African-American” was first used in 1782. Most African-Americans’ lineage has been here in America longer than most white people’s.
Among white/European people, the first to speak out and break the hundreds of years of silence about slavery was Anthony Benezet and other Quakers and religious (Protestant) people.
The first paragraph of the most famous speech in American history is factually incorrect. “Four score and seven years ago … “ (bc at that time the colonies were all set up as independent but separate states, not intended to remain a single union beyond uniting to rebel for independence from Britain.
“Freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was a modification by Thomas Jefferson from “property” instead of “pursuit of happiness” - which then includes everyone.
But later others (in the making of the Virginia constitution) amended it to also say “Those who enter into a state of society,” a “clever, lawyer-like” phrase that excluded, in their eyes, enslaved African-Americans and Native Americans.
When Pennsylvania finally added emancipatory laws to their state constitution, they did it so only the children of the currently enslaved people would become free, only once they reached the age of 28. Even this weak, in-the-future clause only passed 24-21.
December 18, 2025
I liked a lot of this book. I thought it was interesting and well written. It was easy to understand and I really did learn a lot as an APUSH teacher that I can use in future lessons. I will say that I think the author needed to talk more about Jefferson having children with an enslaved woman and the implications of that. There's a whole chapter at the end of the book dedicated to Jefferson and his contradictory views on slavery, and there is the smallest mention of him having biracial, enslaved children and no mention of Sally Hemmings. I also think that if the author was going to tackle Native American treatment in this book, he needed to make it longer and include more about it. Overall though it was an interesting read and I did learn a lot.
March 16, 2026
This explores the tension between the founding ideals of liberty and equality and the reality that many of the same founders were deeply connected to slavery. Rather than portraying them as heroes or villains, Joseph J. Ellis presents the nation’s founding as a moment shaped by a moral conflict that was postponed rather than resolved. The book highlights how the promise of freedom coexisted with a system that denied it to millions. It’s a reminder that history is often complicated and uncomfortable and that grappling with those contradictions is part of why studying the past is so meaningful and important.
March 13, 2026
4.5 This is a thought provoking look at two “failures” that founding fathers in establishing a new national formed ideals “all men are created equal.” The issue of slavery is major focus of this book especially highlighting the moral struggles of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
The sad treatment of Native Americans that Washington tried begin to address was explored.
The one omission in the I noticed is that It was not mentioned about relationship of Thomas Jefferson with Sally Hemmings, an enslaved woman and their children.
The sad treatment of Native Americans that Washington tried begin to address was explored.
The one omission in the I noticed is that It was not mentioned about relationship of Thomas Jefferson with Sally Hemmings, an enslaved woman and their children.
Did Not Finish
November 12, 2025"It dawned on me, gradually, that for the same reason that religions require divinely inspired prophets, emerging nations seem to require mythological heroes. Think Odysseus for Greece, Romulus and Remus for Rome, King Arthur for England." set me off in so many different ways that i'm just cutting my losses on this one. you're telling me that you, a historian specializing in the founding of the united states, do not even know the definition of a nation? can't even get started on the king arthur thing but please know that i'm weeping blood.
April 12, 2026
Engaging and informative, but starts from the (I think faulty) premise that the U.S. founding was an inherently good thing. Ellis's predominant argument is that the founders did the best they could while still successfully unifying the colonies, and I simply think the thing they easily could have done better is not enslave people and colonize others.
November 25, 2025
Accessible history of the thought and thinking of founding fathers over issues of enslavement and the treatment of native American persons.
December 30, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up to a 5. Ellis's writing is engaging and accessible (as always), and this short book doesn't mince words about the founding generation's failures with respect to slavery and Native American policy. Particularly important book in 2025 and on the heels of the 250th.
April 14, 2026
A book that should be taught in all US History classes.
January 31, 2026
The founders were so close to an immortal greatness but couldn’t let go of their final vice.
November 5, 2025
“Looking forward, one could safely predict that prominent leaders in Virginia would wrap themselves in the Confederate flag, embrace the myth of the “Lost Cause,” vehemently oppose the civil rights movement, and derive their sense of significance by standing proudly on the wrong side of American history.”
January 15, 2026
Thomas Jefferson helped declare that “all men are created equal” while owning human beings trafficked through the transatlantic slave system, and that moral schizophrenia defines the American founding. The Great Contradiction shows that the Founders were fully aware of the violence they were protecting: by the mid-1700s, racialized chattel slavery had been entrenched in all thirteen colonies for well over a century, and the Native American slave trade had already brutalized the continent for more than a hundred years before the Declaration of Independence was issued against British “tyranny” in 1776. Writing liberty into law while practicing enslavement and dispossession required not confusion, but sociopathic compartmentalization—the ability to universalize rights in theory while denying humanity in practice. This was not a tragic contradiction or youthful hypocrisy; it was a deliberate moral architecture that allowed slaveholders to enshrine freedom for themselves while hard-coding bondage for others.
The American founding wasn’t betrayed by its ideals—it was built by men disturbed enough to proclaim them while enslaving others.
November 9, 2025
Joseph J. Ellis --- winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History for FOUNDING BROTHERS: The Revolutionary Generation and the National Book Award for AMERICAN SPHINX: The Character of Thomas Jefferson --- has long been regarded as one of the foremost contemporary scholars of the Revolutionary Era.
In THE GREAT CONTRADICTION: The Tragic Side of the American Founding, Ellis examines “two legacies of the founding era that must be noticed, and both qualify as enormous tragedies.” Those legacies --- the utter failure to end slavery “or, more realistically, put it on the road to extinction,” and the unsuccessful attempt to protect the territorial rights of the fledgling nation’s Native American population --- have haunted the country throughout its history.
From the outset, Ellis acknowledges the gulf that separates the Declaration of Independence’s soaring rhetoric of equality from the political realities confronting the founders as they strove first to unite to win a war against the powerful British Empire, and then to navigate the by-no-means assured transition from a loose affiliation of states jealous of their identities and prerogatives to a unified nation.
Beginning with the debates of the Continental Congress, Ellis recognizes that when it came to the slave trade and slavery, “moral considerations had no role to play in the deliberations.” He argues that in severing the colonies’ ties with the British Empire, unlike historic revolutionaries like Robespierre, Lenin and Mao, “the leaders of the American resistance were not utopian visionaries, but, rather, an assemblage of pragmatic statesmen accustomed to negotiating the space between ideals and realities in their respective colonial governments.” For them, at all times, “there was a clear consensus that slavery was a taboo topic with the explosive potential to blow up any pretense of political unity.”
In this concise but well-sourced and lucid account, Ellis explains how once the war had been won (with the aid of at least 5,000 Black soldiers, though some 10,000 to 12,000 fought on the British side), that perspective carried over into the debates surrounding the drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution. In his view, the vision of a national government advanced by men like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay was nothing less than a “coup d’etat,” but one doomed to failure if abolitionists had pressed their arguments to their ultimate conclusion. In detailing the four sectional compromises over slavery that were part of this process, he argues that pragmatism ultimately triumphed over principle, as it became clear that any effort to abolish the slave trade, let alone emancipate the nearly 700,000 slaves living in America by 1790, doomed the federal project to failure.
Ellis devotes considerably less attention to the story of the failed attempt to put policy toward Native Americans on a more humane path. Most of his discussion concerns the efforts of George Washington and his Secretary of War, Henry Knox, to negotiate the pact formalized as the Treaty of New York in August 1790 with the colorful and controversial chief of the Creek Nation, Alexander McGillivray. “They inherited an Indian policy headed inexorably toward the extermination of Indian Country east of the Mississippi,” Ellis writes in describing the challenge facing Washington and Knox, “and they attempted to turn it around.”
The treaty, signed amid a celebratory atmosphere, was intended to protect the Creeks and allied tribes in the face of rapid settlement of their homelands. But as Ellis explains, the good intentions it embodied were swamped by the demographic realities of an expanding white American population and a shrinking Native American one. “No political effort to contain or control this explosion stood much chance of success,” he argues. And by the time of Andrew Jackson’s presidency and the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, a policy antithetical to the one pursued by Washington and Knox had long held sway.
THE GREAT CONTRADICTION concludes with brief portraits of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in their final years, contrasting Washington’s decision to free his Mount Vernon slaves in his will with Jefferson’s refusal to do so based on his judgment that emancipation without repatriation of America’s slave population was impossible. In different but related ways, the actions of both men epitomize the tragedy of this era of American history.
In a work that is both clear-eyed and sympathetic, Ellis --- who describes his efforts during the past four decades as “dedicated to rescuing the founders from the electromagnetic field we have constructed around them, asserting that “the mythology surrounding the founding generation was a fog bank that needed to be blown away” --- thoughtfully fulfills his mission. In doing so, he enables us to see, and perhaps identify with, America's founders in their full humanity. Despite all their undeniable achievements, the legacies of these leaders must be weighed against their inability to rise above their circumstances and do what they knew to be right.
Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg
In THE GREAT CONTRADICTION: The Tragic Side of the American Founding, Ellis examines “two legacies of the founding era that must be noticed, and both qualify as enormous tragedies.” Those legacies --- the utter failure to end slavery “or, more realistically, put it on the road to extinction,” and the unsuccessful attempt to protect the territorial rights of the fledgling nation’s Native American population --- have haunted the country throughout its history.
From the outset, Ellis acknowledges the gulf that separates the Declaration of Independence’s soaring rhetoric of equality from the political realities confronting the founders as they strove first to unite to win a war against the powerful British Empire, and then to navigate the by-no-means assured transition from a loose affiliation of states jealous of their identities and prerogatives to a unified nation.
Beginning with the debates of the Continental Congress, Ellis recognizes that when it came to the slave trade and slavery, “moral considerations had no role to play in the deliberations.” He argues that in severing the colonies’ ties with the British Empire, unlike historic revolutionaries like Robespierre, Lenin and Mao, “the leaders of the American resistance were not utopian visionaries, but, rather, an assemblage of pragmatic statesmen accustomed to negotiating the space between ideals and realities in their respective colonial governments.” For them, at all times, “there was a clear consensus that slavery was a taboo topic with the explosive potential to blow up any pretense of political unity.”
In this concise but well-sourced and lucid account, Ellis explains how once the war had been won (with the aid of at least 5,000 Black soldiers, though some 10,000 to 12,000 fought on the British side), that perspective carried over into the debates surrounding the drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution. In his view, the vision of a national government advanced by men like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay was nothing less than a “coup d’etat,” but one doomed to failure if abolitionists had pressed their arguments to their ultimate conclusion. In detailing the four sectional compromises over slavery that were part of this process, he argues that pragmatism ultimately triumphed over principle, as it became clear that any effort to abolish the slave trade, let alone emancipate the nearly 700,000 slaves living in America by 1790, doomed the federal project to failure.
Ellis devotes considerably less attention to the story of the failed attempt to put policy toward Native Americans on a more humane path. Most of his discussion concerns the efforts of George Washington and his Secretary of War, Henry Knox, to negotiate the pact formalized as the Treaty of New York in August 1790 with the colorful and controversial chief of the Creek Nation, Alexander McGillivray. “They inherited an Indian policy headed inexorably toward the extermination of Indian Country east of the Mississippi,” Ellis writes in describing the challenge facing Washington and Knox, “and they attempted to turn it around.”
The treaty, signed amid a celebratory atmosphere, was intended to protect the Creeks and allied tribes in the face of rapid settlement of their homelands. But as Ellis explains, the good intentions it embodied were swamped by the demographic realities of an expanding white American population and a shrinking Native American one. “No political effort to contain or control this explosion stood much chance of success,” he argues. And by the time of Andrew Jackson’s presidency and the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, a policy antithetical to the one pursued by Washington and Knox had long held sway.
THE GREAT CONTRADICTION concludes with brief portraits of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in their final years, contrasting Washington’s decision to free his Mount Vernon slaves in his will with Jefferson’s refusal to do so based on his judgment that emancipation without repatriation of America’s slave population was impossible. In different but related ways, the actions of both men epitomize the tragedy of this era of American history.
In a work that is both clear-eyed and sympathetic, Ellis --- who describes his efforts during the past four decades as “dedicated to rescuing the founders from the electromagnetic field we have constructed around them, asserting that “the mythology surrounding the founding generation was a fog bank that needed to be blown away” --- thoughtfully fulfills his mission. In doing so, he enables us to see, and perhaps identify with, America's founders in their full humanity. Despite all their undeniable achievements, the legacies of these leaders must be weighed against their inability to rise above their circumstances and do what they knew to be right.
Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg
May 7, 2026
Contradiction vs Context and a Glimpse of Personal Varnish
Joseph Ellis has earned a reputation for looking at America’s founding and the founders themselves beneath the varnish that tends to get glossed over by many contemporary appraisals. It’s our natural tendency both to be anachronistic as to context and biased as to interpretation. In his interesting book, “The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding”, Ellis approaches his subject without the varnish. Interestingly, however, he reveals in his acknowledgments a personal bias, which he admits was impossible to ignore in the writing of the book.
“The Great Contradiction” examines two troublesome historical stains on the founding: slavery and treatment of the Indian population. Neither failure is new consideration, and both often are varnished, either as excusable for the greater benefits of the founding or as unconscionable and unforgiveable, outweighing any other benefits. While I lean strongly toward the former bias, it is valuable to consider why our founding was blemished in these important issues. Both have shaped our history ever since.
Ellis is fair in his assessment of the context of slavery in eighteenth century America. This was, of course, the great problem that held the key to independence and the creation of a strong nation instead of a weak confederation. Insisting on its cessation would have made the founding impossible. Ignoring the problem would have put the founding on a precarious moral framework. The founders themselves were conflicted as beneficiaries of the institution or as staunch abolitionists. Ellis treats the dilemma honestly and gives great color to the deliberations and compromises. It’s an interesting consideration of the context of the times, but criticizing it as a contradiction with the founding ideals is, unfortunately, wishful thinking from our anachronistic perch. On balance, Ellis is fair.
The problem of what the founders were to do about the native population of American Indians in the face of unbridled pioneer settlement typically gets less attention than slavery. Ellis illuminates the issue with a focus on the early problem Washington faced with the Creek Nation. This issue was not only about the treatment of the indigenous people, but was essential to the clear establishment of federal vs state power. As such, its implications spread in many directions. Ellis introduces us to behind-the-scenes strategies and to interesting and significant participants. Much of his analysis centers on the fascinating Alexander McGillivray, leader of the Creek peoples and heretofore unknown to me. Illuminating.
While reading “The Great Contradiction” I found myself thinking about the great divisiveness and contradictions of our present American time. How will history look back upon the context of these times and situations? Obviously, the outcomes and repercussions will be telling, a situation that, in some ways, mirrors that of the Founding. We have our present opinions and preferences, vastly divided though they are, but what will be the lasting implications? I think that is a good lesson of “The Great Contradiction”, so I found it odd and surprising for Ellis to give us a glimpse of his own prejudices in his acknowledgments, where he admits to having been unable in his writing “to ignore the thinly disguised racial prejudice inherent in the slogan to ‘Make America Great Again.’” While I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool MAGA proponent in all its facets, I think Ellis’ characterization is absurd and deeply prejudicial. I would have hoped for greater appreciation of context from a writer who finds context so critical in history.
Joseph Ellis has earned a reputation for looking at America’s founding and the founders themselves beneath the varnish that tends to get glossed over by many contemporary appraisals. It’s our natural tendency both to be anachronistic as to context and biased as to interpretation. In his interesting book, “The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding”, Ellis approaches his subject without the varnish. Interestingly, however, he reveals in his acknowledgments a personal bias, which he admits was impossible to ignore in the writing of the book.
“The Great Contradiction” examines two troublesome historical stains on the founding: slavery and treatment of the Indian population. Neither failure is new consideration, and both often are varnished, either as excusable for the greater benefits of the founding or as unconscionable and unforgiveable, outweighing any other benefits. While I lean strongly toward the former bias, it is valuable to consider why our founding was blemished in these important issues. Both have shaped our history ever since.
Ellis is fair in his assessment of the context of slavery in eighteenth century America. This was, of course, the great problem that held the key to independence and the creation of a strong nation instead of a weak confederation. Insisting on its cessation would have made the founding impossible. Ignoring the problem would have put the founding on a precarious moral framework. The founders themselves were conflicted as beneficiaries of the institution or as staunch abolitionists. Ellis treats the dilemma honestly and gives great color to the deliberations and compromises. It’s an interesting consideration of the context of the times, but criticizing it as a contradiction with the founding ideals is, unfortunately, wishful thinking from our anachronistic perch. On balance, Ellis is fair.
The problem of what the founders were to do about the native population of American Indians in the face of unbridled pioneer settlement typically gets less attention than slavery. Ellis illuminates the issue with a focus on the early problem Washington faced with the Creek Nation. This issue was not only about the treatment of the indigenous people, but was essential to the clear establishment of federal vs state power. As such, its implications spread in many directions. Ellis introduces us to behind-the-scenes strategies and to interesting and significant participants. Much of his analysis centers on the fascinating Alexander McGillivray, leader of the Creek peoples and heretofore unknown to me. Illuminating.
While reading “The Great Contradiction” I found myself thinking about the great divisiveness and contradictions of our present American time. How will history look back upon the context of these times and situations? Obviously, the outcomes and repercussions will be telling, a situation that, in some ways, mirrors that of the Founding. We have our present opinions and preferences, vastly divided though they are, but what will be the lasting implications? I think that is a good lesson of “The Great Contradiction”, so I found it odd and surprising for Ellis to give us a glimpse of his own prejudices in his acknowledgments, where he admits to having been unable in his writing “to ignore the thinly disguised racial prejudice inherent in the slogan to ‘Make America Great Again.’” While I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool MAGA proponent in all its facets, I think Ellis’ characterization is absurd and deeply prejudicial. I would have hoped for greater appreciation of context from a writer who finds context so critical in history.
November 17, 2025
This is a review of "The Great Contradiction" The tragic side of the American founding by Joseph j Ellis. I have read this book and have some things that I would like you to know about this author and this narrative. Joseph j Ellis is a proven and award winning top nationally acclaimed author and historian. He is a Known intellectual, concerning research and an accurate telling of whatever subject he might be discussing. You will find that all of his statements, all of the information you have never heard is documented in the back of the book under notes and abbreviations.
I have read all of his printed works and have the utmost respect for the honest way he delivers any subject. He is truthful, honest and his directness of the subject is enlightening and unusual. These are just a few of the gifts this author and historian brings to the written page.
This book is the most to the point complete narrative to the buildup to the revolution for independence that I have ever read. He offers you the real result of that struggle. Mr Ellis gives us the reasons with a deep insight as to what led up to war. I say the reasons will surprise you. I'm a 65-year-old American who has attended two colleges and studied as an amateur historian. Mr Ellis has offered truth between the lines ,truth of history that we were never taught. The extreme aversion to harmonious collaboration with the black race is centuries old ignorance. This book is totally enlightening in the real thoughts and results of our struggle for independence. You will be shocked to learn ,we were governed by mob rule. The individual states and the people within the states made the rules. Folks did as they pleased for years. No federal government as we know it is in sight. Not for years to come. The founding fathers generation were a mass of contradictions. Mr Ellis explains the slavery issue was always on the table, to be abolished. Our founding fathers or the founding generation, knew that it was repugnant and a violation to man; they did address it over and over again only to table it from fear. There were many reasons most were financial and some were the inability to deal with an integrated community and a white race that might become diluted with The blood of their slaves. This was almost 100 years before the civil war.
Mr Ellis explains the Native American plight ,which was basically lies, treaties that were broken mainly by the people settling in their territory. The murders that you read about were mainly committed by mob rule, again the US government is not yet set up. Note, we're dealing with the years in the 1790s. It's really a surprise to me to find out how long it took to set up a functioning federal government. You will learn what I call the truth in our historic paperwork, documents and the attitude of the founders. After reading this you can really understand why the country is set up as it is. One could predict some of the future if you were standing in 1793 and looking at the information I just read. Actually some did but it did no good.
This is a book that will enlighten you it will fill in all the gaps you've never learned that you didn't know existed. Mr Ellis tells our story as blunt and truthful as you have never heard. I truly enjoyed learning the truth of our founding some of the subjects are quite upsetting, but so is some of our history. Hopefully we can learn from these filled in voids of information.
Was equality ever really on the table? Read the" Great Contradiction"by Joseph j Ellis okay and find out.
March 3, 2026
The founding fathers of the American Revolution are often treated with near god-like qualities. Indeed, they exhibited great courage in risking their lives and treasure in an audacious attempt to defeat the greatest military power of the time – England.
Although many American history books have long described the founding fathers in this light, relatively little attention has been given to the “Great Contradiction” as described by author and historian Joseph Ellis. That contradiction, of course, was slavery. Simply put how could a government founded on the principles of the Declaration of Independence have allowed slavery to continue. The simple answer according to Ellis was practicality. The 13 original colonies would never have been united against England had slavery been prohibited. The Constitution would never have been adopted by the colonies to replace the ineffective Articles of Confederation if the slave trade were abolished.
Some critics of the book have claimed it is unfair to the founding fathers especially Washington and Jefferson- both slaveholders - to use today’s morality in judging these leaders. But what these critics ignore, and Ellis highlights is the fact that slavery was condemned by many American leaders at the time of the revolution and the drafting of the Constitution. Even by the standards of the day, slavery was morally repugnant to several of the Founding Fathers including John Adams.
So, the overall result was good though the compromises to get there were morally flawed, and Ellis does a wonderful job of highlighting that contradiction without preaching.
But for me the most interesting part of the book were the chapters devoted to issues relating to the Native Americans. Washington realized some agreement was needed to allow some settlements in the areas east of the Mississippi River. To that end negotiations began with Alexander McGillivary the leader of the Creek Nation. I knew nothing of this Native American who was the son of a Muscogee mother and a Scottish father. He was educated in the British colonies and was able to negotiate in the Kings English with Washington and other American leaders. The negotiations took place in New York amid much pomp and circumstance.
As great as Washington was in leading the revolutionary forces and being the first president, he was naive when it came to confronting the Native American issue. He believed troops could enforce the agreement separating settlers from Native Americans while preserving their tribal lands. The sheer numbers of settlers, however, streaming west even in the early years of the republic doomed this agreement to fail. According to Ellis, this was one more example of American leaders ignoring reality. The eventual resettlement or death for thousands of Native Americans would make a mockery of this and many other such agreements.
Once again, the ideas outlined in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal did not apply to slaves or Native Americans, thus the Great Contradiction. As we near the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence it is worth keeping this contradiction in mind as we praise the courage and foresight of the Founding Fathers.
Although many American history books have long described the founding fathers in this light, relatively little attention has been given to the “Great Contradiction” as described by author and historian Joseph Ellis. That contradiction, of course, was slavery. Simply put how could a government founded on the principles of the Declaration of Independence have allowed slavery to continue. The simple answer according to Ellis was practicality. The 13 original colonies would never have been united against England had slavery been prohibited. The Constitution would never have been adopted by the colonies to replace the ineffective Articles of Confederation if the slave trade were abolished.
Some critics of the book have claimed it is unfair to the founding fathers especially Washington and Jefferson- both slaveholders - to use today’s morality in judging these leaders. But what these critics ignore, and Ellis highlights is the fact that slavery was condemned by many American leaders at the time of the revolution and the drafting of the Constitution. Even by the standards of the day, slavery was morally repugnant to several of the Founding Fathers including John Adams.
So, the overall result was good though the compromises to get there were morally flawed, and Ellis does a wonderful job of highlighting that contradiction without preaching.
But for me the most interesting part of the book were the chapters devoted to issues relating to the Native Americans. Washington realized some agreement was needed to allow some settlements in the areas east of the Mississippi River. To that end negotiations began with Alexander McGillivary the leader of the Creek Nation. I knew nothing of this Native American who was the son of a Muscogee mother and a Scottish father. He was educated in the British colonies and was able to negotiate in the Kings English with Washington and other American leaders. The negotiations took place in New York amid much pomp and circumstance.
As great as Washington was in leading the revolutionary forces and being the first president, he was naive when it came to confronting the Native American issue. He believed troops could enforce the agreement separating settlers from Native Americans while preserving their tribal lands. The sheer numbers of settlers, however, streaming west even in the early years of the republic doomed this agreement to fail. According to Ellis, this was one more example of American leaders ignoring reality. The eventual resettlement or death for thousands of Native Americans would make a mockery of this and many other such agreements.
Once again, the ideas outlined in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal did not apply to slaves or Native Americans, thus the Great Contradiction. As we near the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence it is worth keeping this contradiction in mind as we praise the courage and foresight of the Founding Fathers.
December 23, 2025
I read The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding on the heels of Joseph Ellis' Revolutionary Summer and found that the two books—both slim volumes averaging just over 200 pages of text each—complement each other quite smoothly and, taken together, are equally effective in abolishing many of the national myths that we learned from childhood on up and in replacing them with much more realistic, actual history. Having now used a word that will undoubtedly turn potential readers away from both books, I must hasten to stress that this is readable—I'm tempted to say entertaining—history that is a far cry from that boring history book we had to wade through in our public school days.
In The Great Contradiction, Ellis addresses three principal topics very clearly: the machinations, deals, trade-offs and heavy politicking that produced an intentionally ambiguous document that the U.S. calls its Constitution; the abject failure of the so-called “Founders” to abolish slavery when they may have had the opportunity, as well as their valiant but equally failed attempt to safeguard the rights of the previous inhabitants of the land, the American “Indians”; and how the personalities of several primary actors--Adams, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Monroe, etc.—shaped the future of the confederation of states during their infancy.
Readers certainly emerge from a reading of The Great Contradiction with a clear (and probably new) understanding of the two-and-a-half-century old conflict between Federalists and “states righters.” Those of us who thought that was a 20th and 21st century disagreement have been mistaken. It's been a point of contention since before the States were ever United.
Now, if one absolutely insists on stark, objective facts and believes that nuances and implications have no place in a book dealing with historical matters, such a reader may well levy a string of criticisms against Ellis in his handling of the “Great Contradiction” in the nation's founding. Of all his books, this one may be the most forthright in expressing the author's beliefs and opinions as well as his approvals and disapprovals. In the case of Joseph J. Ellis, I do not find this objectionable because he is a noted expert in his field of American history, and, along with Nathaniel Philbrick, he is among the most knowledgeable authors in that field that I have read. I trust his opinions and conclusions to be based on meticulous study and am perfectly satisfied that he should express them in his analyses of events, their causes, and their effects.
Readers will, I believe, find The Great Contradiction to be a quick yet intriguing read that will not only hold their interest throughout but will also imbue them with a greater and more accurate understanding of the fraught and ambiguous environment in which the States would become more or less united as an actual nation rather than the loose confederation in which they found themselves once the treaty of 1783 formally ended the Revolution. The book is assuredly worth the reader's time, attention, and enjoyment.
In The Great Contradiction, Ellis addresses three principal topics very clearly: the machinations, deals, trade-offs and heavy politicking that produced an intentionally ambiguous document that the U.S. calls its Constitution; the abject failure of the so-called “Founders” to abolish slavery when they may have had the opportunity, as well as their valiant but equally failed attempt to safeguard the rights of the previous inhabitants of the land, the American “Indians”; and how the personalities of several primary actors--Adams, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Monroe, etc.—shaped the future of the confederation of states during their infancy.
Readers certainly emerge from a reading of The Great Contradiction with a clear (and probably new) understanding of the two-and-a-half-century old conflict between Federalists and “states righters.” Those of us who thought that was a 20th and 21st century disagreement have been mistaken. It's been a point of contention since before the States were ever United.
Now, if one absolutely insists on stark, objective facts and believes that nuances and implications have no place in a book dealing with historical matters, such a reader may well levy a string of criticisms against Ellis in his handling of the “Great Contradiction” in the nation's founding. Of all his books, this one may be the most forthright in expressing the author's beliefs and opinions as well as his approvals and disapprovals. In the case of Joseph J. Ellis, I do not find this objectionable because he is a noted expert in his field of American history, and, along with Nathaniel Philbrick, he is among the most knowledgeable authors in that field that I have read. I trust his opinions and conclusions to be based on meticulous study and am perfectly satisfied that he should express them in his analyses of events, their causes, and their effects.
Readers will, I believe, find The Great Contradiction to be a quick yet intriguing read that will not only hold their interest throughout but will also imbue them with a greater and more accurate understanding of the fraught and ambiguous environment in which the States would become more or less united as an actual nation rather than the loose confederation in which they found themselves once the treaty of 1783 formally ended the Revolution. The book is assuredly worth the reader's time, attention, and enjoyment.
December 26, 2025
This was a gift from my wife for Christmas, and I greatly appreciate it because I consider Joseph Ellis to be the best modern voice on the Founding Era / Founding Fathers and because I learned several new specific facts about that time period.
In this brief book Ellis argues that the Founders made two grievous errors and both were contradictory to the ideas that the drove the Revolution: (1) They did not create a path, gradual or immediate, for the abolition of slavery. (2) They failed to create a workable plan for protecting tribal lands of American Indians and likewise a workable plan for incorporating Indians into the United States as residents and/or citizens. More particularly, Ellis looks at how both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington wrestle with these two issues both mentally and politically.
Some interesting tidbits:
Between 1550 and 1860, European vessels embarked with 12.5 million African captives and landed 10.7 million in the New World. This means, 1.8 million died during the Middle Passage, a staggering number! Of the survivors, only 400,000 (4%) went to North America. Most went to South America and the Caribbean.
George Whitefield and other Great Awakening preachers typically promoted abolition and/or equality. Whitefield wrote, "Do you think you are any better by Nature than the poor Negroes? No, in no wise. Blacks are just as much, and no more, conceived and born in sin, as White men are."
Abraham Lincoln wrote this about Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence: "All honor to Jefferson, to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there, that today, and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling block to the very harbingers of re-applying tyranny and oppression."
At the end of the Revolutionary War, it is estimated that 10% of the Continental Army was Black soldiers.
34 of the 55 Constitutional Convention delegates were slave owners. George Washington was aided by his man servant, Billy Lee, throughout the entirety of the proceedings.
Due to the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitution, Jefferson was referred to as "the Negro President" after his narrow victory in the election of 1800.
Calvin Coolidge was distantly related to Jefferson. Jefferson had a granddaughter who married and moved to Boston. Her name was Ellen Randolph Coolidge.
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe all died bankrupt even though they owned substantial plantations and large numbers of slaves.
Lastly, during his first term as POTUS, Washington told his Cabinet that, if there was a civil war during his lifetime, he would side with the North. Jefferson leaked this info to his friends in Virginia and they then regarded Mt. Vernon as an "enemy outpost."
In this brief book Ellis argues that the Founders made two grievous errors and both were contradictory to the ideas that the drove the Revolution: (1) They did not create a path, gradual or immediate, for the abolition of slavery. (2) They failed to create a workable plan for protecting tribal lands of American Indians and likewise a workable plan for incorporating Indians into the United States as residents and/or citizens. More particularly, Ellis looks at how both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington wrestle with these two issues both mentally and politically.
Some interesting tidbits:
Between 1550 and 1860, European vessels embarked with 12.5 million African captives and landed 10.7 million in the New World. This means, 1.8 million died during the Middle Passage, a staggering number! Of the survivors, only 400,000 (4%) went to North America. Most went to South America and the Caribbean.
George Whitefield and other Great Awakening preachers typically promoted abolition and/or equality. Whitefield wrote, "Do you think you are any better by Nature than the poor Negroes? No, in no wise. Blacks are just as much, and no more, conceived and born in sin, as White men are."
Abraham Lincoln wrote this about Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence: "All honor to Jefferson, to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there, that today, and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling block to the very harbingers of re-applying tyranny and oppression."
At the end of the Revolutionary War, it is estimated that 10% of the Continental Army was Black soldiers.
34 of the 55 Constitutional Convention delegates were slave owners. George Washington was aided by his man servant, Billy Lee, throughout the entirety of the proceedings.
Due to the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitution, Jefferson was referred to as "the Negro President" after his narrow victory in the election of 1800.
Calvin Coolidge was distantly related to Jefferson. Jefferson had a granddaughter who married and moved to Boston. Her name was Ellen Randolph Coolidge.
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe all died bankrupt even though they owned substantial plantations and large numbers of slaves.
Lastly, during his first term as POTUS, Washington told his Cabinet that, if there was a civil war during his lifetime, he would side with the North. Jefferson leaked this info to his friends in Virginia and they then regarded Mt. Vernon as an "enemy outpost."
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