The Founders Unmasked

by Jennifer Sabin

Introducing a new nonfiction series for the next generation of activists, uncovering the hidden history of The United States through an anti-racist lens.

Complete with an 8-page full color photo insert, the debut title in the series shines a light on long-hidden truths about the men—and women—surrounding the birth of America.

Genres: History, Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Reference, Biography

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2022

Reviews

[Andrew]

You've probably all heard of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and other names that ring as the voices of America's Founding Fathers and helped shape America.
HOWEVER...
Do you know about Ona Judge, Sally Hemings, Robert Hemings, Crispus Attucks or Paul Jennings?
These and millions like them were some of the enslaved peoples owned by founding fathers.
Their stories deserve a voice.
Paul Jennings was a bi-racial (son to a Native American woman and white man) enslaved man-servant to James Madison, who upon his owner's death, expected freedom from Dolley, but did not receive it.
Ona Judge, who escaped from the Washington's multiple times and was never recaptured and then wrote her story.
Robert Hemings, who was an enslaved servant to Thomas Jefferson, serving as his personal valet with no choice or future in life, who was there when Jefferson signed the declaration;
Sally Hemings, the beautiful and heart-breaking story of a slave who was owned by Thomas Jefferson in multiple capacities;
Crispus Attucks, one of the reasons many African-Americans fought in the American Revolution, because Crispus was one of the first victims who was shot at the Boston Massacre.

The book does a fantastic job of giving as many of the facts and biographies on both the historic acts and peoples of the time, including Alexander Hamilton and his stances, Frederick Douglass as a statesman, the forgotten founding father (whose life really did suck and he is often ignored or left out due to the MANY life issues he had) Gouveneur Morris, Mary Katharine Goddard (the first female Newspaper owner and the first one to print a copy of the Declaration of Independence), as well as the above-mentioned founders.
It features definition blurbs, goes into the breakdown of laws and constitutional acts by the original Congress with recaps and offers up discussion points in a very fair manner.
It is heartbreaking to know/see/remember that my American History classes were very white-washed and painted George Washington as an all-around hero, despite him being a slave owner and nearly committing the genocide of an entire nation of Indigenous peoples.
Thomas Jefferson's story of "holding the wolf by the ear" attitude about slavery is interesting to note, considering more hypocrisy has popped up about him and his views more than any other of the founding fathers.
An interesting and fascinating thing that I hadn't known...of the original founding fathers only ONE major figure NEVER owned slaves: John Adams, second president of the United States.
The book is full of this and many more factoids.
I do hope that history is continually unearthed in the unspoken voices of the marginalized demographics and allowing them to be shared.
This is one of those books that all school, public and university libraries should own.

[Ryan]

The Founders Unmasked is a set at a different perspective of history when learning about America's Founding Fathers. While Washington, Madison, Franklin and Jefferson tends to be some of the more famous figures we know of today, their legacies can be considered a bit glamorized or whitewashed to extent. What author Jennifer Sabin attempts with Unmasked is to speak about the Founding Fathers' impact on African Americans & Indigenous tribes in the formation of American history and human rights. Namely how, while they had the power, they ultimately left out numerous causes that could benefit the people of America. While we can lay some blame on the beliefs of the time, one does wonder how the country could've benefitted had some of these racial issues been recognized early on.

While not a book that's meant to badmouth American icons, it's a book that takes our Founders down from the god-like pedestals we've held them on, and see them as more human. And as humans, they have flaws with their gifts. This doesn't negate the good they've done in making history, but it does reveal a somewhat problematic legacy when majority of them believed people of color to be less than their own. Sabin brings up well-known facts and uses references in the discoveries of certain secrets of these men have hidden. She also notes about certain marginalized individuals who deserves some recognition in their stories. The points she brought up are just, as while the Fathers are the one who created the works, it was the enslaved who helped do the actual footwork to make it possible for their cause.

As she states at the end, the best way to ensure we do not repeat history is to go back to the past and learn all there is to know. And to add, that laws should change with time. Doing so, we should be able to comprehend what not to do, to make a better now & future. With ongoing systematic racism and other social-related issues going on, Founders Unmasked is a book that new generations can read to understand context of why some of these problems are still about. This is one history book that should be read in schools, as learning the past in a whitewashed way, would make learning history incomplete.

[Starry Night]

This book should be taught in elementary schools instead of the whitewashed and sanitized textbooks. Includes Indigenous people's history along with enslaved people. Includes lists for further reading and exploration and also questions at the end of the chapters for further discussions

[The Teaching Distillery]

With each chapter, you get basic information along with lesser known facts about our founding fathers; you get definition blurbs, breakdown of laws and constitutional acts by the original Congress, as well as recaps and discussion points for the information shared. The target audience may be middle school students, but adults will find information that will surely be new to them as well.

[Sharon]

Several academics, museum curators, and authors lend their expertise to paint a more complete picture of the Founders by providing distinct facts from the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Constitution, the Amendments, and many personal documents. Most of this has been available, and as a History major, I had read much of it. The problem has always been that the details were scattered over several books and were buried in various chapters, and then there was the problem of inconvenient truths. By unifying the facts under one umbrella, the author is able to make a factual historical presentation and deconstruct the myths that have been taught in schools since time immemorial. The goal, or umbrella if you will, of Founders Unmasked is to give an honest accounting of what the Founders wrote concerning slavery, and how they used slavery in their personal lives. Actions speak louder than words so they didn't do anything to outlaw slavery, except pass the problem to the next generation. The actions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison are highlighted, but chapters are also devoted to Sally Hemmings and Frederick Douglas. Of note was Douglas's 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” which was not included in any of my US coursework, and it should be studied as a primary source in all 7th through 12th grade history books. Founders Unmasked does not vilify, but it shows the Founders as having flaws. The information in this book is hard and inconvenient but I highly recommend for grades 7 and above, including adults. Thanks to netgalley and Penguin Workshop for the egalley.

[Our Weekend Is Booked]

My love of history made me eager to see True History The Founders Unmasked's new take on history. Despite not containing much new information, this book challenged us to see the Founders in a different light. There is no doubt that many of them contributed to the history of America, but they also had their own flaws, such as actively participating in slavery, which should not be forgotten.

The book is well researched with much of the information supported by historical evidence. Furthermore, it provides readers with a better understanding of the period. There are questions at the end of each chapter that the reader can reflect on. This book would be a great addition to classrooms as it can facilitate thought-provoking discussions.

This book is intended for children ages 10-13 which seems appropriate. In one section, the topic of consent and the life of a concubine was discussed, which may be disturbing for someone not yet mature enough to understand. Overall, the material in the book is easy to understand and presented in an engaging way.
*This review first appeared on yabookcentral.com*

[Alicia]

A new series that will be shared out that is "true history" diving in to topics to share stories that aren't often told because they're either whitewashed, discarded, still largely untold, and more. In this one, Sabin gathers historical interpreters, documents, and stories about the founding fathers. Specifically not to rehash their many accomplishments because they are still accomplishments but to identify the ways that they were imperfect people. And that's okay, but it should be discussed and not hidden.

It's easy to follow and a worthy series to pay attention to.

[Cienna]

An absolutely fantastic book on history for younger ages. I felt that I learned a lot from this and one day I hope to see books like this regularly in school. Challenges racism and the racist history of the US past.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Emily Myhren]

A great next step up for fans of the WHO HQ books.

[Ms. Yingling]

https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...

[Nicole Martin]

Solid, well written and researched upper elementary/middle school history books. Definitely one to include when your child asks you for more information about how to handle the nuances of the founding fathers and their history of racism and slavery