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Triumvirate: The Story of the Unlikely Alliance That Saved the Constitution and United the Nation
From noted historian Bruce Chadwick, acclaimed as "a writer incapable of dull storytelling," Triumvirate is the dramatic story of the uniting of a nation and the unlikely alliance at the heart of it all.
When the smoke cleared from Revolutionary War battlefields, independent-minded Americans turned against each other.
Strong individuals with wildly different personalities, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay joined forces to convince wary Americans and thirteen headstrong states to unite as one. Together they wrote the startlingly original Federalist Papers not as an exercise in governmental philosophy, but instead aimed at overcoming the common man's fears. Their relentless efforts laid the groundwork for ratifying the Constitution against rampant opposition.
When the smoke cleared from Revolutionary War battlefields, independent-minded Americans turned against each other.
Strong individuals with wildly different personalities, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay joined forces to convince wary Americans and thirteen headstrong states to unite as one. Together they wrote the startlingly original Federalist Papers not as an exercise in governmental philosophy, but instead aimed at overcoming the common man's fears. Their relentless efforts laid the groundwork for ratifying the Constitution against rampant opposition.
324 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
April 27, 2020
"No one in Philadelphia foresaw the vicious fight that would occur in the ratification conventions a fight that would determine whether or not there would even be a United States of America."
Chadwick's Triumvirate is a book solely focused on exploring the ratification process of the United States Constitution, the arguments from both the supporters of the Constitution, the Federalists, and those who opposed it, the Anti-Federalists, and what it took to get the constitution ratified by all 13 states so that a truly united country could be formed. As the title suggests, the story is told mostly through the three figures, the unlikely trio of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, who were the authors of the pro-constitution essays The Federalist papers and worked hard for months to get the constitution ratified.
I really liked this book. It was fun to read a book focused on just this moment in history and to really get into the arguments of both sides and learn just how vicious things got in media and on the convention floor. I knew the basics of what happened after the Constitution was written, at the ratification conventions and what the Federalists and Anti-Federalists where after, but this book definitely deepened my knowledge of this. For example, I had no idea that the lack of a Bill of Rights in the original constitution was such a big deal to the Anti-Federalists and was one of the main reasons for their determined opposition.
My one complaint is that the writing, though engaging and easy to read, occasionally got a bit repetitive. The same things were repeated - sometimes many times in one chapter - which got to be a bit taxing at times to read. But otherwise, I have no major complaints. This is a good, easy-to-comprehend book on a significant political event and moment in U.S. history and if you are at all interested and want to know more, I'd highly recommend the Triumvirate. You also get a crash course of sorts on significant players in early U.S. politics cause in some ways they all have their parts to play in this story.
Chadwick's Triumvirate is a book solely focused on exploring the ratification process of the United States Constitution, the arguments from both the supporters of the Constitution, the Federalists, and those who opposed it, the Anti-Federalists, and what it took to get the constitution ratified by all 13 states so that a truly united country could be formed. As the title suggests, the story is told mostly through the three figures, the unlikely trio of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, who were the authors of the pro-constitution essays The Federalist papers and worked hard for months to get the constitution ratified.
I really liked this book. It was fun to read a book focused on just this moment in history and to really get into the arguments of both sides and learn just how vicious things got in media and on the convention floor. I knew the basics of what happened after the Constitution was written, at the ratification conventions and what the Federalists and Anti-Federalists where after, but this book definitely deepened my knowledge of this. For example, I had no idea that the lack of a Bill of Rights in the original constitution was such a big deal to the Anti-Federalists and was one of the main reasons for their determined opposition.
My one complaint is that the writing, though engaging and easy to read, occasionally got a bit repetitive. The same things were repeated - sometimes many times in one chapter - which got to be a bit taxing at times to read. But otherwise, I have no major complaints. This is a good, easy-to-comprehend book on a significant political event and moment in U.S. history and if you are at all interested and want to know more, I'd highly recommend the Triumvirate. You also get a crash course of sorts on significant players in early U.S. politics cause in some ways they all have their parts to play in this story.
April 11, 2023
The book Triumvirate is a narrative of how the Big Three, Hamilton, Madison and Jay worked together to encourage and cajole the various members of the state conventions in voting for ratification of the new U.S. Constitution. Chadwick begins with the background of the Constitutional Convention and a history of these three gentlemen and their philosophies about this new government. The rest of the book then concentrates on three states, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia and their conventions. Chadwick weaves an excellent storyline about the fight for ratification in a way that the general public would find as an easy and interesting read.
July 12, 2022
4/5 stars.
Really enjoyed this detailed account of a forgotten part of American history- the race to ratify the Constitution. Why this is forgotten is beyond me, as the failure to ratify the Constitution would result in the fall of the United States early on!
I particularly liked how Chadwick focused less on the Federalist Papers (which, while extremely essential to the Federalists' success, are well known and commonly covered in American History lessons) and more on the ratification conventions themselves. Reading excerpts of the speeches that Hamilton, Madison, and Jay made at those conventions which in turn resulted in the creation of our Nation was extremely inspiring, to say the least. Would highly recommend.
Really enjoyed this detailed account of a forgotten part of American history- the race to ratify the Constitution. Why this is forgotten is beyond me, as the failure to ratify the Constitution would result in the fall of the United States early on!
I particularly liked how Chadwick focused less on the Federalist Papers (which, while extremely essential to the Federalists' success, are well known and commonly covered in American History lessons) and more on the ratification conventions themselves. Reading excerpts of the speeches that Hamilton, Madison, and Jay made at those conventions which in turn resulted in the creation of our Nation was extremely inspiring, to say the least. Would highly recommend.
May 9, 2021
Very in-depth review of the efforts taken to secure the signing of the Constitution in all the states. Madison, Jay and Monroe worked tirelessly through the Federalist Papers and attendance at the various state conventions. It became very apparent that newspaper techniques of twisting the truth to promote a specific narrative is not a new phenomenon. It happens in the 18th century at least as often if not more. Some of the writing seemed repetitive. I did walk away with a better appreciation for the reason behind some of the the contents of that most-important document.
July 16, 2019
I like history books that round out my pathetic knowledge of history and that give me perspective of how our government operates. This did all of this in an engaging way and I could see how some of our current national arguments started with the start of the constitution. And also how fluid the constitution was meant to be.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it could have been a bit shorter and still been as informative!
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it could have been a bit shorter and still been as informative!
May 7, 2019
Fascinating story of the personalities, industry and influence of Hamilton, Madison and Jay in creation of the Constitution and it’s ratification in each of the thirteen states. New respect for John Jay, the least known of the three.
August 17, 2019
Very well told! Great read!
April 16, 2026
Too much love for Madison, but what an achievement, actual common sense, which is so very uncommon in the world leaders.
July 21, 2009
The title of Bruce Chadwick's most recent historical book, "Triumvirate: The Story of The Unlikely Alliance That Saved the Constitution and United the Nation," lures in potential readers with promises of telling a not so often told story of how the United States' Constitution almost never came to be. Instead, this (unfortunate) reader found herself struggling through 270 pages of repetitive and clunky prose while trying to glean nuggets of knowledge she didn't already have from the pages of this book.
Needless to say, I was not happy with Chadwick's writing style. The best way I can describe it is that he was writing a term paper the night before it was due for a high school American History class. The sentences are incredibly short and clunky or incredibly long with independent clauses connected by commas (a giant pet peeve of mine). Most paragraphs are also incredibly short - one to three sentences tops and ended with a foot note reference. These references often times served no purpose in the narrative other than to demonstrate Chadwick's stellar research skills as well as his ability to pad his page count. And did I mention how repetitive the text was? I'm sure I did. I just wanted to do it again so I could impress upon any readers of this review just how annoying it is to read the same information (in almost the same exact sentence) over and over and over again. It got to the point that I was seriously starting to question the author's expectations regarding his readers' intelligence.
As for the content of the novel, I will repeat myself when I say that the author has stellar research skills. (Okay, that's the last time I'll do it. It's annoying isn't it? It's even annoying for me to repeat myself to you.) There is a lot to learn from this book, if you can get past the writing style and repetition. It is a fascinating story to read, even if we all know how it turns out.
Needless to say, I was not happy with Chadwick's writing style. The best way I can describe it is that he was writing a term paper the night before it was due for a high school American History class. The sentences are incredibly short and clunky or incredibly long with independent clauses connected by commas (a giant pet peeve of mine). Most paragraphs are also incredibly short - one to three sentences tops and ended with a foot note reference. These references often times served no purpose in the narrative other than to demonstrate Chadwick's stellar research skills as well as his ability to pad his page count. And did I mention how repetitive the text was? I'm sure I did. I just wanted to do it again so I could impress upon any readers of this review just how annoying it is to read the same information (in almost the same exact sentence) over and over and over again. It got to the point that I was seriously starting to question the author's expectations regarding his readers' intelligence.
As for the content of the novel, I will repeat myself when I say that the author has stellar research skills. (Okay, that's the last time I'll do it. It's annoying isn't it? It's even annoying for me to repeat myself to you.) There is a lot to learn from this book, if you can get past the writing style and repetition. It is a fascinating story to read, even if we all know how it turns out.
September 2, 2012
Important book for anyone interested in discussing our founding fathers and the Constitution. Intense, passionate battles (that differ remarkably little from the battles going on in politics today) give me some hope that our democracy has not been terribly sidetracked but is engaged in age-old disagreements over the balance of federal-state-individual rights. Hope!
Three stars because the book would be more easily read by history buffs. The beginning and ending were fascinating, almost a political thriller. Who would have guessed men would be shot and killed over arguments, or that political shenanigans would be as common (and underhanded) as today. The middle section dragged, as we are walked through every state and the process of getting support for ratification.
I do wish, before modern-day people start proclaiming their intentions of returning our nation to the original intent of Constitution and the wisdom of our founding fathers, that these people actually became familiar with historic reality. This book may not be the easiest to get through but it presents an excellent view and understanding of the intent and the compromise when some of America's most brilliant thinkers sat down to birth an entirely new form of government.
"If mankind were to resolve to agree in no institution of government until every part of it had been adjusted to the most exact standard of perfection, society would soon become a general scene of anarchy and the world a desert." ~~Hamilton.
We love our Constitution, but few Americans today realize how very close it came to being thrown out completely as a flawed and imperfect document.
Three stars because the book would be more easily read by history buffs. The beginning and ending were fascinating, almost a political thriller. Who would have guessed men would be shot and killed over arguments, or that political shenanigans would be as common (and underhanded) as today. The middle section dragged, as we are walked through every state and the process of getting support for ratification.
I do wish, before modern-day people start proclaiming their intentions of returning our nation to the original intent of Constitution and the wisdom of our founding fathers, that these people actually became familiar with historic reality. This book may not be the easiest to get through but it presents an excellent view and understanding of the intent and the compromise when some of America's most brilliant thinkers sat down to birth an entirely new form of government.
"If mankind were to resolve to agree in no institution of government until every part of it had been adjusted to the most exact standard of perfection, society would soon become a general scene of anarchy and the world a desert." ~~Hamilton.
We love our Constitution, but few Americans today realize how very close it came to being thrown out completely as a flawed and imperfect document.
September 27, 2016
The premise of the book was interesting: John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton worked together to bring about the approval of the Constitution in all 13 colonies.
Each of the majority of the chapters spotlights a particular state's battle during its gathering of great minds to not only focus on the geographical issues, but also note what the three men in the title were doing behind the scenes through letter writing and publishing to gain more supporters for the Constitution.
All the various names introduced in the book would be difficult to keep track of, but the author has kindly provided a list of the major players in the debates and which side they're on. I saw it at the beginning of the book. However, because I was on the Total Boox app (available through my library), I couldn't flip back and forth between that reference page and the one I was currently reading from. Since it took me several months to get through the book (in the app), I forgot some of the men's names and allegiances until the author made it explicit again.
However, the author and his supporters were not very thorough. About half a dozen times, I saw repeated sentences in the text, sometimes on the next page, sometimes several pages later. There were also a few typos in the text that made me jar out of my reading to notice them.
Overall a good read about these three men.
Each of the majority of the chapters spotlights a particular state's battle during its gathering of great minds to not only focus on the geographical issues, but also note what the three men in the title were doing behind the scenes through letter writing and publishing to gain more supporters for the Constitution.
All the various names introduced in the book would be difficult to keep track of, but the author has kindly provided a list of the major players in the debates and which side they're on. I saw it at the beginning of the book. However, because I was on the Total Boox app (available through my library), I couldn't flip back and forth between that reference page and the one I was currently reading from. Since it took me several months to get through the book (in the app), I forgot some of the men's names and allegiances until the author made it explicit again.
However, the author and his supporters were not very thorough. About half a dozen times, I saw repeated sentences in the text, sometimes on the next page, sometimes several pages later. There were also a few typos in the text that made me jar out of my reading to notice them.
Overall a good read about these three men.
February 14, 2016
Just getting started. Clear, engaging writing style. Of 55 delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Conference in Philadelphia nearly a quarter were slave owners (no surprise), 35 were lawyers (no surprise) and over half were college graduates (NINE from Princeton) in an age when very few men even attended college. What a collection of dedicated, talented men! Jay, Hamilton, and Madison then went on to write the Federalist Papers in hopes of convincing the states to endorse the newly drawn constitution granting powers to the federal government (much needed according to many but powerful men opposed these measures, such as Patrick Henry, George Mason and Samuel Adams). Many of the antifederalists were from the "provinces" but one of the main objections was the lack of a Bill of Rights and the Triumvirate felt no need to supply such amendments stating such rights were assumed within the new constitution as they had written it. Amazing how close the voting was in some states (the Constitution passed in NY State by only THREE votes and VA by 10).
June 9, 2021
An interesting account of the three authors of the Federalist Papers and their collective strategies and efforts to secure the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. It is not a heavy history, but still provides interesting background on the individuals and the challenges involved in seeking the ratification of the Constitution through the various state ratifying conventions.
January 23, 2015
Triumvirate, Chadwick's history of the anti-federalist vs federalist battle to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It was hard fought in Virginia (Patrick Henry and George Mason in opposition) Massachusetts and New York. It passed by only 3 votes in New York (w Gov Clinton leading the antis). The arguments eerily resemble ours of today. What tea-partiers fail to understand from their history is that the founders consciously chose more and stronger government. The constitution was the strong antidote to a weak government under the failed articles of confederation. Its opponents understood that. That was why they opposed its adoption. It is ironic that right wingers claim to be constitutionalists when they utterly fail to grasp the history that is so clear viz: the founders wanted a strengthened federal government at the expense of states' rights. They struck a balance, yes, but they argued for more not less government power. The Federalist papers make it quite plain.
July 23, 2013
Bruce Chadwick writes a history book like a novel. He sets up the characters and gets you to know them and like them. This book is well researched and I learned that the 2 year debate over the Constitution was an arduous and fiery one for both sides. It almost didn't look like all states would ratify it, effectively squashing the idea. Chadwick gives an effective description of the battle over ideas and political posturing of both sides. This book is highly recommend for anyone who is interested in how our great country came to be. I agree with Madison when he said of the US government, it is "the best legacy ever left by lawgivers to their country and the best lesson ever given to the world." It is imperative that as citizens we cherish this document and hold our legislators accountable for not following the rules enumerated in the Constitution.
April 22, 2013
Having read two biographies of Alexander Hamilton and one of John Jay, I didn't think I would get a lot out of this book. However, I ended up learning more about the fight to ratify the Constitution. As an ardent "Federalist" myself, I have to admit that they did come across as elitist and arrogant in their arguments. It seems if they had agreed to a Bill of Rights in the first place, they ratification battles would not have been so razor-thin in Mass., VA, and NY. My political hero, Alexander Hamilton, comes across also as arrogant and elitist, but, hey, he admits it. This is a definite recommend -- aside from the need for better editing (lots of repetition and actual grammar/spelling errors).
Read
June 20, 2009Bruce Chadwick's clarity of writing draws the reader into the struggle and strife the "triumvirate" faced to get our Constitution ratified. With Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, George Washington provided his support to achieve the impossible. This fine history book by the author of I Am Murdered re-enforces the importance of never allowing any one body, including the Supreme Court, to ever try to change our Constitution. "The power under the Constitution will always be in the people." (Tess A., Reader's Services)
July 11, 2013
This books recounts the time period between the passage of the United States Constitution and its ratification by the states, focusing on the incredible efforts taken by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison to secure its success. This turning point in American history was incredibly important, as the new nation easily could have descended into tyranny or civil war. The chapter about George Washington's role as a silent, fourth member of the triumvirate was particularly interesting. The writing style was a bit dry however and it just seemed to be lacking something.
October 20, 2014
I thought it was a great book dealing with how Jay, Hamilton and Madison work to get the Constitution ratified. It was neither a quick nor an easy fight. Sometimes, as we see with hindsight, the three were really wrong in some of their beliefs, and those that stood against them were right. It is even more interesting how many of the 'problems' those that stood against the Constitution, had with it, or foresaw in it, came to pass. Even in Washington's first term many of those 'fears' were realized in an expansion of federal power outside of the direct wording of the Constitution.
January 31, 2013
Fascinating period in American history that very few of us realize took place. I truly had no idea how long and intense the fight was between the Constitutionalists and the misnomered Anti-Constitutionalists for ratification. You will be stunned to find out what the two sides were fighting about!
Very in-depth character descriptions of John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason and many many more significant forefathers.
Very in-depth character descriptions of John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason and many many more significant forefathers.
August 27, 2016
I have never never read two books back-to-back on the same subject...an attempt to facilitate a mental break with subjects...but I was intrigued by the ratification of the Constitution and the players involved, so what the hell. Chadwick does well with simplification of the time period. An easy to understand high level view of the Founding Fathers, their thoughts and methods, and the World's reaction to the birth of our country.
February 19, 2013
We take our Constitution for granted, however, there was a great deal of arm twisting to get this passed. Some states were not in favour of this at all-New York and Virginia. Patrick Henry was against it. "Why does it start off with 'We, the people..' and not "We, the states...'?
This is a good book that goes into the passage of the Constitution and the powers behind the pro and con.
This is a good book that goes into the passage of the Constitution and the powers behind the pro and con.
July 16, 2012
I tried and tried but couldn't get ino this book. It's about 3 unlikely people, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay who join forces to convice American to unite as one. I found it slow and tedious.
March 2, 2015
Good discussion of the Constitution's ratification conventions in the several states, and the efforts of the key leaders on each side. Somewhat poorly written, though; hence the three stars. A good primer for understanding the two perspectives at the Founding, nevertheless.
February 14, 2010
Very well researched and well written, but more a general history of the ratification process rather than a study of Hamilton's, Madison's, and Jay's work.
Read
January 26, 2010Historical book that sometimes reads like a thriller. Conventions to ratify constitution were rather interesting!!
July 26, 2012
Repetitious to the point of poorly written. Also, not for those who understand the Articles/ Constitution debate.
May 30, 2013
Interesting topic, yet poorly written and not always correct.
August 1, 2014
The information was interesting, but the book was poorly executed and oddly organized. Fun fact, the Founding Fathers all apparently hated Rhode Island.
January 9, 2013
Good reading and vividly portrayed the struggle in getting the constitution passed!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews