Fahad Saad Alhajry

POLI-110-M002: American Government and Politics

Founding Brothers
"Founding Brothers" is a book about how the United States was created and, more
importantly, after the Revolutionary War. It really is not easy at the beginning, especially
with a new American Republic was founded. So many problems increase how to set up
a new government, how to modify the external relations, how to solve social problems, it
will be a challenge for representative government based on democratic principles.
These issues might lead the country to the brink of dissolution or a separation of the
nation.
One of the major challenges that threatened to destroy the newly formed United States
was the problem of slavery. A short time "before the dinner party of Jefferson, two
Quaker groups presented a petition to the House of Representatives calling for an end
to the slave trade in Africa" (Ellis 81). The petition was calling for an end to the African
slave trade. Proponents of slavery lived mainly in the south, especially in Georgia and
South Carolina. Slaves in the antebellum South constituted about one-third of the
southern population. Most slaves lived on large farms or small plantations; many
masters owned less than 50 slaves. Slave owners sought to make their slaves
completely dependent on them, and a system of restrictive codes governed life among
slaves (http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery). Benjamin Franklin signed
the petition in the hope for slavery to be addressed before it was too late, and wanted it
to be on the political agenda so that it would not be forgotten. The southerm delegation
was very opposed to this and immediately spoke to Congress erupted in arguments and
debates on this topic. Both sides tried to argue their different opinions. One side wanted
to abolish slavery while the other sides would desire to doing on in new territories. It is
proposed that the issue of slavery divided the United States seperately when the
decision was postponed. The separation is not only ideological, but also geographically.
The issue threatened to disrupt the new national brand almost at birth.
Franklin claimed that the slave trade was immoral and that the constitution empowers
the Congress to tak any action to solve this matters. In addition, Thomas Scott, a
representative from Pennsylvania, hads argued that Congress used The Declaration
rather than the Constitution as a guide; the former declared that "all men were created
equal." On the other hand, William Smith and James Jackson led the debate on the
slave trade on the side of the Deep South. He believed that slavery was a divisive issue
and the constitution says the government can not intervene with slavery, while James
Jackson supported slavery through the whole Bible. He said that if we set free to
slaves , they could not assimilate that would create more and more problems as the
uprising of the slaves could be broken out. James Madison also agreed that slavery is
an evil so he tried to calm the debate and avoid all this until the country is established

and ready. He used political rhetoric to keep your home through the unresolved
questions. He made sure not repeal the Constitution was adopted, and that the final
recommendation of the committee keep slaves from federal control. Finally, the
Commission has adopted three resolutions, the most central of which is the insistence
that Congress lacked authority to abolish slavery. The resolution was adopted by a
number of 29-25, and the question of slavery remains a congressional docket for 20
years. Basically, most of the Congress agreed that the gradual abolition of slavery might
be possible, but considering the country in a state of vulnerability, that in order to
preserve the unity, issues this can be reviewed after a period when people are more
equipped to handle the situation. It is said that Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and
Hamilton is against slavery, but that's not the right time to address this issue. This
guarantees that the problem will not completely slaves torn and divided the new country.
A second major challenge was the issue of national assumption of debt the American
Revolutionary War. The revolutionary war left the country in debt. We all knew that one
country could not delelop well in case of debt. In Chapter 2 "The Dinner", it is about
Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton who were coming to dinner and discuss a
compromise on this issue. Hamilton proposed a financial plan for the entire credit
recovery and the idea that the federal government will be on all the accumulated debt of
the country, known as "The Assumption". There has been great debate and conflict over
financial planning assumptions of Hamilton. One problem with the Assumption is seen
as a threat to American freedom. Southern Congressmen had preferred that more
capital to the south, and that countries should not assume state debts, while Northern
men thought the complete opposite opinion. Although Madison and Hamilton were
getting on good relationship and both understood the importance of federal power, the
relationship with their benefits ended when he opposed the proposal of Hamilton "
report on public credit, "in which he announced his economic vision and plan and
recommend individual state debts should be absorbed by the federal government, partly
reimbursed by the still held securities issued by the government during the war. Being
worried about the future of the nation, Jefferson and Madison opposed Hamilton's plan
because they think it supported rich money makers rather than ordinary people.
Madison considered Virginians would be ill served by a further consolidation of
economic policies since it was a rich and big state which do not need to be tied to other
states. Madison said that many veterans have to sell their government securities to
speculators at a low cost in economic crisis after the Revolution, and will therefore be
shortchanged by this arrangement. Madison also believed that the plan would put too
much control of national states. Moreover, revolutionary fighters were promised
payment in the form of bonds to the proposal assumes forcing them to contribute to
other nations that have not paid off their debts. This argument gets stuck because it
emphasizes the importance of states rights over federal control, and Madison was able
to block the Assumption Bill Hamilton from going through the House. His argument
relies too much on a fear of central control, connect it to the monarchy that the
Revolution was fought against. That is why Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison were very
afraid that the new government is installed may fail.

The third issue on the location of the permanent capital of the United States was also
one of the issues that directly affected the survival of the early American republic which
led to a debate in the Dinner. Some ideas were risen that with "some location in
Pennsylvania" having the most support. All of these issues represented serious
obstacles to the development of the new nation. It was so difficult to decide a location
for the Capital because Pennsylvania and Virginia refused to negotiate a comprise with
the others. Virginians wanted a seat closer to their home; a spot on the Potomac near
Washington's home, but Northern representatives opposed that idea. These issues
were resolved by a compromise, allegedly reached over dinner at Thomas Jefferson's
house, between Hamilton and Madison. Jefferson hosted a political bargain in which
Madison agreed to permit the core points of Hamilton's proposal to pass, if Hamilton
agreed to use his influence to assure that the permanent residence of the national
capital would be on the Potomac River. Under the terms of this compromise, the
Virginians would acquiesce in the passage of assumption in return for an agreement by
Congress to place the permanent capital on the banks of the Potomac River, bordering
Virginia and Maryland.
So in Chapter 2 the Dinner, Jefferson offered to host a dinner for Hamilton and Madison,
in the hopes that wine and gentlemanly conversation would help resolve their
disagreements. The dinner led to a compromise between Madison and Hamilton in
Madison would not vehemently oppose Hamiltons financial plan in exchange for
Hamiltons support for the capitals future location to be along the Potomac River, in
order to placate the southern states. However, Ellis proposes that this compromise was
not just the result of the single dinner but rather several discussions. The result was that
the core of Hamilton's plan would pass, and Hamilton would use his influence to assure
that the capital be located on the Potomac. Ultimately, George Washington decided that
Americas capital would be established east of Georgetown, on the mouth of the
Potomac. Capital of a country was considered as a economical, political and social
center. Capital is the convergence and crystallized the essence of the past, potentially
represent and lead the future development of the country.
This book really interested me. Through reading it, I can imagine how the diversity,
personal relationships, and generally upright character of the Founding Fathers created
a platform for the survival of the federal government. Each leader had different traits but
they tried to act as Brothers to lead to the success of the nation.

Works Cited

Melanie R. McBride. Cedars, S.R. ed. "Founding Brothers Chapter Three: The Silence Summary
and Analysis". GradeSaver, 13 April 2013 Web. 15 November 2016.
Melanie R. McBride. Cedars, S.R. ed. "Founding Brothers Chapter Two: The Dinner Summary
and Analysis". GradeSaver, 13 April 2013 Web. 15 November 2016.