Federalist and Anti Federalist papers. These were the debates by the founders over the constitution. Best to read history first hand, then you avoid modern agendas and interpretations.
I’ve been getting into revolutionary war journals of common folk and soldiers. Some of those men were nearly barefoot in the snow.
The Battle of Trenton is quite the tale. We took on 1200 German Hessian mercenaries and didn’t suffer one causality during the battle - or so it’s told. The only thing that killed 5 of our “lads” (because none were really over the age of 18) was the weather. 5 froze to death.
I agree! Look for primary sources like journals. Also, I HIGHLY recommend reading the founders’ correspondence, where you can find it. Adams was a prolific letter writer, but in some sense they all were. It’s a way to see into their thinking, their lobbying, their complaining, and get a contemporary sense of what these people were like and how they acted with each other.
Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara. Amazing historian and damned good writer. All his books on all our wars are good. This is an excellent place to start since these are historical novels, deeply researched and engagingly written.
Federalist papers. Poor Richard's Almanac, for some good wisdom.
George Washington's War by Robert Leckie. Also a good historian.
I would add Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and everything Locke wrote to your list, along with De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, as our founders read and studied them when building our government. Plato's Republic.
Federalist and Anti Federalist papers. These were the debates by the founders over the constitution. Best to read history first hand, then you avoid modern agendas and interpretations.
You might want to look up the founders' writings on the Library of Congress website. They have tons of stuff online.
https://www.thefederalistpapers.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/The-Complete-Federalist-Papers.pdf
https://thefederalistpapers.org/anti-federalist-papers
I have them as two books and one of them includes the actual debates over ratifying the constitution.
"Democracy in America" by Alexis Tocqueville is a good look at our early government from a foreigner's perspective. And it is definately based.
I’ve been getting into revolutionary war journals of common folk and soldiers. Some of those men were nearly barefoot in the snow.
The Battle of Trenton is quite the tale. We took on 1200 German Hessian mercenaries and didn’t suffer one causality during the battle - or so it’s told. The only thing that killed 5 of our “lads” (because none were really over the age of 18) was the weather. 5 froze to death.
Man were the original proud boys badasses.
Federalist 63 is most pertinent to today’s events. Believe it was Madison. Wrote on democracy and the electoral system in 63.
I agree! Look for primary sources like journals. Also, I HIGHLY recommend reading the founders’ correspondence, where you can find it. Adams was a prolific letter writer, but in some sense they all were. It’s a way to see into their thinking, their lobbying, their complaining, and get a contemporary sense of what these people were like and how they acted with each other.
I don't know how David McCullough is viewed here, but 1776 is a great read - not too long, and filled with all the great events of that year.
Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara. Amazing historian and damned good writer. All his books on all our wars are good. This is an excellent place to start since these are historical novels, deeply researched and engagingly written.
Federalist papers. Poor Richard's Almanac, for some good wisdom.
George Washington's War by Robert Leckie. Also a good historian.
I would add Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and everything Locke wrote to your list, along with De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, as our founders read and studied them when building our government. Plato's Republic.
You should be able to find lists of the books the founders owned. Read what they read. Here is one from Jefferson : http://tjlibraries.monticello.org/about/lists.html
That has links to a digital listing of Jefferson's books.
Vattel's Law of Nations was an important resource for our founders.
I would throw in John Locke.
I did actually, right after Adam Smith :-).
Not exactly what you're asking for but Dark Horse comics has a series called Rebels. It's the Revolution done with graphic art.
Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer