July 2025 “Leisure Reads”
“This month’s “Leisure Reads” post celebrates Independence Day with books, ebooks, and primary documents on the American Revolutionary Era! This includes Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, David McCullough’s 1776, and the anthology Black Writers of the Founding Era, 1760-1800, edited by James G. Basker with Nicole Seary. Many thanks are due to MSJ librarian Cynthia Gregory for recommending all of the reads in this month’s post!” Joshua Zeller
Primary Sources
From the National Archives, an online transcription of the original document.
From the National Archives, presents transcripts of the original documents: "These three documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, have secured the rights of the American people for more than two and a quarter centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States."
Print Books
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
“The #1 New York Times bestseller, and the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton! ....Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow’s biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time.... Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States. Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.” – Publisher’s Summary
Weathering the Storm: Women of the American Revolution by Elizabeth Evans
“This book tells the stories of fourteen women who played a role in the American Revolution. These women ranged in age from twelve to ninety-one, and all had different reasons for fighting for their country. Some were motivated by patriotism, others by anger at the British, and still others by a desire for independence. Despite their differences, all of these women shared one common trait—they were willing to weather the storm. Evans eloquently tells their stories, painting a vivid picture of life during the war years and the challenges these women faced. Weathering the Storm is an excellent resource for students interested in the American Revolution, and it is sure to inspire readers to continue the fight for freedom.” – Publisher’s Summary
Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom by Jack Fruchtman
“The leading Thomas Paine expert in the U.S. presents both a biography of the controversial Founding Father and an analysis of his works. Known as 'the Voice of the Revolution,' Paine was a truly original thinker, a man whose magnificent, freedom-loving spirit is richly captured in this major biography.” – Publisher’s Summary
Washington’s Circle: The Creation of the President by D.S. & J.T. Heidler
“In 1789, as George Washington became the first president of the United States, the world was all but certain that the American experiment in liberty and representative government would founder. More than a few Americans feared that the world was right. In Washington’s Circle, we see how Washington and his trusted advisers, close friends, and devoted family defied the doomsayers to lay the foundation for an enduring constitutional republic. This is a fresh look at an aloof man whose service in the Revolutionary War had already earned him the acclaim of fellow citizens.... David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler reveal Washington’s character through his relationship with his inner circle, showing how this unlikely group created the office of the presidency. Here is a story of cooperation, confrontation, triumph, and disappointment, as the president, Congress, and the courts sorted out the limits of executive power, quarreled over funding the government, coped with domestic strife, and faced a world at war while trying to keep their country at peace....” – Publisher’s Summary
“In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper. Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.” – Publisher’s Summary
John Adams by David G. McCullough
“In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as ‘out of his senses;’ and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history. This is history on a grand scale—a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.” – Publisher’s Summary
The Unknown American Revolution by Gary B. Nash
“In this audacious recasting of the American Revolution, distinguished historian Gary Nash offers a profound new way of thinking about the struggle to create this country, introducing readers to a coalition of patriots from all classes and races of American society. From millennialist preachers to enslaved Africans, disgruntled women to aggrieved Indians, the people so vividly portrayed in this book did not all agree or succeed, but during the exhilarating and messy years of this country's birth, they laid down ideas that have become part of our inheritance and ideals toward which we still strive today.” – Publisher’s Summary
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts
“In this eye-opening companion volume to her acclaimed history Founding Mothers, number-one New York Times bestselling author and renowned political commentator Cokie Roberts brings to life the extraordinary accomplishments of women who laid the groundwork for a better society. Recounted with insight and humor, and drawing on personal correspondence, private journals, and other primary sources, many of them previously unpublished, here are the fascinating and inspiring true stories of first ladies and freethinkers, educators and explorers. Featuring an exceptional group of women—including Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Rebecca Gratz, Louise Livingston, Sacagawea, and others— Ladies of Liberty sheds new light on the generation of heroines, reformers, and visionaries who helped shape our nation, finally giving these extraordinary ladies the recognition they so greatly deserve.” – Publisher’s Summary
Black writers of the founding era, 1760-1800 by James G. Basker, Annette Gordon-Reed, Nicole Seary
"The writings gathered here reveal the complexity and dynamism of African American life and culture in the period and show how the principles of the American Revolution were seized upon and enlarged by Black Americans from the very beginning. Here are writers both enslaved and free, loyalist and patriot, women and men, Northern and Southern: soldiers, seamen, and veterans; painters, poets, and preachers; cooks, hairdressers, farmers, and many more. Alongside such better known works as Phillis Wheatley's poems and Benjamin Banneker's mathematical and scientific puzzles are dozens of first-person narratives offering a variety of Black perspectives on the political events of the times. These bold and eloquent contributions to public debate about the meanings of the Revolution and the republican values that gave rise to it dramatize the many ways in which protest and activism have always been integral for Black Americans. Intimate diaries and letters, many never before published, tell more private stories, indelibly altering our understanding of the lived experience of this crucial time in our history." -- Publisher's summary
The Whiskey Rebellion by Thomas P. Slaughter
“When President George Washington ordered an army of 13,000 men to march west in 1794 to crush a tax rebellion among frontier farmers, he established a range of precedents that continues to define federal authority over localities today. The 'Whiskey Rebellion' marked the first large-scale resistance to a law of the U.S. government under the Constitution. This classic confrontation between champions of liberty and defenders of order was long considered the most significant event in the first quarter-century of the new nation. Thomas P. Slaughter recaptures the historical drama and significance of this violent episode in which frontier West and cosmopolitan East battled over the meaning of the American Revolution.” – Publisher’s Summary
A New Age Now Begins: A People’s History of the American Revolution by Page Smith
“In this comprehensive, incisive narrative of the American Revolution, Page Smith shows how the American people were able to achieve the most remarkable movement from subordination to self-government in history, a model that has fascinated revolutionaries and politicians ever since. A New Age Now Begins depicts the Revolution as a people's rebellion and a stirring human drama. Smith covers every aspect of the struggle: the Congress, the states, the British Parliament and British public opinion, the actions and feelings of the colonists, soldiers, Tories, women, blacks, and native Americans. Rich in original interpretation, filled with stories and anecdotes drawn from letters, diaries, and official documents, A New Age Now Begins offers revealing insights into the development of a nation and a people.” – Publisher’s Summary
“American historian Darren Staloff delves into the political and intellectual lives of Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to reveal how they embodied the collision of Europe’s grand Enlightenment project with the birth of a young nation. These three very different men each governed their public lives by Enlightenment principles. And the struggle for American independence would forever change their relationships to the politics of Enlightenment.” – Publisher’s Summary
Ebooks
The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction by Robert J. Allison
“Here is a brisk, accessible, and vivid introduction to arguably the most important event in the history of the United States—the American Revolution.” – Publisher’s Summary
American History: A Very Short Introduction by Paul S. Boyer
“In a miracle of concision, Paul S. Boyer provides a wide-ranging and authoritative history of America, capturing in a compact space the full story of our nation. Ranging from the earliest Native American settlers to the presidency of Barack Obama, this Very Short Introduction offers an illuminating account of politics, diplomacy, and war as well as the full spectrum of social, cultural, and scientific developments that shaped our country.” – Publisher’s Summary
Slavery, Propaganda, and the American Revolution by Patricia Bradley
“Under the leadership of Samuel Adams, patriot propagandists deliberately and conscientiously kept the issue of slavery off the agenda as goals for freedom were set for the American Revolution. By comparing coverage in the publications of the patriot press with those of the moderate colonial press, this book finds that the patriots avoided, misinterpreted, or distorted news reports on blacks and slaves, even in the face of a vigorous antislavery movement.... Since propaganda on behalf of the Revolution reached a high level of sophistication, and since Boston can be considered the foundry of Revolutionary propaganda, the author writes that the omission of abolition from its agenda cannot be considered as accidental but as intentional. By the time the Revolution began, white attitudes toward blacks were firmly fixed, and these persisted long after American independence had been achieved.... Although the leaders of the Revolution did not articulate a national vision on abolition, the colonial anti-slavery movement was able to achieve a degree of success, but only in drives through the individual colonies.” – Publisher’s Summary
Common Sense by Thomas Paine; introd. by Diana Gabaldon
“In 1776, America was a hotbed of enlightenment and revolution. Thomas Paine not only spurred his fellow Americans to action but soon came to symbolize the spirit of the Revolution. His elegantly persuasive pieces spoke to the hearts and minds of those fighting for freedom. He was later outlawed in Britain, jailed in France, and finally labeled an atheist upon his return to America. ‘No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style; in perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple unassuming language.’ – Thomas Jefferson” – Publisher’s Summary
Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton et al.
“Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers explain the complexities of a constitutional government—its political structure and principles based on the inherent rights of man. Scholars have long regarded this work as a milestone in political science and a classic of American political theory.” – Publisher’s Summary
Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood
“The half century extending from the imperial crisis between Britain and its colonies in the 1760s to the early decades of the new republic of the United States was the greatest and most creative era of constitutionalism in American history, and perhaps in the world. During these decades, Americans explored and debated all aspects of politics and constitutionalism—the nature of power, liberty, representation, rights, the division of authority between different spheres of government, sovereignty, judicial authority, and written constitutions. The results of these issues produced institutions that have lasted for over two centuries. In this new book, eminent historian Gordon S. Wood distills a lifetime of work on constitutional innovations during the Revolutionary era. In concise form, he illuminates critical events in the nation's founding, ranging from the imperial debate that led to the Declaration of Independence to the revolutionary state constitution making in 1776 and the creation of the Federal Constitution in 1787. Among other topics, he discusses slavery and constitutionalism, the emergence of the judiciary as one of the major tripartite institutions of government, the demarcation between public and private, and the formation of states' rights....” – Publisher’s Summary