English Predecessor to American Founders
353583
A nice biography full of English Parliamentary and Government ministers Wilkes interacted with in lead up to passage of Intolerable Acts and Revolutionary War.  Interesting insight into how City of London worked in 1760s, as well as some time in spent in exile in Paris before the French Revolution.
3647715
What we were taught in school was only 2% of the story. We can't really know our historical roots without knowing and about Colonial America and the story of our Founding Fathers, especially, the 4 months during which our Constitution was written -- what the vital issues were, the reasons why certain things happened the way they did, the story of just how personally difficult it was for these 55 white, English-speaking propertied men to create a document that would eventually spread our democratic process so wide(200+ yrs) and so deep, covering so many our us who are not white, native English speakers and relatively wealthy like the FFathers. In addition to this book i recommend the following audiobooks (available on Audible.com): *The Founding Brothers* by Joseph Ellis, and three of the Great Courses presentations (a)* America's Founding Fathers* (Professor Allen C. Guelzo, PH.D); *The Great Debate: Advocates and Opponents of the American Constitution*; and *Cycles of American Political Thought* by Prof. Joseph Kobylka. Somebody should make this wonderful story into a year-long mini-series for Amazon Prime or TED-ED talks. Never have American had such a compelling reason to know their democratic history at the level that a 9th grader would get the picture.
4941699
Well written background to the facts leading up to the American Revolution, and a good starting point for someone who is beginning a study of the history of the United States.  I would give 3-1/2 stars.
958680
Great book, I got the e-book version and read it at my leisure.
This book gives details that most books or teachers do not include.
This detail gives better understanding of why the founders made the decisions that they did.
These decisions set the foundation for a free America.
The book made me better realize what America is about to loose.
582880
I was disappointed not to find my ancestor's name in the book.  My ancestor was Henry Wannamaker, a soldier in the New Jersey Volunteers, who came with his wife, Leah, and other family members on the ship ESTHER in the Fall Fleet.  However, other members of my family tree, Capt. John Ford and family on the ship MARY and Robert Napier and family on the ship HOPEWELL were listed in this book.  This is a valuable book, and I am glad I bought it!
396211
This is a very readable and much needed history of a forgotten founder of our country.  I'd never read much of anything about Knox except that he got the cannons from Ticonderoga to Boston at the start of the revolution.  It never occurred to me to think much about why Washington put so much trust in him and named him to his cabinet.  There are a few minor errors, such as Puls statement that Hamilton wasn't able to run for President due to his foreign birth (false - per Article II, anyone a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution was eligible), but they don;t detract much from the whole.
137501
Program was will written and provided detail of our struggle as a new nation. We must remember that in the British eyes our founding fathers were rebels and criminals. If we had lost the war with Britain our founding fathers would have been hung and all their property and money would go to the King.

Our founding Fathers of the United States were some of the bravest men of their time and we owe them much.
1167203
Godly Minds, Bold Hearts is a treasure. It contains a wealth of information about the founding of America. It explains how our American form of government was born. The Founding Fathers sacrificed their lives and property so that we could be free from tyranny.

Godly Minds, Bold Hearts is loaded with excellent quotes from our greatest heroes. Listen to the immortal words of these American Patriots:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness . . . -The Declaration of Independence

The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. . . . -Thomas Jefferson

Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature. -Benjamin Franklin

The people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants. -William Penn

It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. -Patrick Henry

Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which flow from them, must fall with them. -Jedediah Morse

The following quotes show us that Americans today are fighting in the same war as the Founding Fathers--as the Tyrants of the world try to stamp out Liberty, Godliness, and Christianity. These words are just as relevant today as when they were first spoken by our greatest American heroes.

The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite. -Thomas Jefferson

And yet the same revolutionary belief for which our forbears fought is still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.  -John F. Kennedy

The fact that the war against Liberty is still going on proves that we haven't lost it. There's hope for America yet. Listen to these inspiring words from Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech:

The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations . . . Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.

Every school child in America needs to hear this speech. And this is one example of what you will find in Godly Minds, Bold Hearts. It's an excellent textbook on American History. We've made it a permanent part of our Homeschool library.

I absolutely love this book. It inspires me, and reminds me of what it means to be an American. I recommend it to everyone who loves America. Thank you, Kara Kramer, for teaching us the truth about the American Revolution.
1486816
This is a great book that offers a summary of The Founding Fathers of the United States.  The book does not waste too much time with detail but provides a wonderful overview of their lives and offers a jumping off point to other books for in depth reading.  I feel I have a much better understanding of what our fathers wanted for us and how far we have deviated from the path.
2829044
This is an excellent introduction book to read about the life of the first president of the United States, before going into any deep detailed books such as the four volume biography on Washington by James Thomas Flexer, about Washington's life and times. This book George Washington 1st President of the United States explores his childhood, teenager years, military career both in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, his legislative years and his years in the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, his presidency, and retirement. Very excellent indeed.
234962
This is a fascinating look into early American history.  Judge Sewell was an extraordinary person who left a treasury of writings.  What a surprise to find that Sewell's writing foreshadowed Emerson and Thoreau, and that he was among the first to write as an American (rather than a Brit who happened to live in America.).  Some of his work is included in the appendix.
 His story is told by a descendent with great empathy, yet with objectivity.  The Salem witch trials are placed in the context of the times, both secular and religious, but his life spanned so much more of the development of America.  It was wonderful to encounter familiar names such as Winthrop, Alden, Quincy and Mather in the descriptions of his day to day life.
732126
The founding of America wasn't quite as easy as the original colonists banding together to revolt against the mother country and, once done, putting a new country on the map. Long before the Revolutionary War, the men who would be forever identified as the country's founding fathers, had to have colonists' support by convincing them that the new nation they envisioned promised a better life. In doing that, the eventual founders published their ideas and ideals in a collection called "The Federalist Papers," so titled to identify the proposed new government as a federalist one that established a federal government of three branches (the executive, judiciary and legislative) with checks and balances, and independent of what would be territorial states. Here, in essay form, the towering historic words of such founders as George Washington, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay lay out their vision of a new country not under the stifling governance of the mother country. The ideas of the founding fathers, in their time, were widely feared, criticized, debated and disputed. But the idealism of a new country won enough support that colonists revolted against the mother country. Far from the revered ideologies that laid the groundwork for America's constitutional form of government, "The Federalist Papers" are a must-read for anyone seriously interested in how we as an American people began and why we're where we are now.
980709
This book gives a detailed history of the US from the settlement of Native Americans until the Bush-Gore election of 2000.  The sentences are short and clear.  This book is great for teaching child about history when they are first learning to read, or teaching children who are English Language Learners American history while teaching them how to first read English.
4328962
It was a very interesting and informative look at early America and its relationship with England . I wish could have known this man.
4214473
This book shows the intimate connections between the early careers of immigrant radical democrats during the 1790s in the United States and their previous revolutionary activities in England, Scotland and Ireland. It makes a good argument for the significance of the ideas of Thomas Paine on early American history.
4003274
This is a list not only of the early settlers of Georgia but of the first settlers of Georgia, and it is apparently a complete list of all those who were sent by the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America under Oglethorpe and the Earl of Egmont. Based on the Egmont manuscripts, now in the possession of the University of Georgia, this list of settlers is given under two headings: first, those who went from Europe to Georgia at the Trustees' expense; and, second, those who went on their own account. Covering the period from 1732 to 1741, these two lists together contain the names and details of 3,000 immigrants, most of whom were assigned lots in Savannah and Frederica and a good number of whom would soon leave the colony for the Carolinas.

Information pertaining to each settler consists, generally, of name, age, occupation, place of origin, names of spouse, children and other family members, dates of embarkation and arrival, place of settlement, and date of death. In addition, some of the more notorious aspects of the settlers' lives are recounted in brief, telltale sketches, which enable the researcher to divine something of the character of the colony and the times.

The Clearfield edition includes E. Merton Coulter's invaluable article on the first shipload of Georgia settlers who sailed on the Anne, 16 November 1732, which was appended to the second printing of Early Settlers in 1967.
91361
Excellent program. Gave great insight into the relationships of the various  "Founding Fathers" of our nation, and the dangers and hardships they endured to gain our freedom from Great Britain.  A must for anyone interested in the life of John Adams and the early years of our country.