Books like Jefferson and Hamilton by John E. Ferling

Ron Chernow’s definitive biography of Alexander Hamilton traces the life of America’s founding statesman—from a Caribbean orphan to Washington’s aide, Federalist leader, first Treasury Secretary, and duelist—revealing the political and economic foundations of the modern nation.

A richly detailed biography that traces John Adams’s rise from Revolutionary patriot to the United States’ second President, highlighting his political convictions, marriage to Abigail Adams, and lasting impact on American governance.

"This documentary study of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton focuses on their differing views of society and government in the formative years of the new American nation. Interweaving more than forty documents into seven chronological chapters, the text follows the lives and careers of the two men from their youth through the Revolutionary War to the death of Hamilton in 1804. In each chapter, generous excerpts from their public papers and private letters reveal the two men's often divergent views on government and the Constitution, economic and foreign policy, and the military, and illustrate the roles they played in the emergence of political parties. Reading Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, the Report on Public Credit, the Kentucky Resolutions, and a host of other documents, readers can explore firsthand the two men's philosophies and the impact these had on the emerging nation. Also included are ten illustrations, a Jefferson/Hamilton chronology, a bibliography, and an index."--BOOK JACKET.

It was a contest of titans: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two heroes of the Revolutionary era, once intimate friends, now icy antagonists locked in a fierce battle for the future of the United States. The election of 1800 was a thunderous clash of a campaign that climaxed in a deadlock in the Electoral College and led to a crisis in which the young republic teetered on the edge of collapse. Adams vs. Jefferson is the gripping account of a turning point in American history, a dramatic struggle between two parties with profoundly different visions of how the nation should be governed. The Federalists, led by Adams, were conservatives who favored a strong central government. The Republicans, led by Jefferson, were more egalitarian and believed that the Federalists had betrayed the Revolution of 1776 and were backsliding toward monarchy. The campaign itself was a barroom brawl every bit as ruthless as any modern contest, with mud-slinging, scare tactics, and backstabbing. The low point came when Alexander Hamilton printed a devastating attack on Adams, the head of his own party, in "fifty-four pages of unremitting vilification." The stalemate in the Electoral College dragged on through dozens of ballots. Tensions ran so high that the Republicans threatened civil war if the Federalists denied Jefferson the presidency. Finally a secret deal that changed a single vote gave Jefferson the White House. A devastated Adams left Washington before dawn on Inauguration Day, too embittered even to shake his rival's hand. With magisterial command, Ferling brings to life both the outsize personalities and the hotly contested political questions at stake. He shows not just why this moment was a milestone in U.S. history, but how strongly the issues and the passions of 1800 resonate with our own time. - Publisher.