Paper Topic:

Were the founding fathers men of character and not driven by personal political ambition?

Running Head : Founding fathers

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Introduction

This seeks to explore whether America 's founding fathers were men of character and people who were not driven by personal political ambition . Some of the fathers examined in the study include Alexander Hamilton , Aaron Burr , Thomas Jefferson , Benjamin Franklin , George Washington , John Adams and James Madison (Ellis , 1- 2 . Character can be looked at as the personal traits that are attributed to an individual and which guides his intentions . A man of character is that person

who lives by principles and motives that are virtuous and desired by the people he is dealing with . These principles and motives should also be acceptable according to the ethical standards set by the society Personal ambition is when a person sets and focuses on achieving targets which are aimed at individual satisfaction . One is said to be driven by personal ambition if these targets are the motivating factors behind his actions

In the book Founding Brothers by Joseph J . Ellis , the founding fathers were politicians who pursued great ambitions through various avenues The political rivalry , pride , jealousy and personal ambition however drove them into doing things that do not qualify all of them to be called men of character (Ellis , 10 , 16 , 23 . theless , most of their activities yielded personal political gratification as well as contributing in some way to the creating of America as a nation According to Ellis (75 , it is due to selfishness and personal interest that the then former secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton and sitting Vice president Aaron Burr ended up in a duel that turned out to be fatal as Burr fired a deadly short that killed Alexander . The two men who were on both sides of the political divide : Democratic Republican vs . Federalists allowed their hatred to take charge of their thoughts Alexander did not like Burr because the later captured a Senate seat from Philip Schuyler who happened to be Hamilton 's father-in-law (Ellis 172 . A man of character at this point would have accepted defeat and allowed democracy to prevail . In addition , Hamilton comes out as a nepotist who placed personal ambition before the interest of the nation for finding it had to accept that Burr defeated his relative Philip Schuyler . The despicable opinion ' expressed by Alexander against Burr which triggered the argument ending in the duel depicts him as a man who lacked character (Ellis , 113 ,140 . A man of character uses his words wisely in away that does not harm the feelings of his audience but communicates the needed information . Instead of pushing Aaron Burr further in the New York Gubernatorial election by endorsing a candidate who ended up beating Burr and widening their differences , a man of character would have swallowed pride , buried their differences and offered his support or remained neutral to reconcile their differences Ellis , 160 . This is because men of character appreciate differences of opinion and not taking things personal . However , Hamilton manifested good character...

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