Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton was inspired by a biography by Ron Chernow that repopularized “The $10 dollar founding father” in the same way that David McCullough’s biography about John Adams reinvigorated his legacy, inspiring an award-winning HBO series. Now the two founding fathers are reunited with Thomas Jefferson in the pages of a new book from National Geographic written by Winston Groom, The Patriots.
These three legendary figures of American history lived at the same time, had complicated relationships, and often stepped on each other’s toes with their ambitions to create the United States of America. It’s really a story of too many cooks in the kitchen, each with different ideas about the ingredients that should be placed into the proverbial melting pot. Each one a complicated individual in their own right, characters that need to be revealed at a digestible pace, which is what Winston Groom so eloquently does in this biography.
I found The Patriots to be just the right amount of information on each figure. Sure, you’ll get a deeper understanding of Hamilton from Chernow and Adams from McCullough, but Groom is able to keep a decent flow going with a more concise narrative. And lining up the timelines of Hamilton, Adams and Jefferson, Groom is also able to draw parallels between each of them and examine their viewpoints on certain issues, such as slavery. On that note, he also uses recent scientific findings to back up scandalous claims made during their lifetimes which were denied to their death.
Released at the end of 2020, reading a book like The Patriots at a time when modern-day politics seem so hostile is an enlightening experience. Things were so heated during the founding of America that you can easily correlate modern extreme groups on the left and right to the Tories and Anti-Federalists. Through this book, readers live through the majority of the first party system and see that as heated as things can get now, the country is nowhere near as politically divided as it was during the era of our first three presidents.
Narratively, the prologue and epilogue serve to best juxtapose the achievements of Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson against one another. The majority of the book takes turns with their stories, with each founding father getting their own chapter amongst the first three to give readers their origin leading up to their inevitable intersection. Similarly, the final three chapters complete each of their stories. The order goes Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson and I believe the reason for the order is Hamilton first because he died first, but Jefferson last because his death poetically unites them all in a way that feels divine. If it weren’t for the evidence backed up in the sources and notes, you’d think the ending was a work of fiction.
The Patriots combines Winston Groom’s incredible skills of research and writing with National Geographic’s trustworthy brand to create a fascinating read that makes colonial America seem so much cooler than your history teachers had you believe. Each of these men led extraordinary lives at a time when the future of the United States of America couldn’t have been more uncertain. If you’re looking for a new read in 2021 that is as enlightening as it is entertaining, look no further.
