I had read two previous books by Joseph J. Ellis about the founding of the United States several years ago . I had liked these books and when I saw he had written a new book with emphasis on the transformation into a nation or the Second American Revolution, I was eager to read it.

The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution , 1783-1789 actually begins in 1781 when the final state ratifies the Articles of Confederation. This loose confederation of the states had many problems due to the supremacy of states and lack of power in the weakly united confederation that pretended to be the United States.

For example, under the Articles the confederation called the United States had no way to force the states to honor the terms of the peace treaty which ended the American Revolution. They could ask the states but some chose to ignore the request. There was no way to raise money to pay our national debt. The United States was deeply in debt from the war but could only ask the states to give it money. The requests were frequently ignored. Continue reading “The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution”