The Disillusionment of America's Founders: Fears of a Setting Solar

Discover the captivating tale of how America's founders, including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, found themselves in despair over the future of the nation they had built. These individuals, with Adams expressing fears about the setting and Hamilton also sharing concerns, navigated through their worries to shape the course of history.

Many no longer idolize the Founding Fathers, but they continue to hold the Constitution and the republican government they established in high regard. Surprisingly, the founders themselves became less confident in their creation, especially as they neared the end of their lives. In fact, prominent figures such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson came to view America's constitutional experiment as a failure destined to fade with their generation. "Fears of a Setting Sun" is the first book uncovering the little-known story of the founders' disillusionment.

Dennis Rasmussen uncovers the various sources of the founders' fears about America. Washington doubted the political system due to growing partisanship, while Hamilton saw the federal government as too weak. Adams questioned the people's civic virtue, and Jefferson was troubled by sectional divisions exacerbated by slavery. James Madison was a rare optimist among them, believing in America's constitutional order. The book delves into why Madison remained hopeful when many others did not. Despite modern concerns, Rasmussen reveals that the founders faced even greater challenges and harbored deeper misgivings about America's future.

A vividly written account of a chapter of American historical past that has acquired too little consideration, Fears of a Setting Solar will change the way in which that you simply take a look at the American founding, the Structure, and certainly america itself.

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