Founding Brothers Lesson Plan

How does Ellis's portrait of Washington align with or diverge from present-day popular conceptions of Washington?

Students can discuss the specifics of Washington as a quasi-mythical figure in present-day American popular history and can consider more generally how Ellis's project in this chapter and in this book intersects with common myths about the founding. They might observe that while Ellis openly commits to Washington as a towering figure (both literally and figuratively) of the revolutionary generation, he also spends considerable time explaining the foundation for criticism launched at Washington in the late-18th century and giving due credit to Hamilton as a...