The Founders—and their true intentions for our young nation—are often the subject of heated debates. But what do we really know about how their ideas evolved? What we call the American Revolution, the colonists called “The Cause,” words ambiguous enough to allow for the coexistence of divergent political, regional, and religious viewpoints. In fact, the improvisational nature of America’s founding informed many decisions as the fight went on from 1773 to 1783.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis explores how the complexities of the struggle helped the Founders find a way to form a new nation. Independence was won. But there were great costs, especially the denial of freedom to the colonies’ enslaved people. Ellis revisits what we know about those years and how it has made us who we are as a people and a nation.

His book The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents 1773-1783 (Norton) is available for sale.

Book Sale Information

• Purchase your copy of The Cause by Joseph Ellis here.
• SPECIAL NOTE: Politics and Prose is offering a 10% discount to Smithsonian Associates ticket-holders. To claim your discount, enter the code SPECIAL10 (no space between letters and numbers) in the “Coupon discount” section on Politics and Prose's check-out page.

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