1776 marked the beginning of the American Revolution, a conflict between 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America and their parent country, Great Britain. Fueling the Revolution were indispensable minds of the day, including: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and George Washington. Joseph J. Ellis's novel Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation deals implicitly with these men and their relationships, both with one-and-other and with the Revolution itself. Each character played a vital role in the American Revolution; however, George Washington was the most significant of them all as his contributions to the Revolutionary cause made a greater impact than any of his contemporaries.

Hamilton, Madison, and Franklin all offered great accomplishments to the Revolutionary cause. Alexander Hamilton is best known for his fiscal policies, settling the finances of the American Revolution. The "United States was a tangled mess of foreign and domestic...