The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia presents Joseph Ellis, June 2, 2016

In 1776, thirteen American colonies declared themselves independent states that only temporarily joined forces in order to defeat the British. Once victorious, they planned to go their separate ways. The triumph of the American Revolution was neither an ideological nor a political guarantee that the colonies would relinquish their independence and accept the creation of a federal government with power over their autonomy as states.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of The Quartet, Joseph Ellis, comes to Philadelphia to discuss one of the most crucial and misconstrued periods in American history: the years between the end of the Revolution and the formation of the federal government. The men most responsible for the creation of the United States through its “second founding” - George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison - shaped the contours of American history.

In another installment in the Council’s "Great Debates" series, presented in historic Congress Hall in cooperation with the Independence National Historical Park, Ellis will present a compelling truth—one that lies at the heart of understanding the creation of the United States of America.