American Creation

Ellis argues that comprehensive change did not happen overnight. Instead, he writes, “the calculated decision to make the American Revolution happen in slow motion was a creative act of statesmanship that allowed the United States to avoid the bloody and chaotic fate of subsequent revolutionary movements in France, Russia, and China” (21). Some, like Patrick Henry, advocated a more sudden transformation, but both compromise and lack of action resulted in a more gradual change to society and the political system. For Ellis, this had immeasurable benefits, giving the new nation more stability and allowing it to get its footing without the excesses that often cause revolutions to burn out too quickly. More importantly, the slow revolution also permitted continuing change in the future. In other words, the revolution was open-ended and ongoing—a kind of work in progress—in which the republic continuously attempted to create “a more perfect union.”