The Symposium Begins

The symposium began with a public lecture by Joseph Ellis at the Smith Theatre on "The Story of the Founding Fathers" which was followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

In his discussion of the founding period Ellis spoke on the major achievements of the founding period, the major weaknesses and ??????

Major Achievements

1. A succesful war of independence against a THE superpower of the world at the time.
2. Creating the first large scale republic.
3. Creating the first secular state.
4. A political system of shifting and multiple layers of sovereignty, federalism.
5. Political parties that would mediate the decisions of the new republic.

Major Weaknesses

1. Not dealing with the issue of slavery.
2. Not dealing fairly with the Native-Americans.

The lecture was followed by a book signing and reception in the lobby.