Product Description

In the history of America's founding, the names of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and other founding, fathers loom large. But few Americans today would recognize the role played by such men as Francis Hutchinson, Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, Dugald Stewart, David Hume, and other philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment.

In this book, Robert W Galvin, retired Chairman of the Board of Motorola, Inc. and one of America's most respected corporate leaders, reminds us of the fundamental debt that our founding fathers and this nation owe to this extraordinary group of Scottish thinkers. In the Scottish Enlightenment, America's founders themselves found the philosophical underpinnings for a conceived government and defined with the intent to promote economic programs, in commerce, based on private capital means.

Concise and accessible, America's Founding Secret will forever change the way Americans look at their nation's beginnings and will remind us again of the fundamental connection between private enterprise and freedom that remains; at the heart of the American experiment. 

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #229004 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 140 pages

About the Author
Robert W. Galvin was Chairman of Motorola, which his father founded, from 1959 to 1990 and was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors from 1990 to 2001. He lives in Barrington, Illinois, with his wife, Mary. 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Untold Story of the Founding of the U.S. Republic

Most citizens of the United States have a useful understanding of the birth of their nation that has bred well-deserved, lasting admiration for it and its founding fathers. Yet most citizens have never heard or read most of the vital content of these essays, nor has the founding story been integrated for them to the essences here formulated.

Over two years prior to composing these essays, I delivered four major extemporaneous speeches to upscale intellectual audiences on the subjects you are about to read. I'd given thousands of other speeches. These four roused the listeners. In each case, at least a majority of the attendees went out of their way, sought me out to exclaim, This is so new to me! How enlightening! Thank you!"

Thus the title "The Untold Story of the Founding of the U.S., Republic." Untold to the citizens, thoughtful citizens.

Ironically, there is a breadth and depth of scholarship existent and in process including on the Scottish Enlightenment featured here on the early pages. But mostly this occurs among the scholars. Every historian who read early versions of this manuscript objected to my use of the adjective "untold." They pleaded that they are aware of and are publishing related material, so I credit them but point out graciously that "they are only talking to themselves."

I have no credentials as a scholar, although I have some as a citizen. As a citizen, I wish to fill a significant void in our citizen understanding of our history.

The factors and principles that these essays emphasize have been innocently obscured. Yet, they have been transcending in their consequence throughout the first two centuries of our statehood. They are likely to be more influential in the next century by their prospective effect at home and elsewhere. If they have been so effective in obscurity, how much greater benefit can their more prominent, conscious endorsement stimulate? Copyright © 2002 Robert W. Galvin

Customer Reviews

Great historical reading
The Scottish Enlightenment was a period when some of the greatest scholars from almost every field were concentrated in one area that allowed a free flow of thought and information between them. Basically they were concentrated in the university communities of Glasgow and Edinburgh between 1720 and 1780. This free thinking influence spread to the colonies where people such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton were schooled by Scottish teachers. A Scottish teacher, Francis Allison, taught three signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The Scottish teachers realized that all nations of the time were founded or maintained by force. They suggested that a nation founded on commerce could be equally as powerful and influencial as those founded by force. This set the stage for the development of the philosophical underpinnings of the United States. All that was really needed now was a spark to set off the natural chain of events. During the time just prior to 1776 there was a multitude of writings from Scottish authors that proposed and defended the notion that oppressed people have a right to assert their independence. Between the strong writings calling for oppressed people to assert their independence and the belief that a country could be established based on commerce the scene was set for the establishment of the United States.

The author provides substantial and convincing background information on exactly how all of this worked together the help create the Unites States. Details on what the Enlightenment was, how it came about and exactly how it influenced the actions of our forefathers and all there for the reader to learn and consider. An excellent treatise on the often overlooked contributions of the Scottish people to the formation of the United States, I found it a very informative book.

Short Intro To The Scottish Enlightenment/U.S. Connection
Robert W. Galvin is not the most eloquent writer, but his enthusiasm for his subject matter makes up for the excess use of passive voice in America's Founding Secret. The Scottish Enlightenment was a wonderful and exciting period in history and the Scots had a major influence on the Founding Fathers. Galvin enthusiastically and accurately relates this information in a series of short essays. This book would be a good choice to introduce a somewhat reluctant reader to this subject before exposing them to longer works such as Alexander Broadie's The Scottish Enlightenment: The Historical Age of the Historical Nation or Arthur Herman's How The Scots Invented The Modern World. America's Founding Secret is evidence that someone outside of academia can get a charge out of heavy intellectual exercise. If buying/owning/reading a SHORT book bothers you, avoid this book and track down a copy of one of the other books mentioned in this review. If you want a short introduction to the Scottish Enlightenment and its effects on the founding of the United States, I recommend this book.

There are much better titles
I had recently read "How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It" and since I have a fondness for Scotland and its people I purchased the current volume. The book is very short and the writing is a bit disjointed. While many Scottish Englightenment ideas are addressed in the book, the connection to the American founding fathers is not always direct. In such a short book, that lack of attention to the title is distracting. It is a however a quick read and not completely wihtout merit if you are not looking to devote yourself to a heavy tome.