Review: American Patriots by Rick Santorum | Missouri Made Momma

Image Credit-Tyndale House Website

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.  One phrase that I hope every American knows considering they come from a very significant document in our countries history, The Declaration of Independence.  They are also the basis for Rick Santorum’s new book American Patriots.

He profiles 25 men and women, that during the time of the Revolutionary War, fought to sanctify these three “unalienable rights” and for the freedom of America from Britain. 

The book itself is broken up into three sections, one each for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  The individuals included in this book are place under the section that fits their stories theme the most.  Some of them do cross over into more than one of these rights but, the prevailing right is the section of the book they reside in. 

Overall, this is a readable book.  While it’s a very well written book, thoroughly research, and tells the stories of some of the un-sung heroes of the war, this book has some flaws. 

There is one person that is included in the book, John Laurens, that I feel might not be as much of a hero as history has deemed him.  The problem I have is that he is portrayed as wanting freedom for all slaves since he noticed the benefits of having them fight for our country during the war but, he only wanted them to be free if they would agree to serve in the military.  This is a poor example of when the Declaration of Independence stated “all men are created equal.”  Equality doesn’t come from what a person can give or what you can receive from them…equality just exists.  We are equal because we are human.

Before talking about the individuals in the book Santorum starts each section with and introduction.  I valued the fact that he wrote an introduction to each section but during the Life introduction he was pushing his own pro-life political agenda and while reading the Liberty introduction I felt like I was getting a vocabulary lesson on what Liberty meant.  It feels like his political agenda is the underlying theme throughout the book. 

I did appreciate reading about a handful of men and women that fought to give me the rights that I have today.  Even with the few flaws, I do feel that we can all learn a few things from the stories of these heroic individuals.  I hope that you take the time and learn because if we stop learning about our past…well, its like I said earlier…we are doomed to repeat it. 



I received this book free from Tyndale.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255