I think some of these guys were the first true hippies! For a group of guys in the late 1700's, pretty darn progressive. I like Joseph Ellis's books, despite his little personal war stories controversy.
You would probably like Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. Our founding fathers were definitely progressive, especially Franklin.
The most progressive founding father, in my opinion, was Thomas Paine. After he wrote "Age of Reason", practically all of his former allies abandoned him and considered him too radical (except Jefferson, who stayed friends with him till the end). He was way ahead of his time! I finished McCollough's "1776" and Chernow's "Alexander Hamilton" recently...both were excellent and gave me a much better understanding of revolutionary America. As soon as one of my friends returns my copy of McCollough's "John Adams" I'm going to start reading it.
