Write an essay (6-8 pages, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point font) on one of the following topics. Be sure to put the question number on your essay. Remember that your work will be evaluated on the basis of the paper grading rubric distributed in class and posted on the instructor's home page. Please consult the paper guidelines on the instructor's home page and be sure to cite properly and fully all material taken from the texts. Due: Thursday, March 8th, at the beginning of the class period. The late penalty (without a valid, documented reason for the lateness) will be one-third letter grade for each day the paper is late, beginning at the end of class on the 8th. Thus a paper submitted after class on the 8th loses one-third of a letter grade, and a paper submitted on the 9th loses two-thirds of a letter grade. Remember that a late paper (without a valid reason) may not be revised.

    1. In the eyes of those who arrived from Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, America offered possibilities not open in the Old World. But the Puritans and others may have differed over the kind of society they hoped to create. Compare and contrast John Winthrop's America and that depicted by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur. Are these visions compatible?

    2. Explain Jefferson's concept of the democratic republic as expressed in his writings in the 1770s and 1780s, including the social, cultural, economic, and political institutional elements. Be sure to note the rationale he offers for each element. Conclude with a critical assessment of the ideal Jeffersonian republic.

    3. Earlier political thinkers had cautioned that republics depend upon a harmony of interests, but Americans in the Founding Era already faced profound differences of geography, occupation, and race. Compare and contrast how Madison, Jefferson, and the Anti-Federalists address the place of diversity in American life and how they believe political institutions can best be designed to deal with social differences.

    4. Hamilton in the Federalist Papers defends the necessity for energy in the national government, while the Anti-Federalists fear the power the Constitution would place in the hands of a central state. Explain their respective views of an energetic national government and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each position.

    5. Madison in Federalist Papers identifies threats to the stability of popular government that might result in tyranny or the misuse and abuse of power. The Constitution, he argues, is designed to contain or neutralize these threats. Identify the dangers both in society and within government that Madison fears might undermine a republic, and detail the geographic and institutional (or structural) devices he finds in the Constitution that will assure the stability of republican government.

    6. Contrast and compare the theory of representation expressed by Publius in the Federalist Papers with that held by the Anti-Federalists. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each theory?