1. Compare and contrast the political and economic views of the Hamiltonian Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans. When, why, and how did the differences between the two parties blur?
2. Thomas Jefferson's first term as president was so successful that he overwhelmingly won reelection in 1804. His second term, in contrast, was marked by frustration and failure. Discuss the achievements of Jefferson's first term and the problems that beset his second.
3. Discuss the foreign-policy achievements of President James Monroe and his secretary of state, John Quincy Adams. How do those achievements still affect the United States and its foreign policy today?
4. Why did the United States engage in a nearly disastrous war against the British from 1812 to 1814? What, if anything, did the United States gain from that war?
5. Jefferson once wrote, "What is practicable must often control pure theory." In light of that statement assess Jefferson's actions as president. How much of his policies can be explained by his philosophy of government? How much by compromise with what was practicable?