• Examine the military stalemate of the war, particularly the American failure to conquer Canada and the relative success of American naval forces on the Great Lakes.
  
  

REFERENCE: Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812 (1989).

• Examine Madisons largely unsuccessful role as wartime president, in contrast with his genius as political theorist, constitution-maker, and legislative leader. Indicate the various international and domestic divisions that he proved unable to navigate in the White House.
  
  

REFERENCE: Jack N. Rakove, James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (1990).

• Explain the conflict of 1819 - 1820 about Missouri as the first clear indication of a deep-seated sectional division over slavery. Emphasize the two essential principles of sectional balance enshrined in the compromise: equal Senate representation of the 3630 line as the northern boundary of slavery.
  
  

REFERENCE: Glover Moore, The Missouri Controversy, 1819 - 1821 (1953).

• Consider the causes and consequences of the Monroe Doctrine. The emphasis might be on the difference between the doctrines original context (the monarchist threat to the new Latin American republics) and the controversial ways in which the doctrine has sometimes been invoked in American history. Explain the relationship of the doctrine to the permanent issue of the United States interactions with its Latin American neighbors.
  
  

REFERENCE: James E. Lewis, The American Union and the Problem of Neighborhood (1998).