American Political and Legal Thought, Spring 2022

Due 3/6 (11:59 pm)

Papers must be:

1. submitted in doc or doc x format (Be very careful about this if you use a Mac computer. I cannot grade papers saved in Mac formats.)
2. proofread carefully. Read your paper aloud to hear grammatical errors and sentence fragments.
3. written in such a way that clear paragraphs each have an idea that contributes to the overall flow of the argument that you want to make.
4. written in a way such that they show evidence that you read the text and not just my lecture notes
5. 3-4 pages in length
6. double-spaced
7. formatted with margins of one inch on each side
8. without a cover page (Put your name on the first page)
9. written in 12 point font

Good answers will be proofread both for spelling and for grammar. (Poorly-written papers will receive low grades.)

Good answers will clearly state what each theory/argument entails

I prefer that you not use outside sources, but, if you do, cite these sources parenthetically or in footnotes. 

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Political theories describe a vision of what the best government would be. Sometimes, these political theories describe ideals that arise at with the beginning of new political societies. So far in the course, we have studied the two foundings or beginnings of the United States. The first was associated with the Declaration of Independence and the second was associated with the Constitution. 

Discuss how each document articulated a particular vision of government. Do the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution differ? Or, do the two documents advocate the same ideals of government? Good answers to this question will cite specific passages of the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and the Antifederalist response to the proposed Constitution. (Also, be very careful not to confuse those who favored the new Constitution, the Federalists, with the Federalist party of the 1790s which we read about in week 3. All relevant reading materials for this essay were assigned in weeks 1 and 2).