Sources for America’s History: Printed Page 221
How did Federalists such as Washington, Alexander Hamilton (Document 7-1), and Fisher Ames (Document 7-3) conceive of America’s national identity in ways different from Republicans such as Thomas Jefferson (Document 7-2)?
Do these sources present an optimistic or a pessimistic view of early American national identity? What factors account for the different attitudes toward America’s new prospects?
What legacy of the Revolution’s democratic values appears in the language and ideas of the sources included here?
Imagine how Flint and Lorenzo Dow (Document 8-6) would have assessed the relationship between America’s democratic culture and the practice of Christianity in the early republic. Do they have similar or contrasting views?
Compare Murray’s argument (Document P3-3) to those of Abigail Adams (Document 6-2), Mercy Otis Warren (Document 8-3), and Benjamin Rush (Document 8-4), all of whom advocated for expanded rights for women. What do these sources, considered together, suggest about the role of women and the question of gender roles in the formation of the new American identity?