BACKGROUND: Chronologically, this first essay covers the extended period incorporating the European ...

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BACKGROUND: Chronologically, this first essay covers the extended period incorporating the European discovery of the “New World,” the colonization of British North America, the revolutionary struggle for independence, early experimentation with republican government, the ratification of the new U.S. Constitution, and ends with the passage of the Bill of Rights by the First Congress in 1791. Thematically, the essay asks you to trace the antecedents of America's republican ideals and demonstrate how the United States attempted to put those ideals into practice at its founding. Ultimately your task is to analyze how well the country at its birth as an independent nation succeeded in doing precisely that. ASSIGNMENT: Write a four-to-five page essay (12 pt. font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, between 1300-1500 words, with footnoted evidence) based exclusively on the assigned primary source readings, lectures, and William Bennett’s recommended Americatextbook in response to the following prompt: ON WHICH IDEALS WAS THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC BASED, HOW DID THOSE IDEALS DEVELOP OVER TIME IN THE BRITISH AMERICAN COLONIES & THE UNITED STATES THROUGH 1791, AND WERE THE FOUNDER'S EFFORTS SUCCESSFUL?