PS 586 American Political Thought: 1600 to 1820

The development from 1600 to 1820 of American political thought about government and its proper relation to the individual and society. Specific topics considered include the English background; the colonial mind; ideas informing the revolution; the creation of the Constitution; and the ratification debates; the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian conflict; John Marshall and the expansion of national power. Attention given to bringing to the surface the fundamental, often inarticulate, patterns, and presuppositions of American thought about political things. Also offered for undergraduate-level credit as PS 486 and may be taken only once for credit.