Explore key skills that students of history must develop:
source evaluation, perspective-taking, and historical empathy. In the unit 5 discussion, we will continue our
work on historical thinking skills by combining these three as we explore the nature of political partisanship in
the early republic.
Task
For this discussion, you will adopt the perspective of two competing parties--the Federalists and the
Democratic-Republicans--on the question of Alexander Hamilton’s Financial Plan. In your initial posting, you
will adopt the perspective of either the Federalists or the Democratic-Republicans and explain why……. they
either supported or opposed Hamilton’s proposal.
For Part 1, you must write at least one paragraph describing and explaining the three components of
Hamilton’s Financial Plan. What were the three elements Hamilton outlined? What was their purpose? Why did
Hamilton think they were essential to the survival of the republic?
For Part 2, you will be assigned either the Federalist or Democratic-Republican perspective on Hamilton’s
proposed changes. As we have seen in our readings, not everyone agreed with Hamilton on the necessity of
the economic changes proposed in his Financial Plan. For the purposes of this part, we will divide the class
roughly in half.
Students whose last names begin with A - L will write part 2 from a Federalist perspective. Why did the
Federalists support the Financial Plan?
Students whose last names begin with M - Z will write part 2 from a Democratic-Republican perspective. Why
did the Democratic-Republicans oppose Hamilton’s Financial Plan?
Each of these paragraphs should be at least 6-7 sentences in length.
Please include both Part 1 and Part 2 in the same posting (do not create separate postings for each). You can
create a Word document for the assignment and upload it to the discussion board as an attachment, or you
can just post both parts directly onto the discussion board by clicking on “Start a New Thread” and typing in the
box. Please make sure that you carefully proof your answer for any typos and other writing issues.
Sample Solution