Submit a fully-developed essay in response to the following questions. Your essay should be approximately 500 to 1000 words (the equivalent of 2 to 4 typed, double-spaced pages) in length. All assignments should be a combination of solid research and personal evaluation of the data.

1. What would have been your thinking/reaction upon hearing the ideas put forth in the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine (which you read in the previous module)? Include your opinion of Paine as a heroic agitator or a crude traitor or something in-between during the American Revolution. Did Paines work have a lasting impact on U.S. politics?

2.Using Thoreaus essay as your main source, attack and/or defend the United States position in the war with Mexico. How far can one take Thoreaus philosophy in todays world?

3. What was the War of 1812 about? What did the United States achieve, if anything, as a result of this conflict? What was the impact of the war on American politics at the time? Did the war have a lasting impact on American society? Why, or why not? (500 words or more)

References:

Paine, T. (1986). Common Sense. London, England: Penguin Books.
ISBN-13: 978-0140390162

Snow, D. M., & Drew, D. M. (2009). From Lexington to Baghdad and Beyond: War and Politics in the American Experience (3d ed.). Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
ISBN-13: 978-0765624031

Thoreau, H. D. (1998). Civil Disobedience: Solitude and Life Without Principle. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
ISBN-13: 978-1573922029