What was the nation like at the beginning of the nineteenth century? A new administration, a new point of view, a new century. Students without much experience in historical study (and that is true of most who take the survey course) frequently have great difficulty in shaking off present-mindedness in order to grasp fully a sense of life as it once was lived. A lecture on the United States as it was at the beginning of the nineteenth century may be able to shed some light. A descriptive lecture on this topic could deal with the ways in which people earned their livings, lived their lives, thoughtand thought their thoughts. An admirable major source for such a lecture is the first six chapters of Henry Adams's History of the United States During the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison (nine volumes; 1889-1891). The writing is skillful and evocative, and other sources may be added to it. A more recent commentary is Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., The United States in 1800: Henry Adams Revisited (1988). For consideration of everyday life, consult Stephanie G. Wolf, As Various as Their Land: The Everyday Lives of 18th Century Americans (1993), and Jack Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, 1790-1840 (1988). For the views of a Scottish traveler at the end of the first two decades of the nineteenth century, see Frances Wright, Views of Society and Manners in America (1821). A good overview is to be found in Russell Blaine Nye, The Cultural Life of the New Nation, 1776-1830 (1960).

The Lewis and Clark expedition, besides being a dramatic adventure story, has great potential for a lecturer wishing to amplify students' understanding of American geography and Americans' attitudes toward themselves, toward Native Americans, and toward the land itself. The explorer's journals are a good place to start. Extracts from the journals and other materials, including some beautiful photographs of portions of the Louisiana Purchase territory at present, have been compiled by Ingvard Henry Eide in American Odyssey: The Journals of Lewis and Clark (1969). James P. Ronda, Lewis and Clark Among the Indians (1988), works from a perspective that is very revealing of American attitudes. There are many editions of the journals, from Gary E. Moulton's eight volumes, complete with an atlas of the expedition (1983-1994), to the classic Bernard DeVoto, editor, The Journals of Lewis and Clark (1953).

If one were to choose a half-dozen of the most enigmatic figures in American history, Thomas Jefferson might well be on the list. Jefferson the defender of republican liberties was a slaveholder. Jefferson the strict constructionist bought Louisiana. Jefferson the defender of civil liberties had, at least according to Leonard Levy, a darker side. Who was Thomas Jefferson? Students are often fascinated by intensive looks at major national figures. A lecture dealing with Thomas Jefferson's complexity could be of considerable interest. Merrill D. Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation (1970) recognizes that complexity. See also Leonard W. Levy, Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side (1963); Richard Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It (1948); and William Cohen, "Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Slavery," Journal of American History 34 (December 1969): 503-526.

No matter how clear the explanation of Marbury v. Madison, students often fail to get the point. The reason may be that they do not adequately understand the nature and function of the Supreme Court. Students have a sense of how trial courts operate but, without instruction, less than an adequate understanding of an appeals court. A lecture on the nature of the nation's court systems and how they work ought properly to precede the text's explanation of Marbury v. Madison. Including two other themes in the lecture can provide further explanation of the courts. One theme is the role of John Marshall in building the Supreme Court's power and prestige. The other is the case of McCulloch v. Maryland, which illustrates much about Marshall and his view of the supremacy of the national government within the federal system. See Henry J. Abraham, The Judiciary: The Supreme Court in the Governmental Process (ninth edition; 1994), for a good introduction. Thumbnail synopses of these cases and others may be found in Paul C. Bartholomew and Joseph F. Menez, Summaries of Leading Cases on the Constitution (thirteenth edition; 1993) or in Robert F. Cushman, Leading Constitutional Decisions (eighteenth edition; 1991). See Marjorie G. Fribourg, The Supreme Court in American History: Ten Great Decisions (1965), for a breezy, entertaining description of the cases and their circumstances.

The nature of the War of 1812 has fascinated many people. Why did it take place? Why did it take place when it took place? And who won? These three questions provide the stuff for an examination of historical explanation. Which explanations are the most satisfactory? National honor? But then why was the war delayed so long after Chesapeake-Leopard? Whereas Julius W. Pratt emphasized the role of the West in Expansionists of 1812 (1925), the emphasis on national honor provides provocative reading in Norman K. Risjord, "1812: Conservatives, War Hawks, and the Nation's Honor," William and Mary Quarterly, third series, 18 (April 1961): 196-210. The national appetite for Canada is vividly discussed in Reginald Horsman, The Causes of the War of 1812 (1962). See also J. C. A. Stagg, "James Madison and the Coercion of Great Britain: Canada, the West Indies, and the War of 1812," William and Mary Quarterly, third series, 38 (January 1981: 3-34, for a contrary view on Canada. Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (1989), also emphasizes how Republicans used the war to confirm political dominance.

The instructor may wish to use the story of a scoundrel that, aside from its capacity to entertain, illustrates the fragility of the young nation. An account of Aaron Burr's adventures could be part of a "dangers avoided" lecture that explains the extraordinary good fortune that the United States had in the character of its leaders and the ineptitude of its subversives. Unlike most other new nations, the United States found in its first leader, George Washington, a man for whom power did not become the controlling ambition. Washington left office voluntarily. And the ruling party, voted out after years in power, accepted the electorate's verdict and turned over the reins of government. The failure of the Burr scheme raises a third circumstance to ponder. Students often believe that the United States is politically successful because it is virtuous. A lecture on dangers avoided, with emphasis on Burr, may provide a partial but useful antidote to this patriotic impulse. For more on Aaron Burr, consult the astonishingly sympathetic biography by Nathan Schachner; and then see Thomas P. Abernethy, The Burr Conspiracy (1954).