The purpose of this 3rd class is to watch America’s two political parties contend over foreign affairs, and then to examine one of America’s most controversial wars: the War of 1812. Students should understand how and why a split occurred between the Federalists, the party of Washington, Adams, and Hamilton, and the Democratic Republicans, the party of Thomas Jefferson, and they should see how broader issues of international relations began to affect the young U.S. We will explore the country’s hostilities and armed conflicts with France and the Barbary pirates of North Africa. From the lecture and readings students should understand how and why the U.S. and Britain went to war, what happened during the fighting, how and why peace was restored, and what were the key features of the aftermath. What was the importance of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison as American foreign policymakers? What, in particular, are they remembered for? Did they have foreign policy triumphs? Flaws?