wolfpangs | I get to grind these teeth and beat through time.

Five hundred nervous fits later, I finally got my first paper for Early Republic back:

That says: Salome, Wow--very nicely done--you've navigated many fine distinctions here effectively. Let me know if you have any questions. --Brian

Thanks, Brian!

My topic: Today Jefferson is typically associated with small-government conservatism. But there is an argument to be made that Jefferson saw the state as having a responsibility to cultivate the capacities of citizens – to insure that they were ready for self-government by making their independence possible. What in the Notes [on the State of Virginia], if anything, might support such an argument? Perhaps a better way to ask this question would be: what does Jefferson seem to think (using the Notes as your evidence) about the proper relationship between state and citizen?

To tell the truth, I was very surprised by this grade. The whole time I was writing the paper, I was thinking the things I was writing were very obvious--self-evident, are they not? So the outcome is unexpected but pretty sweet.

And in other American history news, I finished Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter today and while I'm not sure how I feel about the very end, it was a fun read.