I had a Socratic Seminar today, and thought the debate question was cool. The question was:
Do you agree with Thomas Jefferson that the United States should provide aid to France when they were at war with Great Britain, or with Alexander Hamilton that we shouldn't help France and instead become trading partners with Great Britain?
Some background information: We're fresh out of a revolutionary war with Great Britain, where France helped us out tremendously. We're still in massive debt from that war, and Washington is trying to drive the United States into a state of neutrality. France's monarch is out, and Great Britain has the strongest navy at that time.
You can't use future events in the debate, so the war of 1812 and the French Revolution can't be used.
I'll start it off by saying I side with Jefferson. Although the two treaties we signed with France that stated we had to help them when they needed it were out along with the monarch, it was our moral obligation to help them.