One potential way of organising not only research but the thesis itself is to focus on specific close-knit groups of Federalists. That will presumably mean focusing on certain locations, and the idiosyncracies of place would form part of an explanation of the differences within Federalism. The thrust of the thesis would be towards understanding why, when, and how those different groups and networks came together for the constitution.
What I'd hope to do with this approach is to avoid just talking about politics, whether local or continental, but to include the whole range of cultural, social, and intellectual experience. There is a question there, about whether Federalism is just a political persuasion, a surface preoccupation, or if it is something deeper or more complex. So what I would hope for in terms of research is to bring together local newspapers and pamphlets, correspondence, records of meetings and local politics, social and economic trends and networks, cultural productions like books, poems, and plays, civic organisations like museums and philosophical societies, even things like fashion. It may be a matter of establishing local Federalist mentalities before fitting them into a continental collage.
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