- Quizzes, tests, prompts, work samples
- Observations, cooperative learning dialogues, interviews, notebook
- Student self-assessment
Learning Context/ Introduction
It is Fall 1787. The Federal Convention has recently concluded its closed door meetings in Philadelphia and presented the nation with a new model for the government. It is now up to each special state convention to decide whether to replace the Articles of Confederation with this new constitution. The debate is passionate and speaks directly to what our founding fathers had in mind in conceiving this new nation. Does this new government represent our salvation or downfall? As a politically active citizen of your region, you will take a stand on this crucial issue of the day.
Duration
Three week unit. The project takes about 14 classes and time outside of class.
Objectives
Essential Learning
Students will understand:
- different perspectives of history;
- geographic, political, economic, and social aspects of historical events;
- that forces/trends/individuals move history.
Unit Understanding
Students will understand:
- the forces that shaped the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution;
- that government is based on written documents;
- that the Constitution was a nationalist victory over state autonomy; and
- that the Articles of Confederation were not replaced solely because they were inadequate.
- the major arguments for and against the ratification of the Constitution.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- state a thesis and support it with evidence and commentary;
- access and analyze primary source documents;
- distinguish and evaluate bias in historical documents;
- navigate online resources; and
- produce a persuasive product, the "Broadside Project."
Procedure
The students have already studied Colonial America and the Revolution. This learning experience on the U.S. Constitution begins with an examination of what type of government would best represent the ideals of the American Revolution. Once these factors are identified, the Articles of Confederation are examined, the reasons for calling a Federal Convention are explored, and the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention are studied. Finally, the ratification process is studied. It is during this part of the learning experience that the Broadside project is completed.
Questions to Focus Instruction:
- Where does power reside in the relationship between people and government?
- Was the Constitution an abandonment of the ideals of the American Revolution?
The procedure for this learning experience is composed of the following parts:
Lesson 1: Creating a Government (1 class period)
Lesson 2: Articles of Confederation (1 class period)
Lesson 3: Calling a Federal Convention (1 class period)
Lesson 4: Drafting the Constitution, Part I (1 class period)
Lesson 5: Drafting the Constitution, Part II (1 class period)
Lesson 6: Government under the Constitution (1 class period)
Lesson 7: Broadside Project Introduction (1 class period)
Lesson 8: Reviewing the Events: From the Revolution to Ratification of the Constitution (1 class period)
Lesson 9: Examining Primary Sources, Part I (1 class period)
Lesson 10: Examining the Primary Sources, Part II (1 class period)
Lesson 11: Examining the Primary Sources, Part III (1 class period)
Lesson 12: Answering the Question, "Was the Constitution a Counter Revolution?" (1 class period)
Note: This project is not dependent on the use of technology. Hard copied of the documents may be printed and the broadside project produced without the use of computers. For classes with access to computers, students can search and read the documents online, take and share notes electronically, and produce a broadside using desktop publishing tools.
Lesson 1
Creating a Government(1 class period)
Preparation
- Print out "Government Workshop" handouts for classroom distribution. One handout per group is needed.
- Print out copies of the Declaration of Independence for classroom distribution, if needed.
- Print out copies of the Articles of Confederation for the homework assignment, one copy per student, if needed.
Classroom Activity
- Introduce unit on the Constitution.
- Present the question to the students that will be addressed in the Government Workshop: Given the ideals of the American Revolution as represented in the Declaration of Independence, what type government would you create?
- Government Workshop
- Distribute "Government Workshop" handouts.
- Students divide into small groups of 3-4 persons each.
- Each group chooses or is assigned to represent a political orientation: radical or conservative.
- Each group works through the set of questions in the "Government Workshop" handout, answering the questions from the point of view of the political orientation the represent.
- When students have completed handouts, classroom discussion of the workshop takes place.
- Students together formulate key points which their small groups have identified.
- Students share their group's answers to the question presented.
- "Government Workshop" handouts are turned in to the teacher.
- Distribute the copies of the Articles of Confederation and assign homework.
- Inform students that for this unit they will need to keep a notebook (or section of their notebook) which will record the process. They may need to purchase a notebook, and should have it by the next class.
Homework
Read the Articles of Confederation and compare to the key points identified in the classroom activity.
Lesson 2
Articles of Confederation (1 class period)
Preparation
- Prepare classroom lecture on the Articles of the Confederation. This should focus on how the government operated under the Articles, and why it operated as it did, e.g., there was no national executive and the Americans did not want to be ruled by another king.
- Print out the "Reading Assignments" handout for distribution.
NOTE: The Reading Assignment uses the text, The Enduring Vision by Paul S. Boyer. An online alternative is the Special Presentation, "To Form a More Perfect Union: The Work of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention ," in Documents of the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention in American Memory. See Procedure: Lesson 8 below for suggestions on how the Special Presentation might be used.
Classroom Activity
- Students should have notebooks available. Explain how the notebooks will be used in the course of this project.
- Pose the question: Did the Articles of Confederation represent the ideals of the American Revolution?
- Students respond to this question in their notebooks.
- When students have completed the writing assignment, have classroom discussion on the question.
- Give lecture on Articles of Confederation
- Distribute the "Reading Assignments" handout and assign homework (Reading Assignment #1).
Homework
Students complete Reading Assignment #1 on the Articles of Confederation.
- Reading Assignments
Lesson 3
Calling a Federal Convention (1 class period)
Classroom Activity
- Introduce the Annapolis Conference and the debate over whether to call a Federal Convention.
- Student Debate: "Yea or Nay on the call for a Federal Convention?"
In this activity, students make preliminary identifications of arguments for and against the Convention. The debate may take a number of forms, ranging from free form to highly structured. Here are some possibilities:
- Each student or group of students contributes to the debate a "yea" or "nay" with a brief supporting argument.
- Students or teams of students are assigned political positions of radical and conservative. Ensuing debate takes place according to a set of official rules, i.e. Parliamentary Procedure.
- Students form pairs and have a "silent debate." Each takes a role as radical or conservative. The two students pass a piece of paper back and forth between them, responding to each of their adversary's points and making their own points. No talking is allowed. At the conclusion of the debate, students circle their opponent's best argument. This choice is an excellent activity for class on a Monday after a long weekend.
- At the conclusion of the debates, the class discusses the reasons for and against the call for a Federal Convention that have been identified in this activity.
- Assign reading homework.
Homework
Students read material from the textbook or other source on what happened in the Constitutional Convention.
Lesson 4
Drafting the Constitution, Part I (1 class period)
Preparation
Prepare lecture on major issues in the drafting of the Constitution. This will include classroom interaction and will take two days.
Classroom Activity
- Lecture on and discuss with the class the major issues in the drafting of the Constitution, and how they were resolved. The four major points to cover are:
- What to do with the Articles of Confederation;
- Power of national government versus the state/regional government;
- Representation: large versus small states; and
- Slavery.
- Assign reading homework.
Homework
Students read selection from the book The Great Rehearsal: The Story of the Making and Ratifying of the Constitution of the United States by Carl Van Doren, examining the reasons that more action was not taken to end slavery at the time of the drafting of the Constitution.
Lesson 5
Drafting the Constitution, Part II (1 class period)
Preparation
- Print out copies of the Constitution for classroom distribution, if needed.
- Print out "Document Analysis" handouts for distribution in class as homework.
Classroom Activity
- Continue lecture on and classroom discussion of the four major issues in the drafting of the Constitution, and how they were resolved.
- Distribute "Document Analysis" handouts and assign homework.
Homework
Document Analysis
- Read the Constitution.
- Answer the set of questions on the "Document Analysis" handout in your notebook.
- Document Analysis
Lesson 6
Government under the Constitution (1 class period)
Preparation
Prepare lecture on the Constitution, focusing on how the government is designed to operate.
Classroom Activity
- Students should have notebooks available.
- Pose the question: Did the Constitution reflect the ideals of the American Revolution?
- Students respond to this question in their notebooks. Their answer should be based on the issues they have identified in the Government Workshop and the Document Analysis they have completed as homework.
- When students are finished with the writing assignment, have classroom discussion on the question.
- Lecture on the Constitution. Focus on how the government is designed to operate under the Constitution:
- The three branches of the government;
- The requirements for office holders; and
- The system of checks and balances.
Lesson 7
Broadside Project Introduction (1 class period)
Preparation
- Print out for classroom distribution copies of the Student Guide describing the activities of the project.
- If computer lab time for the class is unavailable or limited, print out the Introduction and at least two sample broadsides from An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera from American Memory.
Classroom Activity
- Distribute the Student Guide describing the Broadside project.
- Introduce the Broadside Project to the class.
- In the computer lab introduce the students to American Memory.
- Students will view broadsides from the special Introduction to An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera.
- In the computer lab, students complete "Activity One: What is a Broadside?" from the Student Guide.
- If time in the computer lab is limited, distribute print copies of the "Introduction" and sample broadsides from the collection. Students complete the assignment in class.
- Assign reading homework on the ratification of the Constitution (Reading Assignment #2).
NOTE: The Reading Assignment uses the text, The Enduring Vision. An online alternative is the Special Presentation, "To Form a More Perfect Union: The Work of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention ," in Documents of the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention in American Memory. See Procedure: Lesson 8 below for suggestions on how the Special Presentation might be used.
- Student Guide
Lesson 8
Reviewing the Events: From the Revolution to Ratification of the Constitution (1 class period)
Preparation
Arrange for computer lab time for students to view and read the Special Presentation "To Form a More Perfect Union; the Work of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention " (If computer time or access is not available, print out copies of the special presentation for students to read in class.)
Classroom Activity:
- Introduce the Special Presentation as a review of events from the Revolution up to the ratification of the Constitution.
- Ask students to read the entire presentation, paying special attention to the sections that talk about the problems that arose after the Revolutionary War under the Articles of Confederation.
- Students are to note down 4-5 problems that the nation was facing, with particular attention to the years under the Articles.
- In class discussion, students brainstorm and list problems that faced the nation under the Articles of Confederation.
- Pose the question: Why might it be difficult to convince your state to ratify the Constitution?
- In classroom discussion, identify five major issues regarding the Constitution:
- Legal
- Interstate/ International Commerce
- Debt
- Representation
- National Integrity
Lesson 9
Examining Primary Sources, Part I (1 class period)
Preparation
- Print out copies of the Issue handouts and distribute to appropriate groups.
- If computer lab time for the class is unavailable or limited, print out copies of each of the primary source documents named in each of these five issue handouts.
Classroom Activity
- Students begin "Activity Two: Examining the Primary Source Documents" (Jig Saw Activity) from the Student Guide.
- Students divide into five groups with five to six people in each group. Each group is assigned one of the five issues to research.
- Distribute to each of the groups the handout for their assigned issue.
- In the computer lab, students form teams of two and examine online pre-selected documents from American Memory. For each document they are to determine the arguments for and against the ratification of the Constitution providing quotes that demonstrate understanding.
- If time in the computer lab is limited or unavailable, distribute print copies of the each of the primary source documents named in each of these five Issue handouts.
- Issue One: Legality
- Issue Two: Commerce
- Issue Three: Debt
- Issue Four: State vs. National Power
- Issue Five: National Integrity
Lesson 10
Examining the Primary Sources, Part II (1 class period)
Classroom Activity
The activity of Lesson 9, "Examining the Primary Source Documents" (Jig Saw Activity) is continued in class, in the computer lab, if possible.
Lesson 11
Examining the Primary Sources, Part III (1 class period)
Classroom Activity
- The activity of Lesson 9, "Examining the Primary Source Documents" (Jig Saw Activity) is continued in class. A representative from each issue group meets those from other groups to share their findings. Form five groups for this discussion.
- After the groups have shared their evidence, each individual student begins to draft her own Broadside, which will be completed as homework.
Homework
Complete Broadside. This may take a weekend.
Lesson 12
Answering the Question, "Was the Constitution a Counter Revolution?" (1 class period)
Classroom Activity
- Students should have notebooks available.
- Pose the question: Was the Constitution a Counter Revolution?
- Students respond to this question in their notebooks. Their answer should be based on the issues they have identified in the previous activities.
- When students have completed the writing assignment, have classroom discussion on the question.
Resources/Materials
Resources:
Links to Resources on Issues
American Memory
Print Sources
- Bowen, Catherine Drinker. Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1966.
- Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring Vision. 4th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
- Collier, Christopher and James Lincoln Collier. Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787. New York: Random House, 1986.
- St. John, Jeffrey. Constitutional Journal: A Correspondent's Report from the Convention of 1787. Ottawa, Ill.: Janeson Books, Inc., 1987.
- Van Doren, Carl. The Great Rehearsal: The Story of the Making and Ratifying of the Constitution of the United States. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.
Handouts:
- Broadside Evaluation Rubric
- Government Workshop
- Reading Assignments
- Document Analysis
- Student Guide
- Issue One: Legality
- Issue Two: Commerce
- Issue Three: Debt
- Issue Four: State vs. National Power
- Issue Five: National Integrity
Author
Claudia Argyres and Jim Smith
Source
Reproduced from the Library of Congress web site for teachers. Original lesson plan created as part of the Library of Congress American Memory Fellows Program.
