The Constitution: Counter Revolution or National Salvation? Reading Assignments

Assignment #1:   The Articles of Confederation

The Enduring Vision, pp. 164-172.

As you are probably aware, the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, but our current Constitution was not signed until 1789. In the years in between, the Continental Congress designed and used the Articles of Confederation. This crucial reading explains how the Articles worked--and how they didn't.

1. Tradition and Change:  How colonial governments were accustomed to acting.
1. In this section, identify four major ways that colonial governments were not totally democratic.
2. Now, based on the reading, define the words democrat and republican as a person would have used them in the late 1700s.
2. Reconstituting the States:  How, after the revolution, many states became more democratic.

In this section, identify five ways that state constitutions spread power to the common man.

3. The Articles of Confederation:  The central fact of the Articles was that they "established a form of government in which Americans were citizens of their own states first and the United States second."

Draw a diagram of the government as you understand it from the explanation on page 192. Your diagram should show how Congress was chosen, how it interacted with other groups, and what its powers were.

4. Financial Crisis:   What caused the Depression that began in 1784, and why couldn't the Articles handle it very well?
5. Western Lands:  Identify and define each of these two landmark acts:
1. The Ordinance of 1785
2. The Northwest Ordinance
3. How did both of these acts affect Native Americans?
6. Shays's Rebellion:  What was it, why did it happen, and what effect did it have on the Colonies and the Articles?

Assignment #2:   The Constitution

The Enduring Vision, pp. 172-178.

This crucial reading gives an overview of the process of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787. Try to answer every question thoroughly; each one will help you understand our simulation.

1. Basic Issues:   Name the first two basic issues facing the Constitutional Convention.
2. The Virginia Plan:   What was it?
3. The New Jersey Plan:   What did it say?
4. The Great Compromise:  How did Roger Sherman end this fight?
5. Checks and Balances:  Define and describe this key idea.
6. Federalism:  What is this crucial idea?
7. Three Fifths Compromise:  How did this plan "settle" the serious problem of slavery?
8. Antifederalists:   What was their view of the new Constitution, and why were they eventually defeated?
9. Federalists:   What was their view of the new Constitution, and why did they eventually win?
10. The Federalist Papers:  Who wrote them and what did they say?