1. Video: “The Relevance of the U.S. Constitution” o https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/videos/teaching-content/relevance-us-constitution/ o Former President Obama discusses the relevance of the U.S. Constitution with the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps. The students ask the President a variety of questions and he discusses the importance of the constitution and how the government has to withhold certain rules, freedoms, and rights of the people in today’s society. o I love this video because the reporters are young students and former President Obama delivers information in a professional and relatable manner. This video helps students make meaningful connections to what they learned in the text to their own lives. After students watch …show more content…
He describes what is expected of society and how the newly written Constitution promote the lasting welfare of the country. o This letter provides students to analyze a piece of nonfiction as a primary resource for someone who lived and was part of the Constitution process. Students are exposed to the written style, tone, and vocabulary from another time period. The rich vocabulary gives students an opportunity to decode and describe the letter in their own words. o Letter source: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/constitution/pdf/washington_letter.pdf Literature Responses 1. We the People: The Story of Our Constitution Written by Lynne Cheney, Illustrated by Greg Harlin o To encourage a reading response to this text, I will implement grand discussion and debate. We will first read the text together as a whole, in pairs, and independently. We will discuss each man who was a part of writing the Constitution came up with arguments to convey their stand on the subject. We will talk about the difference between persuasive and argumentative text. We will talk about when each should be used. We will talk about our need for a “Classroom Constitution.” Students will be assigned to groups to discuss their ideas about how our classroom will run. Each group will choose a leader to represent them to the class to show their ideas to the class before we vote on a Classroom Constitution.
In offering alternative interpretations of the origins of the Constitution, the author accomplishes his secondary purpose, to make the reader challenge what they know about the framing of the Constitution. Holton details the rebellion of the “Unruly Americans” against the state and national governments, using Adonijah Mathews as an ultimate example of the “common man.” Mathews’ views are presented in order to contrast the views of James Madison, whom it seems the author
“While the authors of the United States Constitution are frequently portrayed as noble and idealistic statesmen who drafted a document based upon their conception of good government, reality is that the constitution reflects the politics of the drafting and ratification process. Unfortunately, the result is a document that is designed to produce an ineffective government, rather than a government that can respond to issues in a timely fashion.” In support of this conclusion, the issues of slavery, The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, and the civil rights struggle keenly demonstrate the ways in which our constitution hinders the expediency and effectiveness of America’s government. The constitution’s provisions towards voting eligibility and
Using information from the evidence below as well as your knowledge of the period, discuss the development of the United States Constitution as a document which ensured popular sovereignty.
SKILLSHARE 9/28 What is the focus of the reading and video assignments? The readings focused on the constitution. It’s purpose is to establish a basic framework of the government, allocate government powers, and declare or guarantee individual rights.
The reasoning behind the Constitution of the United States is presented as 'based upon the philosophy of Hobbes and the religion of Calvin. It assumes the natural state of mankind in a state of war, and that the carnal mind is at enmity with God.' Throughout, the struggle between democracy and tyranny is discussed as the Founding Fathers who envisioned the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787 believed not in total democracy, but instead saw common man as selfish and contemptuous, and therefore in need of a 'a good political constitution to control him.' Being a largely propertied body, with the exception of William Few, who was the
David O. Stewart, by profession, is a lawyer with a resume that includes everything from arguing appeals at the Supreme Court level to serving as a law court to the acclaimed Junior Powell. But in writing The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution (specifically, I read the First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition May 2008, copyrighted in 2007), he uses that experience in law to prove himself a gifted storyteller. Two hundred sixty-four pages long, this United States history nonfiction book does indeed have the substance to engage the reader throughout. It has special features that include two appendices featuring the elector system and the actual constitution of 1787, author’s notes, suggested further reading, acknowledgments and an index (which escalate the total length of the book to three hundred forty-nine pages long).
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was held to address the many problems about the way the United States was governing its people, which was operated under the Articles of Confederation. Among the 55 delegates were 13 colonies who attended the convention to address the many issues that the United States of America were facing. The delegates consisted of wealthy Federalists who fought a strong central government and favored ratifying the Constitution. The Anti-Federalist were less fortunate and feared losing their power to the national government. In this essay, I will be discussing why the Constitution was created, what major arguments arose, and the debates over ratifying the constitution.
Over the course of this class, we have read, investigated, discussed, and learned the similarities and differences between the Vermont and U.S. Constitutions. Although quite similar in diction and viewpoints, there are tiny discrepancies between the two, more often than not being one single word or phrase. These small points may seem insignificant, but in actuality, they make things much more complex.
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution in 1787, the United States just had 13 states. The Founding Fathers believed that more states would want to join the Union in the future. They saw that it would be significant for new states to have the same form of government as the original states had. Since then there are now over 50 states that have similar characteristics which were developed centuries ago; although, resembling the creation of new ideas and inventions, current state government had many problems from being the way it is today, it also has many important features that benefit many people, as well as plays an important role in how American democracy and government works.
The question posed by both Madison and the Framers in the 85 “Federalist Papers” and Dahl in his book How Democratic is the American Constitution? is how effective the Constitution is at promoting the ideals of a democracy. For Dahl, there are several issues surrounding the Constitution, from its drafting, to its ideology, to its relevance. By analyzing Dahl’s critiques of the Constitution in terms of the parallels that exist between factions and the two-party system, the issue of unequal representation, and the necessity for the Framers to compromise on their ideals to ratify the Constitution, Dahl defined a clear argument based in his general disapproval for the Constitution. However, by combining Dahl’s critiques with potential rebuttals from the opinions and perspectives of Madison and his fellow Federalists, it is evident that both Dahl and the Framers believed that if the constitution was completely successful, then the lives of the American people would be enhanced. While Dahl believed that the Constitution, ultimately, has not fully protected the rights of all persons, he, like the Framers, focused on the particulars of government that must be improved such that the American life is bettered.
According to Scott (2008), the Constitution of America has undergone several translations within the history of America because they found it to be unclear. Whereas it appears discrepant that the unclear Constitution could be useful, the disagreement is the case (Robertson, 2005). Americans regard the Constitution to be helpful for the reason that it allows for diverseness of views. In the history of America, a variety of thoughts would develop with alarming and formidable support through various factions (Robertson, 2005). Today, the main political arguments are presented from the Republican group or Democratic group. During the early periods of the American government, arguments on politics were made by Thomas Jefferson
The first video “The Constitution Project” – creating a constitution of the founding fathers creating and signing the constitution. This is a large piece of history which because of them, the constitution and the articles of confederation are what make makes America what it is today, unified. The major learning theme of this video is to understanding what and how these states came together, taxation, laws, and the people behind it. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison to name a few are the unique founding fathers who helped make America the way it is for years to come. Because of the constitution, constitutional conflicts have become a major focus and resolving them is another. Most of all, it’s significant to see the founding fathers go through conflicts of the constitution and eventually come to a compromise that are doable still today. It’s extraordinary to see first-hand of a group of leaders eventually reach a compromise about its core values, the government, states, and people’s rights.
The book, “A Brilliant Solution” analyses the American constitution from scratch to the end with a clear review of the start of the process, the debates
The US Constitution states “We The People of the United states in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for more common defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The main purpose of the U.S Constitution is to establish the basic rights of all American Citizens. This follows that every United States Citizens have equal rights. Belonging to a minority group because of culture, religion or race does not assert that one is unconstitutional. In times of war, evacuation of minority groups only in NOT constitutional; however, evacuation of ALL United
Federalist papers were a series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison and were publish with the pen name “Publius”. They were first written to urge the citizens of New York City to support ratification of the proposed United States Constitution. This paper will analyze the problem of tyranny of the majority in both society and the government by using Madison’s Federalist Papers No.10 and 51. It will also discuss how the republican government and separation of powers provide remedies.