Author: 9W6N

Unit 3– U.S. Constitution

Enduring Understandings
The U.S. Constitution is a living document that protects the rights of individuals by limiting the power of government.
A democratic society is based on individual rights, limited government, and civic responsibilities.
Essential Questions
Why did the writers develop a weak central government for the Articles of Confederation?
Why was compromise crucial to the creation of our constitution?
How are individual rights essential to our democracy?
What are the responsibilities of a government and its people in a republic?
What is the purpose of government?
How does the US Government balance its powers and responsibilities?

_________________________________________________________
Name
_______ Period

Notes, Doodles, Thoughts, etc.

Notes, Doodles, Thoughts, etc.

Northwest Ordinance…questions and map

Directions: Answer the questions and complete the map. Be sure you color and label the 13 original states, the five new states, the Mississippi River, and Spanish Territory.
1. What did the Land Ordinance of 1785 do?
2. What was the size of each township?
3. What did each township have to have?
4. What was not allowed in the Northwest Territory?
5. What was the purpose of the Northwest Ordinance?
6. What states were created from the Northwest Territory?

Definition:

Northwest Ordinance: the STEPS to statehood!!

The Northwest Ordinance

Articles of Confederation QR Code Webquest
STATION 1: Articles vs. Constitution Chart (courtesy of Greg Feldmeth “US History Resources)
1) What are three powers that Congress has now that were not present in the Articles of Confederation?
2) Was there an executive under the Articles of Confederation? Why do you believe the founding fathers made this decision?
STATION 2: Articles of Confederation Document: (courtesy of US Constitution Online)
1) What year were the Articles agreed upon by Congress? Was the Revolution still in progress?
2) Summarize Article III:
STATION 3: Articles Website: (courtesy of earlyamerica.com)
1) The website states that “the Articles reflect the wariness by the states of a strong
__________ __________________.”
2) Why would the states by wary (concerned) of what you filled in the blanks above?
STATION 4: Articles Graphic Organizer: (courtesy of Glencoe Publishing)
1) According to the graphic organizer what was one power that Congress did have
under the Articles of Confederation?
2) Predict what issues might arise due to the powers withheld from Congress.
STATION 5: Map of the United States Under the Articles of Confederation (Wikimedia Commons)
1) How many disputed areas are on the map?
2) Do you believe the government had the power to deal with these disputes under the
Articles of Confederation? Why or why not?

Articles of Confederation QR Code Webquest
STATION 6: Political Cartoon
1) Does the cartoon have a positive or negative view of the Articles of Confederation?
Explain your answer.
2) Who do the thirteen rocks in the cartoon represent?
STATION 7: Northwest Territory Map: (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
1) The Northwest Ordinance created this territory. Name at least three states that
were formed from this territory.
2) What advantages did the U.S. gain by setting up these territories?
STATION 8: Northwest Ordinance (Courtesy of earlyamerica.com)
1) According to the document, who is the commander in chief of the militia in the new
territories (hint: use the 6th paragraph)?
2) Is there religious freedom in the territories? Give text evidence to support your
answer.
3) Summarize Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance. (look near the end)
STATION 9: Shays’ Rebellion (Courtesy of calliope.org)
1) According to the website what group (profession) was most involved in the
rebellion?
2) Read the quotes in the center of the webpage and answer the following questions:
a. How did Samuel Adams feel about the rebellion?
b. How did Thomas Jefferson feel about the rebellion?

Articles of Confederation:
Strengths and Weaknesses

EXPERIENCING THE WEAKNESSES OF THE
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

The Class was divided into groups
Each group of students had one vote.
The students tried to decide on a radio station
The radio was never programmed
Some students became dissatisfied, angry, and/or frustrated

OPTIC ANALYSIS
O: (overview—what do you think the visual is about?)
P: (parts— list everything you see)
T: (title—what is it? Does it help you understand anything?)
I: (interrelationships—are there connections between the parts? What does it mean?)
C: (conclusion—using all of this information, summarize the overall meaning of the visual in 2-3 sentences.)

Constitutional Convention
May 25, 1787

CONVENTION NOTES
1. Define compromise:
2. Where did the Convention take place? (city and state)
3. Who was the president of the convention?
4. What was James Madison’s role?
5. Why was secrecy so important?
6. Who was not present at the Constitutional Convention?
7. Why was Rhode Island not represented?
8. What were the reasons not all delegates signed the U.S. Constitution?
9. Why didn’t the founding fathers do anything about slavery at this time?

FOUNDATION	QUOTE	IN YOUR OWN WORDS	SUMMARY OF INFLUENCE ON THE CONSTITUTION
Baron de / Montesquieu	“There is as yet no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from legislative power and the executrix”
John Locke	“Government has no other end, but the preservation of property.”
Sir William / Blackstone	“So great moreover is the regard of the law for private property, that it will not authorize the least violation of it; no, not even for the general good of the whole community.”
Mayflower Compact	“… do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic…”
Magna Carta	“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.”

FOUNDATION	QUOTE	IN YOUR OWN WORDS	SUMMARY OF INFLUENCE ON THE CONSTITUTION
English Bill of Rights	“By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law…”
Declaration of / Independence	“...governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut	“… that to maintain the peace and union of such a people there should be an orderly and decent Government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people at all seasons as occasion shall require; do therefore associate and conjoin ourselves to be as one Public State or Commonwealth…”
Articles of / Confederation	“Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.”

CONSTITUTIONAL / PRINCIPLE	DEFINITION / (IN YOUR OWN WORDS)	EXAMPLES OF HOW AND WHERE IT IS ACHIEVED	IMAGE / DESCRIPTION
Popular / Sovereignty		The Preamble to the U.S Constitution states: “We the People of the Unites Stats… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Citizenship is defined in the 14th Amendment added to the Constitution after the Civil War in 1868. The right to vote was extended to women by the 19th Amendment added in 1920 and to those 18 or older by the 26th Amendment added in 1971.
Republicanism		The Constitution sets down a time frame for regular elections for all elected government positions. Article I provides for a bicameral U.S. Congress comprised of a House of Representatives all of whose members are elected every two years and a U.S. Senates whose members serve staggered six year terms. Article II provides for a President and Vice President to be elected very four years. Article IV obligates the national government to guarantee each state “a republican form of government.”
Federalism		The Constitution lists powers delegated to the national government. For example, Article I, Section 8 contains a lengthy list of the powers of the U.S. Congress. Powers not delegated to the national government and not denied to the states are reserved to the states or to the people by the

Separation of Powers		Article I creates a Legislative branch and assigns that branch its duties and powers. Article II creates an Executive branch and assigns that branch its duties and powers. Article III creates a Judicial branch and assigns that branch its duties and powers.
Checks / and / Balances		Article I, for example, gives Congress the power to impeach, try, convict, and remove from office officers of the other two branches. Article I also gives the President the power to veto any bill passed by the Congress. Article II gives the President the power to appoint judges of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Article III does not specifically give the judicial branch any check over the other two branches, but the U.S. Supreme Court established a check called judicial review over the other two branches for itself in 1803 in a case called Marbury v Madison.
Limited / Government		Limits on government, for example, are imposed by the rights guaranteed to the people by the U.S. Bill of Rights and by Article I, Sections 9 & 10. Also, the Supremacy Clause of Article VI makes the Constitution, only those laws made in pursuance of the Constitution, and treaties the “Supreme Law of the Land.”
Individual Rights		Article I, Section 9, for example, provides that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in time of rebellion or invasion, and that no titles of nobility shall be granted. The U.S. Bill of rights lists numerous other rights. Due process of law and equal protection of the law for all persons are guaranteed by the 14th amendment.

CONSTITUTIONAL / PRINCIPLE	DEFINITION / (IN YOUR OWN WORDS)	EXAMPLES OF HOW AND WHERE IT IS ACHIEVED	IMAGE / DESCRIPTION

4

Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson

DOCUMENT	SOURCE & DATE	QUOTE	MEANING	QHOTE	MEANING	FEDERALIST OR ANTI-FEEERALIST
RHODE / ISLAND / IS RIGHT!		“by which our taxes-the right of which is solely vested in Congress, would be doubled or trebled [tripled].”		The supreme continental court is to have, almost in every case, "appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact," the setting aside the trial by jury.”
Shall / Liberty or Empire be Sought?		“If your American Chief (President) be a man of ambition and abilities, how easy is it or him to render himself absolute:”		“I would rather infinitely… have a King, Lords, and Commons [elements of the British Government], than a Government so replete [full of] with such insupportable evils.”
Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican		“The plan of government now proposed is evidently calculated totally to change, in time, our condition as a people”		“Instead of being thirteen republics, under a federal head, it is clearly designed to make us one consolidated government.”
Conformity of the / Plan to Republican / Principles		“we may define a republic to be… a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people,”		“It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion [states]”

Whose Line is it?
Directions: Either a Federalist or Anti-Federalist said each of the statements below, Use what you have learned in order to determine who would have said each statement. Write the word “Federalist” or “Anti-Federalist” in the space provided to show which group would have supported each statement.
_________________ 1. “…A federal government…ought to be clothed with all the powers requisite to complete execution of its trust.”
_________________ 2. “Energy in the Executive is a leading characteristic in the definition of good government.”
_________________ 3. “This country should never split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.”
_________________ 4. “The states should respectively have laws. Courts, force, and revenues of their own sufficient for their own security; they ought to be fit to keep house alone if necessary.”
_________________ 5. “I am against inserting a declaration of rights in the Constitution…If such an addition is not dangerous, it is at least unnecessary.”
_________________ 6. “A bill of rights…serves to secure a minority against the usurpation and tyranny of the majority.”
_________________ 7. “The…new form of government…declares a consolidation of union of all the thirteen parts, or states, into one great whole…It is an intuitive truth that a consolidated republican form of government [will lead]…into monarchy, either limited or despotic.”
_________________ 8. “…government…never can extend equal benefit to all parts of the United States. Different laws, customs, and options exist in different states, which by a uniform system of laws would be unreasonably invaded.”
_________________ 9. “The number of representatives [called for in the Constitution of 1787] appears to be too few, either to communicate to requisite information of the wants, local circumstances, and sentiments, of so extensive an empire, or to prevent corruption and undue influence in the exigencies of such great powers.”
_________________ 10. “…under the Confederation…the measures of the Union have not been executed; and the delinquencies of the States have step by step matured themselves to an extreme, which has, at length, arrested all the wheels of the national government and brought them to an awful stand.”

AMMENDMENT	YOUR WORDS
1 - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
2 - A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
3 - No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, with out the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
4 - The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
5 - No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury;... nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
6 - In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,... and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
7 - In suits at common law,… the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.
8 - Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
9 - The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10 - The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

GETTING TO KNOW THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Use the following clues in order to determine the Amendment that is being described. All 10 of the Amendments will be described.
1. Each state has the right to maintain an armed force for its own protection.
2. People’s rights are not limited to those written in the Constitution.
3. In order for your home to be searched, a warrant must be issued by a judge.
4. If you are accused of a crime you are entitled to a fair hearing or trial.
5. In a civil case, a jury trial is a right. If a legal error is made, an appeal may take place and the previous courts decision can be overturned.
6. Those powers not specifically stated as belonging to the federal government are reserved to the states.
7. The homes of citizens will not be used to house armed forces.
8. The government may not review or censor materials prior to printing.
9. A lawyer must be provided at the expense of the state if a defendant cannot afford a lawyer.
10. The amount of bail set for an accused should be equal to the seriousness of the crime.

THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think the rights listed in the 1st Amendment were in fact listed first? Name one colonial example of how those rights were not taken into consideration.
2. What does it mean to “plead the 5th”? What portion of the 5th Amendment describes the meaning? QUOTE IT.
3. If one of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights had to be removed, which one could we do without? Explain.

Colonial Grievance	How the Problem was Solved in the Constitution
The king has refused to approve laws that are needed for the public good.
The King has sent many soldiers to harass the people and use their homes and personal belongings, requiring Americans to provide for those soldiers.
The King has transported us beyond the seas to be tried for fake offenses.
The King has unjustly used his power.
The King and parliament have taxed us without our consent.
The colonists have repeatedly asked for relief. Instead of listening to the colonists, the king has made war on them.
Colonists like, John Peter Zenger, have not the right to criticize Royal Governors, and have been imprisoned, even though the information published was in fact the truth.
The King has combined with others to cut off our trade with the rest of the world.
The King has refused to pass other laws unless people would give up the right of representation in the legislature.
The King has made judges dependent on him for their salaries and their term of office.

Directions: Use your device to obtain the definitions from the word wall. Write and example sentence and draw a quick visual for each term. Note: example sentences must be COMPLEX!

TERM	DEFINITION	EXAMPLE / SENTENCE	VISUAL
CASH CROP	Crops, such as cotton or tobacco, raised in large quantities in order to be sold for profit	Most of the slaves were brought to the colonies to work on cash crops such as tobacco.
AMMENDMENT
CHECKS & / BALANCES
FEDERALISM
INDIVIDUAL / RIGHTS
LIMITED / GOVERNMENT
POPULAR / SOVEREIGNTY
REPUBLICANISM
SEPARATION OF POWERS
RATIFICATION
GREIVANCES

CONSTITUTION PART ONE
This review should be completed throughout the unit in preparation for the unit assessment.
4.C What is significant about the Articles of Confederation?
15.B Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation:
Land Ordinance of 1785:
What was the purpose of this land ordinance?
6.A Explain how the Northwest Ordinance established principles and procedures for orderly expansion of the United States Include the first five new states created in your explanation.
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Strengths of Articles of Confederation	Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation

CONSTITUTION PART ONE
1.C What was the primary purpose of the Constitutional Convention?
10.A Locate and mark the location on
the map of the Constitutional Convention.
4.D Analyze the issues of the Constitutional Convention of 1787:
Illustrate the Great Compromise: Illustrate the 3/5 Compromise:
Explain the Electoral College:

	Issue	Name of compromise
Representation
Slavery
Election of / President

CONSTITUTION PART TWO
This review should be completed throughout the unit in preparation for the unit assessment.
15.A Which ideas in the following documents are found in the US constitutions?
15.C How were the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence addressed in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

CONSTITUTION PART TWO
15.D How does the Constitution reflect the principles of government?
16.A Why does the US Constitution
allow for amendments?

Limited Government
Republicanism
Checks and Balances
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Popular Sovereignty
Individual Rights

What is the process for amending the U.S. Constitution?

CONSTITUTION PART TWO
20.A Explain how each person contributed to self-government in America and the U.S. Constitution:
Charles de Montesquieu:
John Locke:
William Blackstone:
4.E & 17.A Analyze arguments for and against ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Include the following people in your chart:
Alexander Hamilton
Patrick Henry
James Madison
George Mason
19.B Summarize the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights:

	FOR	AGAINST
GROUP / (nickname)
ARGUMENTS
PEOPLE

1st Amendment	2nd Amendment	3rd Amendment	4th Amendment	5th Amendment
6th Amendment	7th Amendment	8th Amendment	9th Amendment	10th Amendment

CONSTITUTION PART TWO
21.B What is the importance of having free speech and press in a constitutional republic?
25.C What is the impact of the 1st Amendment protect freedom of religion on American way of life?
19.C Explain why the following are important as citizens of the United States:
Following rules and maintaining order:
Civic duties:
Providing financial support (to government and family):
19.D List examples of responsible citizenship:
1. obeying rules and laws
2.
3.
4.
19.E List the basic steps and requirements for becoming a naturalized citizen.
19.F How do all of the rights and responsibilities of US Citizens reflect who we are as a country?

Magna Carta 1215
English Bill of Rights
Mayflower Compact
Federalist Papers
Anti-Federalist Writings

Grievance	Constitution	Bill of Rights
“No taxation without / representation”
Forced quartering of soldiers
No due process
Abuses of elected officials
Writs of Assistance
King forbids the government from passing laws
King dissolved representative / governments
Has taken away our basic rights
Have no local judiciary
Military independent / and superior

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