The Constitution

A Week:
On Tuesday we had a scavenger hunt--you had to find things in the Constitution.

You were given a list of events from the period of our nation's founding, which you had to put in order and include the dates.
If you were absent, please read pages 73-83 and put the events you find in order.

Today (Wednesday) we corrected your timelines as a class, and we discussed the founding of our nation.

Notes:
Remember that the first governing document of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. It did not work.

Founders such as George Washington felt that it was necessary to form a government with a stronger central power. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and friends did not become Federalists by accident. Remember, they were centrally involved in the winter at Valley Forge--a winter when the Continental troops were starving to death and freezing in the middle of America's best farmland. Farmers were selling their goods to the British soldiers because the British paid in pounds sterling (solid currency) while the American's paid in currency that was not trusted.

In order to save the army and the war effort, Washington had to take hard measures.
-he sent Gen. Nathaniel Greene to "buy" what little food was left from American farmers (the "selling" was forced).
-he strengthened up discipline in the army and gave lifetime half-pay pensions to officers who promised to stay for the rest of the war rather than going home at the end of their term.
-he restricted other liberties in order to gain control of the army and countryside.

Washington didn't like curtailing liberties, but he felt that short-term suffering would be better than tyranny under the British if they won the war. [Big hint: we will connect this issue to an opinion question about politics and the situation today--is it necessary to lose liberties during national emergencies?]

Washington developed the mindset that a strong national government was necessary--he saw what happened when the army was disorganized and supply lines didn't work.

The key question in forming this new government would be how to balance the powers to create an effective government. The founders were not thinking about "democracy" and "freedom" in the purest sense--they were too busy trying to create a government that would last. [Remember--the Europeans were STILL waiting for the whole darned thing to fall apart].

Schoolhouse Rock

In every period but 7A, we have watched these cartoons. Your homework was to analyze your favorite and tell why it was accurate or inaccurate. Place this in your notebook.

F Week: Tuesday

See notes already posted about the history of democracy and the Declaration.

Yesterday we began the "English to English" translation of the Declaration, and you were asked to translate 10 complaints into our English at the end of class and for homework.

Happy 3 day weekend

Today, period 6 had reading period and period 7 discussed the Roosevelt essay. If you were absent, please get a copy from me, as I cannot find a link to her essay online.

Otherwise, no homework for the long weekend.

Can a Woman Ever be President of the United States?

Today in period 7 Civics, we will address this topic. Eleanor Roosevelt felt that a woman could not be President and wrote an essay on the subject. We will read and analyze her thoughts on this topic. We may need more time to discuss this controversial topic, so I will have you note the main ideas from our discussion in your notebook so no one forgets over the long weekend and week at health/PE.

What went Wrong with the Articles?

The Colonists were tired of wars and tired of the king. Nobody wanted a new American king--you all know someone who gets a little bit of power and then becomes terrible. You know the kid who used to work with you at Stop & Shop or Daves, and then gets to be the Head Bagger, only to boss you around, make you get the carts, and make your job miserable...

The colonists were afraid of the same thing. Therefore, the Articles of Confederation, the first main Law of the Land, were loosely structured to give the power to the states and not the federal government. The problem was that the states did not all have the same interests--there were slave states and free states, big states and small states, industrial states and agricultural states, and the list goes on.

Trying to coordinate to pay back the war debt, build a national infrastructure, set up a system of banking and do other things for the welfare of the nation became nearly impossible. Try this at home--invite 13 of your friends to your house where you will meet up at a certain time, decide on a restaurant and decide which movie (you all have to go to the same one) at the Patriot Cinema. Odds are, one person will be 5 hours early, one will be late, someone will hate whatever restaurant you choose, and you will never get to decide on a movie. Now, multiply the effects of this by 13 states controlling the entire population of the nation.

Remember, the British and the French were waiting on the horizon for this new "experiment in democracy" to fall apart. They were certain it would, and they would be available to carve up the resulting colonies--think about the rest of the world. This was the middle of the Age of Colonization, and there was no continent (except Antarctica and maybe the polar icecap) that was untouched by the effects of European colonization.

Your mission in class and for homework today will be to:

--List reasons why the Articles of Confederation did not succeed.
--Explain why Shay's rebellion occurred and what effect this had on the colonists realizing the Articles were ineffective.
--Define "federalist" and "antifederalist" interests.

Put the following answers in your notebook. If you were asleep or absent today, the book contains some information around pages 80-85.

Articles of Confederation

Today we will effectively skip the Revolutionary War--suffice to say the Colonists won. No one expected this, and no one in Europe expected the fledgling democracy to last. The British and French were waiting on the horizon to carve up the new nation when it crumbled into disaster.

The Founding Fathers knew this, and they set about creating a set of documents to govern the nation without creating a strong federal government that would take the place of the king...

This first attempt was (insert scary movie music here) the Articles of Confederation.