Hello again

I apologize for ending the blog after the midterms--I didn't think anyone liked it and because it's not available at school I didn't get the postings on right away. Thanks to Karla and Ellie for the feedback, and I'll get it going next year.

Final Exam review:
--pay special attention to the questions I asked you in class. Remember, I had the exam, you didn't:)

1. Organize your notebooks. Many of the terms come right from the vocabulary in the book chapters you were supposed to do--Chapters 12, 14, 15, 17, and 20. Review those terms and make sure they're organized in your notebooks. .
2. Concepts to understand:
--know the three branches of government and what they do.
--know the government agencies (the main ones we have discussed--there should be a chart in your notebook and your book)
--know the difference between civil and criminal trials. We discussed the role of the people involved, the role of the burden of proof, and we discussed the goal of the criminal justice system. We discussed your opinions on whether the criminal justice system was supposed to help people get better (reduce recidivism) or just keep them away from society.
--you should know the important names in your government. Especially your President, Vice-President, Chief Justice, Senators, (RI), RI Congressmen, and local town ruler.
--you should be able to talk about the concept of fair labor, job outsourcing, ways to organize effectively to change policies in your community, the economy (and the causes of the current recession), and the connection between national and local government.
--you should be familiar with court vocabulary (which is in those chapters as well)

The four essay choices we discussed in class today (the Walmart movie, the economy, the practical use of Civics and the role of the criminal justice system) should be well-researched with examples either from your research or our class discussions and book selections.

Good luck! Bring all your notes.

You may return your books tomorrow or Friday.

Grades

Most of the exams that are finished are corrected. A few of you need extra time..it's up to you to find that time either before school or during the make up period. If you do not, I will finish correcting your exam and score what you have completed.

Since we have had these cancelled school days, I will keep you posted as to when makeup time is, and when everything (notebooks, finished exams, anything else you owe me) has to be in...

Thank you.

Period 6F Exam Grades

Many of you needed to finish. I will post these tonight whether you are finished or not. If you are not finished, I will write "finish" in your space. One person needs to take this exam. Find me as soon as possible.

Period 7F Exam Grades

14.
15. finish
16.
17.
18.
19. finish
20. finish
21. 78 (finish 2nd essay—not graded yet)
22. finish
23. 83
24. 94
25.
26. 90
27. 69
29. 82
28. finish
30. 96
32. 63
33. 83
34. 75
31. finish
35. 95

Some of you did not put a test number in the space. You have no grade posted. One person was absent and needs to find me as soon as possible to start taking the exam. The end.

More Vocab

checks and balances--the three branches of government have equal power, and each balances out the other. Therefore, none can get more powerful than the other (in theory).
suffrage--the right to vote
impeach--to accuse an elected official of crimes or impropriety.
amendments--changes to the Constitution


Federalists: Anti-Federalists
Washington Jefferson
Madison
Hamilton

Delegated powers--powers given to Congress
bicameral--two sections. Congress is bicameral because it has two parts--Senate and House of Representatives.

If I forgot to add any of the terms, or you have a question, please post a comment or email me directly @ dcaseyrowe@gmail.com

Any more review questions?

I used the old review sheet when posting--I had added more vocab words. I feel sad that I left them on my desk. I can post them tomorrow, but if you have any emergency vocab needs or questions, please post a comment or send an email: dcaseyrowe@gmail.com.

Tomorrow: Bring your notebooks and all your papers from your locker, your jean pockets, etc... over the next few days we will organize notebooks, check notebooks for the 2nd quarter grade, and finish answering the review sheet questions.

Midterm Review Sheet Part 2: The questions

I am now editing this post to include answers. How cool is that? Disclaimer: These items do not limit what I can ask on this exam.

What are the rights and responsibilities of citizens in the United States?
A: Rights: right to freedom, right to make a decent living, right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness
Responsibilities: Vote, pay taxes, serve in the army or defend the nation if necessary, aid in promoting the common good

What is the “common good?”
A: The common good is anything that is for the benefit of society in general. For example, you may not like to pay taxes because it takes away your money, but it's good for everyone to have roads, schools, hospitals and other things that may receive tax money--hence, taxes are for the common good. (Sarcastic comment: In theory anyway)

Democracy was not something dreamed up by Thomas Jefferson after eating a bad lot of his macaroni and cheese. It was founded in ideas from several earlier governments, including Greece, Rome, France, and England. Explain some of the ideas America borrowed from earlier governments, including ideas about citizenry, voting, and freedoms.
A: This question requires me to write a book. You may want to mention the origins of early democracy in Athenian Greece and the Roman Empire. Then, you can talk about the expansion of the rights of the people with the Magna Carta in England, and the ideas of "life, liberty, and equality," as arrived from France. Remember, most of the Founding Fathers had some direct connection with France, and that was the cool place to be in those days... there was definitely some ideas transferring back and forth.

What was the Magna Carta, and how did it come to be written? [Magna Carta trivia—a copy was just sold by H. Ross Perot and was bought by a fellow American Citizen to be placed in the National Archives. Who bought it, and how much was paid—this trivia could help you on your exam].
A: The Magna Carta, or "Great Charter," was the first major document to limit the power of the king--well, there was actually one that preceded this, the "Charter of Liberties" in 1100 that King Henry I voluntarily wrote to describe his powers. However, the Magna Carta was not voluntary. King John was forced to sign it in 1215, as his barons were afraid of overpowerful kings. It described taxation, the succession of the king (who came next) and of the Church (the Church of England) and took away the unlimited power of the king. The Constitution of the United States is based on this document.

How does one become a citizen of the United States? Draw a diagram/flow chart or write a paragraph to explain.
A: To become a citizen of the United States, you can be born in the US or on a US military base. You can also be born abroad but have an American parent. If you have to apply, then you will fill out the necessary paperwork and applications, then you must wait. You will go through an examination and an interview, then you will take an oath of citizenship. This is a textbook answer. The truth is that we will spend much more time discussing this issue second half of the year. It has become an extremely difficult issue for many people, and deserves much more time and discussion.

Compare the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution. Which did not work and why?
A: The Articles of Confederation were much weaker than the Constitution. They did not work because they did not give the Federal Government much power. Most people identified themselves with their states, and did not want one king replaced with an American king. So, they were a "confederation" which means that they would be associated but retain their own identity. The states could make their own treaties, trade agreements, money... it was very confusing when it came to paying back war debts, organizing trade, and deciding major issues that needed to be agreed upon. The Constitution solved those problems by giving the Federal government some real power, but balancing the state power as well by creating representation based on population in the House of Representatives and giving each state equal representation in the Senate. Also, it created limitations for power, gave individuals rights, and created a system of checks and balances so nobody could get out of control with their power.

What are the qualifications for those seeking the office of President of the United States? Explain how one or two candidates on your short list (the list of those you like) meet the qualifications and would make a good President.
A: This is an opinion question. You can't get it wrong unless you pick someone who is not qualified. To be President, you must be at least 35 years old, a natural born citizen of the US and have lived here for 14 years (so, you can't be a citizen who moved to another country and has only been back 3 years).

List three social institutions in society help people to become good citizens.
A: Pick any of the social institutions: church, family, work, school, clubs, organizations...

Discuss at least two of the Founding Fathers plans for creating a government of the United States (for example, Madison’s ideas…). What were the problems that the states had with some of the original plans and how were they resolved?
A: This answer could also be a book. Check yours and earlier notes for more details. You might discuss Washington and Madison's Federalist ideas, or Jefferson's desire to retain his freedoms. You could also discuss the compromises that went into making the Constitution, like the Great Compromise, the 3/5's compromise, or any issue that went into forming the union.

Explain the difference between the Federalists and the Anti-federalists at the time of the founding of the United States.
A: Federalists: Believed in a strong union with a federal gov't that had power. George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton... see the notes on this subject for more details.
Anti-Federalists: were afraid of a federal gov't with too much power. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence was an anti-federalist.

Be able to use your Constitution to answer questions that may be posed about rights, interpretations, and qualifications for elected offices. Don't forget to review your Bill of Rights.
A: I will ask you what you can and can't do according to the Constitution, will ask you to look up things in the Bill of Rights, and other Constitutional trivia questions. You may use your Constitution if you bring it.

Make sure you bring your book. If you don't have it, you can't use your Constitution.

Midterm Review sheet

Vocabulary:

Market--a place where consumers buy and sell items
Socialization--the process of becoming a good citizen
goods--objects that are bought or sold
services--supplier of utilities or commodities--someone who does something for someone else provides services.
Government--runs a nation, creating order and stability for its citizens
social institution--a group to which a citizen can belong
Naturalization--the process of becoming a citizen
immigration--moving from one nation to another
migration--moving from place to place
Import--bringing things into a nation
export--sending things to other nations
alien--a citizen of one country who is living in another
Citizen--someone born in a country who enjoys all the rights belonging to a resident of that country
candidate--a person who runs for elected office
representative--a person elected to an office who speaks for his or her constituents (people)
Missouri Compromise--kept the slave state/free state balance in Congress. Allowed Missouri to be admitted as a slave state,
Maine as a free state, and told where slave and free states could exist
Great Compromise--created a bicameral Congress where the House of Representatives would be based on population and the
Senate membership would be equal for each state (as created by Roger Sherman of CT)
due process--the process you must receive under the law.
Rights of citizenship--free speech, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness--they are too numerous to spell out here.
responsibilities of citizenship--vote, receive an education, work, pay taxes... they are also too numerous to be counted.
Jury--the people (peers) who decide the guilt or innocence of defendants in trials.
legislature--body of lawmakers
Parliament--English "Congress" comprised of the House of Commons and the House of Lords
Charter--the piece of paper giving permission to start a town, city, state, nation, colony, etc.
Constitution---the supreme law of our land. Cannot be trumped by other laws.
common good--things that are good for society at large
Federalist--believed in strong federal government. Examples: G. Washington, A. Hamilton, J. Madison
Anti-Federalist--believed in states rights and a weak federal government. Example: T. Jefferson.
Republican--political party that believes that the government should be limited in its power and leave people to their own devices. If people need help, the community should help them. The government would be best serving people if it stayed out of their way. These guys would be the Anti-federalists of old.
Democrat--party that believes that the government needs to step in and help people because the private sector cannot always be held responsible for this. These guys would be the Federalists of old.
Democrat

Walkout

You are seeing the characters develop in the movie and some real issues of rights emerge.

You may like to research the following:
Brown Berets
Black Panthers
Che Gueverra

These are people/groups involved in securing rights for certain people--Che, for example, is a hero to many for helping to secure rights for migrant workers. Many of these types of people and groups were tied to communism and separatist movements and followed by the FBI. As such, you will find a goldmine of declassified primary source documentation on the subjects at www.archives.gov, which is the United States National Archives.

You should be keeping a summary of the movie in your notebook for a notebook grade and writing down rights you feel have been violated.

Walkout

You will be seeing the film "Walkout," which is about a group of students in California organizing to achieve equal rights in education.

You will be asked to write a short summary of the film and note the following:
1. Which rights (according to the United States Constitution) are being violated (and by whom) in this film?
2. How do the students go about correcting the situation?
3. Who is right and who is wrong in this film--explain your opinion.
4. What happens to the students at the end?
5. What are the pros and cons for Paula in joining this movement? Would you join if you were in this situation?

We will be discussing rights, violation of rights, and the process of securing rights if you think that your cause is just. Remember poor Fred Koramatsu--he was right, too, and he did not have a very good outcome. We will discuss the issue of justice and how society responds when justice prevail--and when it doesn't.

Supreme Court Case and vocab

Today we discussed a Supreme Court case involving the Fourth Amendment, which can be found on pages 164-165 of your book.

Vocabulary and concepts:
warrant--permission to search a person or premises

en loco parentis-Latin for "in place of the parents." Please note that "loco" is the Latin root word for "place" or "location" and does not indicate insanity. This phrase means that school personnel are required to act in the place of parents in supervising students and keeping them safe.

Conservative interpretation of the Constitution--this means that whatever is written in the Constitution (or law) is what it means. This is not open to interpretation. If the Founding Fathers or Congress wanted to say something else, they'd have said it. A Constitutional conservative believes it is the job of Congress to make the laws, and we must follow and apply them as written exactly. The Constitution is to be taken literally.

Liberal interpretation of the Constitution--the Constitution must be interpreted using the intention of those who created the laws and the information available. It can be interpreted using information that was not available at the time.

The Constitution and the Amendments

We have gone through the sections of the Constitution a bit, but will be doing so more in detail when we cover each of the 3 branches of government. This will break up the joy and spread it out some.

Our Amendment projects are complete and presented.

For Review:
In your notebook, please make sure you either have your foldable which includes a BRIEF description of each of the articles and amendments. There is a class that did not do the foldable project. If you belong to this class, or did not do your foldable for another reason, then make sure that BEFORE THE MIDTERM EXAM you have included a short outline of the Constitution on your notebook.

Your summary should include:
-A short note about the purpose of each of the articles
-A short note about each amendment--this can be done as follows:

Article 1: Congress
-sets up the Senate and the House of Representatives, discusses qualifications and pay for each, and gives the powers.

Amendment 2:
-right to bear arms.

Notes on the Founding Fathers and Creation of the Constitution

We discussed the Founding Fathers, which someone advised were "boring." I gave you some notes, which you did not have to copy--I am reposting them here.

Who Decided What to Put in the Constitution?
Some interesting notes…

We have agreed that the Articles of Confederation did not work. It was difficult for the Federal government to collect taxes, and the states had their own interests in mind. They were not inclined to give power to a federal government that would replace the King. Hence, we see an ideological split. The Federalists believed that the Articles of Confederation were so flawed that they needed to be replaced. The Anti-Federalists felt that all decisions should be left to the states and “the People.”

“The People,” Federalist James Madison argued, did not truly exist. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson (a staunch Anti-federalist), Madison explained that there were so many social classes and interests that it was almost impossible to define “the people.”

Madison felt that the best government should be a government where the interests of the people were fractured and different. The best government should have a balance of power contained between the three branches of government, but that in the end, the federal government should have veto power over the states. He did not get his exact wish—Anti-federalists were too afraid that this closely resembled the situation that had existed before under the King. The Colonies could make laws for themselves but the King had absolute veto power. They were not excited to vote for a Constitution that held similar power.

There were many options that could have happened during the Constitutional Convention:
1. The states could have broken up into individual regions or “confederations.” A confederation is a union of states united for some reason—perhaps defense or economic reasons.
2. The states could have stayed together under the Articles, which would probably have meant that the government would have continued to be disorganized and eventually dissolve.
3. The Articles could have been amended in some fashion.
4. The Articles could have been thrown away (and the Constitution created with regional compromises) [This is what happened]
5. The new Constitution could have been created containing the strongest Federalist language, in effect exactly reproducing the situation the colonists left under the King.

What did we get in the new Constitution?

• A balance of power—a bicameral (two-part) legislature. One part, the House of Representatives, would be based on population, and the other, the Senate, would allow each state the same number of votes. The federal government did not get to veto the state laws in the Congress.
o The Anti-federalists wanted the Congress to be purely population-based (ie, the voice of “the people”) and the Federalists wanted each state to have the same power but to be trumped by the federal government (the federal gov’t would have the final veto power).
• An Executive branch with a President and Vice-President who would make sure the laws were carried out.
• A loosely-defined Judicial branch without a clearly spelled out role. The Supreme Court was created, but at the time it was never really clear whether they would have absolute power to check laws. They asserted this power in the case Marbury v. Madison later, but at the time of the creation of the Constitution, it was unclear.

Key Compromises:

The Great Compromise: divided the Congress into two branches, providing checks and balances.
• The Virginia Plan divided Congress into two groups both of which had the number of members based on population.
• The New Jersey Plan was an amending of the Articles of Confederation and had the number of representatives in Congress the same for each state.
The Great Compromise took one element from each plan and made a compromise—the Senate would have the same number of representatives from each state and the House would have membership based on populations. Furthermore, each slave would count as 3/5 of a person toward House membership (The Three-Fifths’ Compromise).


A Brief cast of characters:

George Washington: Fought the Revolutionary War. Was upset that ineffective supply lines and confusion between states almost lost the war. Suffered a devastating winter in Valley Forge when Colonists persisted in selling supplies to the British because the British paid in reliable currency.

Alexander Hamilton: Aid to GW who also saw the tragedy unfold in Valley Forge. Upset because there was no strong gov’t to insure that the Colonists were united in supplying the soldiers.

Thomas Jefferson: Wrote the Declaration of Independence, which gave a long list of complaints against the excessive government of the King, where he could veto any laws or assert any power over the local Colonial government.

James Madison: Young revolutionary thinker—a lawyer, in fact. Thought that the bigger the government, the better it would operate. Small local governments were often victim to partisanship (inter-community drama and fighting) and unfairness. Big governments would operate better. The bigger the better—the best chance for the US Gov’t would be to have the federal government able to override state governments and also to have more land, more people, and more government.

William Patterson: supported the New Jersey Plan which gave states equal representation in the Congress.

Presidential History

It is official. Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States.

We will discuss this in class, but (A Week) your Amendment Projects are still due tomorrow.

Constitution foldable (or book)

You are creating a foldable or book with elements of the Constitution. Your job is to summarize the Articles and the first 10 Amendments.

You must include:
1. Articles 1-7
2. The Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments)

If you are really inspired and want some extra credit, you can do all 27 Amendments.

Work smart, not hard--summarize the Article or Amendment.
Be colorful and neat.
Make sure everyone can enjoy your bullets and summaries--imagine you are creating your foldable to read to a class of 4th graders learning about the Constitution---keep it simple and effective.

You will later include these in your notebooks for use on the midterm exam, so the better your project, the more it will help later on!

F Week: Tuesday

We completed the Constitutional Scavenger Hunt. We will start a project, involving creating a foldable of the US Constitution that will eventually become part of your notebook.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I will be away at a conference and you will do Section 3 of the Constitution Chapter in your notebook (questions/vocab) and continue to work on your foldables, which will be due Friday.

We will choose names to see who gets which Amendment for our Amendment Project!

Amendment Project

We chose amendments for our Amendment Project.

Amendment Project:
1. Explain your amendment
2. In what year was your amendment passed
3. Explain the reason your amendment was necessary
4. Find one Supreme Court case concerning your amendment. Tell us about the case and its importance.

Rules for a successful presentation
--Research should be done well in advance.
--Put the important things on note cards.
--Rehearse your presentations.

You may not read from computer printouts. Your notes must be hand-written or typed onto cards.

One helpful website for Supreme Court decisions:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/

Some helpful notes about the Amendments:
http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html

Feel free to look anywhere you find helpful, including the National Archives, which can be found at
http://www.archives.gov/

A WEEK DUE DATE: Wednesday, November 5th (the day after Election Day)

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.