The Constitution
1. Begin your reading for this week by understanding why the founding fathers thought we needed a new Constitution, how it was written, debated, and ratified. Follow this link to read the article "A more Perfect Union" at the National Archives. Click on printer-friendly version if you like.
2. Read your assigned part (see below) of the Constitution and be ready to describe it on D2L. (An "article" in this case means "A particular section or item of a series in a written document, as in a contract, constitution..." from the Free Dictionary.)
a. Here is an image of the original document.
b. Read the original document beginning on page A-6 in the Appendix of A People and a Nation.
c. If you are having trouble understanding your section of the Constitution, follow this link to an "Guide to the US Constitution" at the Annenberg Classroom. Click on the article(s) you are assigned.
3. As you know from the reading, there
was a great debate about whether to ratify (approve) the new Constitution.
Read one side of that debate:
“All Men Are Born Free and Equal”: Massachusetts Yeomen Oppose the
“Aristocratickal” Constitution, January, 1788.
| Last names A-D | Article I, Sections 1-3 1. What branch of government does Article I describe? 2. (give a close look at Section 2 to answer this question): How should the number of Representatives that each State gets be decided? How many “free persons” and how many of “all other persons.” (This is known as the “three fifths compromise.”) 3. Identify the three requirements for a person to be eligible for election to the House of Representatives 4. Identify the three requirements for a person to be eligible for election to the Senate.
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| Last names E-H |
Article I, Sections 1-3. What is the term of office for a member of the House of Representatives? For the Senate? Article I, Sections 1-3. Who chooses who will be a senator? Article I, Section 7: Briefly describe how a bill becomes a law. Article 1, Section 9: What does the first paragraph
say about
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| Last names I-N | Article II, Section 1:What branch of government does
Article II describe?
Article II, Section 1:Describe the three requirements for a person to be eligible for election to the presidency. Article II, Section 1:What is the term of office for the president? Article II, Section 2:Who is the commander in chief of the military? Article II, Section 2: The President can make treaties and nominate judges – but what role does the Senate have?
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| Last names O-Z | Article III: What branch of government does
Article III describe?
Article III: What is the name of the nation's highest court? Article III: List five kinds of cases that come under the judicial power of the United States courts. Article V: What is this article about? Article V: What are the different ways this document be amended or changed? Article VI: What does this article say about a “religious test”?
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