Unit Main Themes:

1. "All men are created equal" - did this declaration change anything for the "unequal"?

2. How is the U.S. Constitution a creation that reflects fears of tyranny and a commitment to republican principles?

3. What does the Constitution promise about religious liberty?

4. Should the Electoral College system be Preserved?

First Day in-class: Declaration of Independence & the Revolutionary War

Lesson One: Republican Experiments and Republican Society; 190- 192; 201-205

1) Note the belief in small republics and the ways state constitutions gave "power" to the legislatures

2) Who were "new men"

3) What is the contrast between Wollstoncraft's Vindication and Republican Motherhood

4) Note the attack on aristocracy

Lesson two: the spread of revolutionary ideas; 196-199

In-class: Handouts on the “spirit of equality.”

1) How were the compositions of state legislatures changing

2) The Northwest Territory: How are tensions between East and West eased and what new tensions about slavery and Native Americans arise

3) What is republicanism? How did slave owners justify slavery if they believed in republicanism?

Lesson three: From Confederation to Constitutions; 200, 205 - top of 209; film in class: "A Little Rebellion Now and Then."

1) Make a short list of the economic problems facing the new states on page 200

2) The Jay-Gardoqui Treaty
3) Shays’s Rebellion
4) Framing a Federal Constitution
5) The New Jersey and Virginia Plans

Lesson four: Ratification of the Constitution, 209-212

1) Identify the series of compromises on page 209 that broke the deadlock
2) What made ratification possible and who opposed it?
3) What happened to the belief in civic virtue?

Lesson five: The Federalist Papers

First read this abbreviated version of the Federalist Paper #10.

If you would like the fuller document see: Federalist Paper #10 How did Madison counter fears of a large, national republic?

What advantages and disadvantages can you think of for a large, national republic?

Be sure and know all of the authors of the "Federalist Papers."

Read the following article. How does the author think today's politics prove Madison right?

Lesson six: Religious Liberty

Read Witte, John. "Publick Religion: Adams V. Jefferson." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life Mar. 2004: 29+. Questia. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. This is a library database. Your username is your school email and the password is _____________________________. Fill in from class.

Note the two founding fathers he studies. How do they differ on their views about separation of church and state? What is the author's point in bringing up this difference? Note, it is related to directions the current Supreme Court is taking in interpreting law related to separation of church and state. What is a religious accommodationist position?

Lesson Seven : Should the current Electoral College system be preserved?

Read the following and make a pro/con table to help you decide where you stand on the question of the Electoral College.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4127863

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/opinion/20thu1.html

http://judiciary.house.gov/legacy/222314.htm

Lastly, find an article or opinion piece about the Electoral College on your own.

Lesson Eight: Review

Test: