Overview:
At the end of the Revolutionary War, the new nation
was faced with another extremely difficult taskcreating
a single, unified country out of a loose association
of states, transforming the "United States"
from a plural to a singular noun. America had thrown
off one oppressive form of government, but now they
had to develop a new form of government strong
enough to enforce the law, yet based on the democratic
and economic premises of the Revolution.
The result was a Constitution that has lasted longer
than other document of its kind in world history. This
lesson will examine the tensions that existed between
proponents of individual liberty and advocates of national
strength and how the evolution of their debate shaped
the Constitution and the new government.
Related resources for the Lesson
In this lesson, students will use the following resources:
1. Episode Six of Liberty! (The related web
page for the episode is at http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle/episode6.html).
Students should view the episode prior to completing
this lesson.
2. The Articles of Confederation (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/artconf.htm)
3. The US Constitution (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/usconst.htm)
4. The Bill of Rights (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rights1.htm
- Click on Bill of Rights under defining documents.)
5. Related Questions PDF
(for students)
6. Related Questions PDF
(for teachers, with answers)
Relevant Standards
This lesson addresses the following national content
standards established by the Mid-Continent Research
for Education and Learning (McREL) (http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/)
Civics:
Understands some of the major competing ideas about
the purposes of politics and government (e.g., achieving
a religious vision, glorifying the state, enhancing
economic prosperity, providing for a nation's security)
and knows examples of past and present governments that
serve these purposes
Understands how constitutions, in the past as well
as in the present, have been disregarded or used to
promote the interests of a particular group, class,
faction, or a government (e.g., slavery, exclusion of
women from the body politic, prohibition of competing
political parties)
Understands how constitutions may be used to preserve
core values and principles of a political system or
society (e.g., prohibition of religious tests for public
office and protection of private property by the United
States Constitution)
Knows the advantages and disadvantages of confederal,
federal, and unitary systems in fulfilling the purposes
of constitutional government
Understands how various provisions of the Constitution
and principles of the constitutional system help to
insure an effective government that will not exceed
its limits
US History:
Understands the efforts of the Continental Congress
and the states to rebuild the economy after the American
Revolution (e.g., by addressing issues of foreign and
internal trade, banking and taxation)
Understands political and economic issues addressed
by the Continental Congress (e.g., the accomplishments
and failures of the Continental Congress, the Northwest
Ordinance of 1787, revolutionary war debt and the dispute
over the sale of western lands)
Strategy for the Lesson
Prior to viewing Episode Six of Liberty!,
the teacher should highlight the basic concerns and
issues that faced the new nation after the war.
Some of these issues might include:
Sovereignty of each individual state to conduct its
own affairs without what it considered "undue influence"
from a central government
Protections against an oppressive central government
Economic issues, such as taxation without representation,
as well as maintaining a laissez-faire system which
would protect business and industrial interests
The ability of the national government to protect
business interests from foreign interference
The ability of the national government to protect
itself and the nation from foreign military power as
well as protecting itself from internal sedition.
The division of the new nation into two camps those
who feared a strong, powerful central government and
wanted to preserve individual liberties as well as the
local sovereignty of each state and those who believed
that the union would fall apart without a strong central
government.
Next, allow students to view Episode Six of Liberty!
The teacher may wish to cue specific chapters
in the film, including the following:
Chapter 3, A National Vision (14:14-19:04),
which discusses the development of the Articles of Confederation
as well as the debate over limited versus strong national
government
Chapter 4, All Is Not Well (19:06-24:30),
which discusses the failings of the Articles to serve
as a suitable government for the new nation
Chapter 5, A Convention in Philadelphia (24:32-30:58),
which discusses the Constitutional Convention as well
as the varied interests and philosophies of the framers
Chapter 6, Blueprint for a New Nation (31:00-34:16),
discusses the make-up of the Constitution itself
Chapter 7, Reactions Are Divided (34:18-40:54)
deals with the controversy and resistance to the Constitution.
Chapter 8, Compromise and Approval (40:56-45:59)
describes the compromises and debate that led to ratification
of the Constitution as well as the development of the
Bill of Rights.
After viewing, distribute question sheets to students.
Allot sufficient time for students to complete the
worksheets. Once students have completed the questions,
the teacher should evaluate them according to the
depth of the answer desired, the amount of time allowed
for the assignment as well as any other criteria established
by the teacher, for example, spelling and grammar.
Extension Activities:
Have students work in groups to evaluate the Constitution
and Bill of Rights. Ask them to assume they are a
newly-appointed "Constitutional Convention."
What provisions in the Constitution or amendments
might they be likely to re-write or eliminate? Students
should develop "position papers" to defend
their choices.
