Essential Question: To what extent did the new Constitution represent all Americans?
The first two lessons introduce scholars to the complex impact of the American Revolution on the new nation and the government — based on state sovereignty and individual freedoms — that was established in the wake of the war. Lesson 1 illustrates the new nation, its boundaries, and its new government for scholars, and scholars will understand how this new government — under the Articles of Confederation — established a loose union of mostly independent states, with little uniting them in the years immediately following the war. In Lesson 2, scholars will examine the challenges this new government faced and will be able to explain how the Articles of Confederation’s lack of central authority ultimately challenged its ability to govern effectively and protect the will of the people, as illustrated by Shays’ Rebellion. By the end of these two lessons, scholars will understand why the Articles of Confederation ultimately failed, and they’ll be prepared to examine the new system of government that was established in its place: the U.S. Constitution.
Lesson 1: A New Nation (Map Study) Central Question: How did the American victory in the Revolution reshape North America? Lesson 2: The Disunited States (Source Analysis)
In Lessons 3 through 5, scholars will examine the framers’ major debates and compromises in creating the Constitution. In Lesson 3, scholars will simulate the debate over state representation and understand why states disagreed over how to balance state representation in the new national government and how the framers established the House of Representatives and Senate as a compromise. In Lesson 4, scholars will examine the system of three branches of government established by the Constitution in order to understand how these branches were intended to establish a system of checks and balances on each branch to protect against tyranny. Lesson 5 introduces scholars to the Constitutional debate over slavery, and scholars will examine why the framers ultimately chose to protect slavery in the Constitution. By the end of these lessons, scholars will understand the key debates held over rights and representation during the Constitutional Convention and will be prepared to examine the new challenges faced in order to ratify the Constitution.Lesson 3: The Road toPhiladelphia (Simulation)Central Question: Why did Americans disagree about representation in a new national government?Lesson 4: Safeguards Against Tyranny (Source Analysis) Central Question: How did the new Constitution balance the power of the federal government?Lesson 5: Slavery and the Constitution (Source Analysis) Central Question: Why did the framers protect slavery in the Constitution?
Lessons 6 through 10 consider the challenges the nation faced in order to ratify the new Constitution. In Lessons 6 through 8, scholars will examine why a number of Americans, known as Antifederalists, challenged the new Constitution, and they will examine the extent to which this new Constitution truly protected the rights of Americans. To appease the Antifederalists, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, and Lessons 9 and 10 explain the key protections of basic rights for all Americans — such as the freedom of speech or the right to a fair trial —
established by these ten amendments. After these lessons, scholars will understand how the new nation successfully compromised in order to ratify the Constitution, establishing a government that, in theory, prioritized individual rights, and they will be prepared to further explore the Americans whom the new government failed to protect.Lessons 6–8: Federalists and Antifederalists (DBQ Writing) Central Question: To what extent did the new Constitution protect the rights of Americans Lessons 9–10: The Bill of Rights (Jigsaw, PBL) Central Question: How does the Bill of Rights protect individual and state rights?
In the last two lessons of the unit, scholars will grapple with the significance of the new Constitution for all Americans. Not only did the slavery clauses — as discussed in Lesson 5 — protect slavery in the new nation but the Constitution actually represented only a small portion of the population. In Lessons 10 and 11, scholars will explore the perspectives of the Americans not represented, ranging from poor Americans to women, in order to understand the limitations of Constitutional representation. By the end of these lessons, scholars will understand that despite the many compromises established to protect and promote individual liberties, the Constitution failed to fully represent the majority of Americans, who remained powerless in America government. Lessons 11–12: Whose More Perfect Union? (GalleryWalk,Simulation)Central Question: To what extent did the Constitution reflect the will of the common people?