United States Constitution

Standard(s) of Learning

Content

Explain that during the Constitutional Era, the Americans made two attempts to establish a workable government based on republican principles.

Explain that American political leaders, fearful of a powerful central government like England’s, created the Articles of Confederation that were adopted at the end of the war.

Summarize the following weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that led to the effort to draft a new constitution:
•    Provided for a weak national government
•    Gave Congress no power to tax or regulate commerce among the states                          
•    Provided for no common currency                                                                                 
•    Gave each state one vote regardless of size                                                                   
•    Provided for no executive or judicial branch                                                                   

Explain that the Constitution of the United States of America established a government that shared power between the national government and state governments, protected the rights of states, and provided a system for orderly change through amendments to the Constitution itself.

Use the following information to summarize how the delegates to the Constitutional Convention balanced competing interests:
•    Made federal law the supreme law of the land, but otherwise gave the states considerable leeway to govern themselves                                                                                                    
•    Balanced power between large and small states by creating a Senate (where each state has two senators) and a House of Representatives (with membership based on population)           
•    Placated the southern states by counting the slaves as three-fifths of the population when determining representation in the United States House of Representatives                        
•    Avoided a too-powerful central government by establishing three co-equal branches — legislative, executive, and judicial — with numerous checks and balances among them                      
•    Limited the powers of the federal government to those identified in the Constitution          

Describe the following key leaders of the Constitutional Convention, and explain their roles:
George Washington, Chairman of the Convention
•    Washington presided at the Convention and, although seldom participating in the debates, lent his enormous prestige to the proceedings.               
James Madison, “Father of the Constitution”
•    Madison, a Virginian and a brilliant political philosopher, often led the debate and kept copious notes of the proceedings — the best record historians have of what transpired at the Constitutional Convention.                                                                                                                  
•    At the Convention, Madison authored the “Virginia Plan,” which proposed a federal government of three separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial) and became the foundation for the structure of the new government.                                                                                  
•    He later authored much of the Bill of Rights.                                                                  

Explain that ratification of the Constitution did not end debate on governmental power or how to create “a more perfect union.” Economic, regional, social, ideological, religious, and political tensions spawned continuing debates over the meaning of the Constitution for generations — a debate that continues today.                                                                                                                                

Explain that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights gave Americans a blueprint for successful self-government that has become a model for the rest of the world.                                             

Explain that the major principles of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution were based on earlier Virginia statutes.                                                                                                                             

Explain that James Madison, a Virginian, consulted the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom when drafting the amendments that eventually became the United States Bill of Rights.

Summarize the following information and how it influenced the Bill of Rights:
Virginia Declaration of Rights (George Mason)
•    Reiterated the notion that basic human rights should not be violated by governments        
 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (Thomas Jefferson)
•    Outlawed the established church — that is, the practice of government support for one favored church

Sample Resources

Below is an annotated list of Internet resources for this organizing topic. Copyright restrictions may exist for the material on some Web sites. Please note and abide by any such restrictions.

Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids. U.S. Government Printing Office. <http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/index.html>. This site provides information on the documents of the United States government.

Best of History Web Sites. <http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_Constitution.shtml>. This site provides access to various Web sites about the United States Constitution.

Center for Civic Education. <http://www.civiced.org>. This site provides access to information on civic education in order to promote an enlightened and responsible citizenry.

Charters of Freedom. The National Archives Experience. <http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/constitution_founding_fathers.html>. This site provides information on America’s Founding Fathers, who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

Documents of American History. <http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/AmericanDoc99.pdf>. This site offers an 88-page Virginia Department of Education publication containing important American history documents and tips for classroom teaching of their contents.

Madison, James. “Federalist Papers: Federalist 10.” The Library of Congress. <http://memory.loc.gov/const/fed/fed_10.html>. This site provides the text of James Madison’s paper on “The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection.”

Virginia Standards of Learning Assessments for the 2001 History and Social Science Standards of Learning: History and Social Science Released Items for Virginia and United States History.  Virginia Department of Education 2003/04.  <http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/Release2003/History/VA-RIBs_g11vush-1.pdf>.

Virginia Standards of Learning Assessments for the 2001 History and Social Science Standards of Learning. Virginia and United States History. Test Blueprint. Virginia Department of Education, 2003/04. <http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/HistoryBlueprints03/2002Blueprint10VUS.pdf>. This site provides assessment information for the course in Virginia and United States History.