Primary Documents Lesson

Jennifer Conticchio's Primary Documents Lesson Plan

Understanding the Constitution
Essential Question: Students will be able to understand the origins of the United States Constitution and its implementation in the 1790s.

This primary documents lesson plan is designed to get students to understand in greater detail The United States Constitution. Using the Constitution and other related documents, students will be able to understand the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the need to create a new framework for government. After reading the Articles of Confederation students will then read the New Jersey Plan, the Virginia Plan, and the Great Compromise to develop a sense of the purpose for the new constitution. Finally the students will read the Constitution and be able to extract elements found in the constitution that originated from the prior documents.
The class will start by each student receive a copy of the Articles of Confederation, which for this lesson is being used as a secondary document. Students will read the Articles of Confederation and make note of what it entailed. In their own words, students will summarize each of the thirteen articles. As a class the students will then share their summaries with the class. Upon summarizing we will discuss as a class the possible weaknesses of the document. Student will acquire the following knowledge after reading and discussing the Articles of Confederation.
In May 1787 delegates went to Philadelphia with the thought to revise the Articles of Confederation. Some problems with Articles of Confederation were: 1. It limited power of congress, and it gave states final authority, 2. The loose alliance among the states - weak national government in part because there was no president to carry out laws passed by Congress, 3. states couldn't get along and Article of Confederation had no system of courts in place to help settle disputes, 4. Conflict over land -small states feared larger states would have too much power, 5. Each state created its own money system - most states refused to accept money from other states - as a result trade between states became difficult. 6. Most difficult problem for new government was raising money. Under the Articles of Confederation Congress did not have the power to pass tax laws, and states did not contribute enough money to meet the government's expenses.
After becoming familiar with The Articles of Confederation, students will then read and be able to compare the pros and cons of both Edmund Randolph’s and James Madison’s Virginia Plan as well as William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan. After reading the two documents students will be assigned to one of two groups, the New Jersey Plan group or the Virginia Plan group. Each group will present their case in favor of the plan they were assigned. Student will then read Roger Sherman’s Great Compromise to understand how these two sides gave up some of their objectives in order to reach an agreement and preserve the nation. In order to assess the knowledge and understanding the students have acquired by reading these documents, students will get into groups of two or three people and create a cartoon with captions explaining the Great Compromise.
Finally, students will read the United States Constitution and be able to see how the prior documents they examined played a significant role in the forming of the Constitution. While reading the Constitution the students will recognize and record elements from the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan that were used in writing this new constitution. Having all this knowledge students will then be able to design a timeline beginning with the adoption of the Articles of Confederation through the ratification of the Constitution.
One of the third order documents students can look at to give them a better understanding of the framework of the new constitution is a correspondence between John Adams and Roger Sherman on the Constitution. In this correspondence John Adams shares his opinions with Roger Sherman about the forming of the new constitution. Students will be reading this document with prior knowledge about how the constitution was formed.

First Order Document
• We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=9&page=transcript

Second Order Document # 1
• After considerable debate and alteration, the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution, and was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present day Constitution went into effect.
• On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed three committees in response to the Lee Resolution. One of these committees, created to determine the form of a confederation of the colonies, was composed of one representative from each colony with John Dickinson, a delegate from Delaware, as the principal writer.
• The Dickinson Draft of the Articles of Confederation named the Confederation "the United States of America," provided for a Congress with representation based on population, and gave to the national government all powers not designated to the states. After considerable debate and alteration, the Articles of Confederation were adopted by Congress on November 15, 1777. In this "first constitution of the United States" each state retained "every Power...which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States," and each state had one vote in Congress. Instead of forming a strong national government, the states entered into "...a firm league of friendship with each other..."
• Ratification by all 13 states was necessary to set the Confederation into motion. Because of disputes over representation, voting, and the western lands claimed by some states, ratification was delayed until Maryland ratified on March 1, 1781, and the Congress of the Confederation came into being.
• This document is the engrossed and corrected version that was adopted on November 15, 1777.
• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=3&page=transcript

Second Order Document # 2
• Correspondence Between John Adams And Roger Sherman On The Constitution.
• John Adams to Roger Sherman.
• Richmond Hill, (new York,) 17 July, 1789.
• Dear Sir, — I read over, with pleasure, your observations on the new federal constitution, and am glad to find an opportunity to communicate to you my opinion of some parts of them. It is by a free and amicable intercourse of sentiments, that the friends of our country may hope for such a unanimity of opinion and such a concert ' of exertions, as may sooner or later produce the blessings of good government.
You say, "It is by some objected that the executive is blended with the legislature, and that those powers ought to be entirely distinct and unconnected. But is not that a gross error in politics? The united wisdom and various interests of a nation should be combined in framing the laws by which all are to be governed and protected, though it should not be convenient to have them executed by the whole legislature. The supreme executive in Great Britain is one branch of the legislature, and has a negative on all the laws ; perhaps that is an extreme not to be imitated by a republic ; but the negative vested in the president by the new constitution on the acts of congress, and the consequent revision, may be very useful to prevent laws being passed without mature deliberation, and to preserve stability in the administration of government ; and the concurrence of the senate in the appointment to office will strengthen the hands of the executive, and secure the confidence of the people much better than a select council, and will be less expensive.“
• http://books.google.com/books?pg=RA1-PA311&lpg=RA1-PA311&dq=constitution+correspondence+-+framers&sig=aD3SsAmWVrV5tebLKsXPkUnNu10&ei=W9KhSbTuIcH7tgfT6oyfDQ&ct=result&id=RVQCZ9VD0lIC&ots=Yij2Cg_lTa&output=html

Third Order Document # 1
• The New Jersey Plan
• (June 15, 1787)
• On June 15, 1787, William Patterson proposed the following document to revise the Articles of Confederation and to add an executive branch of government with very limited power. Each state would be given one vote in Congress, to preserve the principle of state equality.
Resolved that the articles of Confederation ought to be so revised, corrected & enlarged, as to render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government, & the preservation of the Union.
Resolved that in addition to the powers vested in the U. States in Congress, by the present existing articles of Confederation, they be authorized to pass acts for raising a revenue, by levying a duty or duties on all goods or merchandises of foreign growth or manufacture, imported into any part of the U. States, by Stamps on paper, vellum or parchment, and by a postage on all letters or packages passing through the general post-office, to be applied to such federal purposes as they shall deem proper & expedient; to make rules & regulations for the collection thereof; and the same from time to time, to alter & amend in such manner as they shall think proper: to pass Acts for the regulation of trade & commerce as well with foreign nations as with each other: provided that all punishments, fines, forfeitures & penalties to be incurred for contravening such acts rules and regulations shall be adjudged by the Common law Judiciaries of the State in which any offense contrary to the true intent & meaning of such Acts rules & regulations shall have been committed or perpetrated, with liberty of commencing in the first instance all suits & prosecutions for that purpose in the superior common law Judiciary in such State, subject nevertheless, for the correction of all errors, both in law & fact in rendering Judgment, to an appeal to the Judiciary of the U. States.
http://research.history.org/pf/documents/newJerseyPlan.cfm

Third Order Document # 2
• The Virginia Plan
• On May 29, 1787, Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph proposed what became known as "The Virginia Plan." Written primarily by fellow Virginian James Madison, the plan traced the broad outlines of what would become the U.S. Constitution: a national government consisting of three branches with checks and balances to prevent the abuse of power. In its amended form, this page of Madison's plan shows his ideas for a legislature. It describes 2 houses: one with members elected by the people for 3-year terms and the other composed of older leaders elected by the state legislatures for 7-year terms. Both would use population as a basis for dividing seats among the states. 1. Resolved that the Articles of Confederation ought to be so corrected & enlarged as to accomplish the objects proposed by their institution; namely, "common defence, security of liberty and general welfare." 2. Resolved therefore that the rights of suffrage in the National Legislature ought to be proportioned to the Quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants, as the one or the other rule may seem best in different cases.3. Resolved that the National Legislature ought to consist of two branches.
• http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_34.shtml

Third Order Document # 3
• The Great Compromise
• On June 13, 1787, the Virginia Plan, with some revisions, was reported out of the Committee of the Whole.
• On June 15, 1787, William Paterson, speaking for the plan's opponents, introduced the New Jersey Plan. Under this plan, each state would have an equal vote in a unicameral Congress. Resolving themselves once again into a Committee of the Whole, the delegates debated the merits of the Virginia and New Jersey plans.
• On June 19, 1787, the committee voted, seven states to three (with Maryland divided), to stay with the Virginia Plan. The matter remained unresolved, with votes settling into a pattern of six states (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia) against Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, with Maryland divided. In late June, Connecticut's Oliver Ellsworth proposed a compromise -- population to be the basis for representation in one house, the states to have equality in the other.
In early July 1787, the convention voted on Connecticut's proposal for state equality in the Senate, but the motion failed on an equal division (with Georgia divided). The convention appeared to be deadlocked. Looking for a way out of the predicament, South Carolina's Charles C. Pinckney asked for the appointment of a grand committee. That committee then ratified what has come to be called the Great Compromise -- proportional representation in the lower house, states' equality in the upper house. Even though the larger states preferred representation based on population as the basic rule, some of their delegates preferred compromise to risking a walk-out by small state delegates. Virginia's George Mason said that he would "rather bury his bones" in Philadelphia than see the convention dissolved without agreement on a plan of government. On July 16, the convention voted for the compromise, five states in favor, four opposed, one divided (with New York not present).

Student Centered Lesson Plan
1. Indentify the Document
– Author(s) or source
– Title
– Date
– Type of Document
2. Analyze the Document
– Main idea of the document
– Relationship to other documents (How does the content relate to the 1st-2nd and/or 3rd-order documents?)
– Preceding conditions that motivated the author
– Intended audience and purpose
– Biases of the author
– Questions to ask the author
3. Historical Context
Important people, events and ideas at the time of the document
– Local/Regional: people, events, and ideas of the time
– National: people, events, and ideas of the time
– World: people, events, and ideas of the time
– Conclusions about local/regional, national, and world context at the time
4. Identify the Habit of Mind and Vital Theme and Narrative Represented
– Habit of Mind
– The way you used this Habit of Mind to analyze the document
– Vital Theme and Narrative
– Evidence the document represents this Vital Theme and Narrative
– Evidence the document relates to other documents (1st -/2nd -/3rd –order) through this Vital Theme and Narrative
5. Relationship to a Discipline in the Social Sciences/ Social Studies
– Discipline
– Evidence of relationship
– NCSS Theme Evidence of relationship