Mr. K. Szczesniak                                                                 Adapting Project History

Thomas R. Proctor High School                                          Utica City School District

 

 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS

 

 

Introduction: With the establishment of the new government under the United States Constitution, a major issue arose as to the lack of guaranteed individual/states’ rights under the original Constitution.  The Founding Fathers became split on the issue forming two rival groups, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.  The Federalists believed in a strong central government arguing that the Constitution only permits the federal government to have certain specific powers, and therefore, cannot infringe on individual and state rights.  The Anti-Federalists argue that the Constitution needs to add a bill of rights to guarantee fundamental rights to states and individuals.

 

 

Task: Assuming that your group supports the beliefs and goals of the Anti-Federalists, and using the American History Public Policy Analyst, your group will analyze the problem as viewed by the Anti-Federalists regarding the omission of a bill of rights, provide evidence of such a problem through citing some excerpts from their writings, identify the causes of their position, and evaluate their solution to add the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.  In so doing, your group will produce a 5-7 page research paper written in the position of an Anti-Federalist.  Complete the AHPPA worksheets using the links below in the AHPPA Process and submit with your research paper.  The research paper assignment will conclude with a short 5-10 minute oral response to discuss in class on the position you have chosen and the research that you completed.

 

 

Process: Your teacher will arrange the class into groups of 3 or 4 students.  Each student will complete the AHPPA process.  The AHPPA process is listed below and several resource links are provided for the student’s use.  After the AHPPA is complete, the group will discuss their findings and determine what information will be used for the formation of the group essay.  Your teacher will assign parts of the essay to group members.  The essay must follow standard formats and be typed in 12 point sized Times New Roman font.  The group will also discuss the formation of their group presentation and will among themselves determine what evidence/facts to present to the class/teacher.  The format of the presentation will be left for the group’s discretion.

 

 

American History Public Policy Analyst Process (AHPPA):

Click on the link http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppa/usppaip1.html and follow the following steps completing the worksheets:

 

1.     Identify the Problem

2.     Gather the Evidence

3.     Determine the Causes

4.     Evaluate the Policy

 

 

 

Resources:

 

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_history.html

 

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=10

 

www.teachingamericanhistory.org

 

www.usconstitution.net

 

http://www.constitution.org/afp/afp.htm

 

http://www.pinzler.com/ushistory/argantfedsupp.html

 

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/bill_of_rights.html

 

http://www.constitution.org/dfc/dfc_0000.htm

 

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mgwquery.html

 

 

Evaluation:                                                                            A = 16-18, B = 14-15, C = 12-13, D = 11, F = less than 11

Category

4: Excellent

3: Good

2: Satisfactory

1: Unacceptable

Research:

Researched the subject and integrated 4 or more primary sources (in addition to the Federalists papers & the Constitution) from their research into the paper. Resources are cited with no mistakes.

Researched the subject and integrated 3 primary sources (in addition to the Federalists papers & the Constitution) from their research into the paper. Resources are cited with 1-2 mistakes.

Researched the subject and integrated only 2 primary sources (in addition to the Federalists papers & the Constitution) from their research into the paper. Resources are cited with 2-3 mistakes.

Either no research was done or it was not clear that the student used it in the paper. Also, no resources are cited or more than 3 mistakes are given in the citations.

Facts:

All supportive facts are reported accurately. Argument for or against the Bill of Rights addresses real historical concerns of the time period.

Almost all facts are reported accurately.  Argument for or against the Bill of Rights addresses real historical concerns of the time period.

Only a few facts are reported inaccurately.  Argument for or against the Bill of Rights addresses many of the real historical concerns of the time period.

Almost no facts are reported accurately. Argument does not address concerns of the time period.

Clarity:

Speaks clearly and distinctly all of the time and mispronounces no words.

Speaks clearly and distinctly all of the time but mispronounces 1 or more words.

Speaks clearly and distinctly most of the time and mispronounces 2 words.

Does NOT speak clearly and distinctly most of the time AND/OR mispronounces more than 3 words.

Group Work:

Members worked extremely well together in a timely fashion and supported one another.

Members worked well together with few interruptions and completed the work in a timely fashion.

Members worked together but had many interruptions causing the work to be insufficient.

Members did not work together at all and finished work is evidence of such.

AHPPA:

Uses AHPPA extensively in oral presentation.

Uses AHPPA in many parts of the presentation.

Uses AHPPA but inaccurately and sporadically.

Shows no use of the AHPPA model.

 

 

Conclusion:

At the beginning of the new government in the United States, Anti-Federalists leaders tried unsuccessfully oppose a strong central government.  Through their constant fight, however, the addition of a Bill of Rights was added in 1789.  They feared that the authority of the central government could become abusive to the rights offered to the states and to the citizens of those states.  Through their efforts the Anti-Federalist held the fate of the new Constitution in their hands.  The representatives of the early convention understood their influence and compromised once again, thus creating a very long lasting government.

 

 

Standards:

 

Social Studies Standards:

Standard #1: History of the United States and New York: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

 

Standard #5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

 

 

English Language Arts:

 

Standard #1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding: As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, ideas, discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

 

Standard #3 Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation: As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will present, in oral and written language and from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.