Key Founding Guys and Their Contributions To Our Republican Form of Government

By Mr. Nenopoulos

George WashingtonBorn February 22, 1732 Died December 14, 1799• Born into wealthy Virginia Plantation family.• Early career includes tobacco farmer, land

surveyor, plantation owner, and military officer.• Staunch patriot during the Revolution who devoted

his energies and abilities to the causes of Independence, republicanism, and civic virtue.

• Appointed by the Continental Congress Commander in Chief of the Army 1775-1783.

• Opposed the Articles of Confederation• Worked towards a strong national framework - The

Constitution• Chosen presiding chairmen of the Philadelphia

Convention• Unanimously elected first President of the U.S

under the new Constitution 1789-1792• Promotes national financial program, policy of

neutrality, and a national bank.• Unanimously elected to a second term 1792-1796• Pushes through the congress the hated Jays

Treaty• Establishes traditions and practices during his

presidency: the selection of cabinet, sets tone for domestic and international agenda, the two term presidency, the Farwell Address.

• His dedication to the nation earned him the status as Father of the Nation

By Gilbert Stuart shortly before 1799

The Lansdowne Portrait by Gilbert Stuart -1801

• Explore the Stuart portrait for the imagery making connections to republicanism, and to the young nation. What connections can you make? Utilize the SIGHT handout on examining Art to complete this activity.

• Washington did not have the advance formal education of some of the other founding guys but he was considered by his peers to be intelligent, resolute, and effective as a leader especially after contemplating his options on an issue and making up his mind. His peers may not have always agreed on his decisions but they all agreed that Washington was the right man for the job. He very much believed in the ideals of enlightened republicanism and in the notion of civic virtue. Fortunately we do have many of his writings and the generally positive comments of others many who considered him the one essential and indispensable leader during these early days of the republican experiment . Unfortunately, Martha burned their correspondence mostly written during the war depriving us those insights.

• Washington’s stature as a great leader and father of his country is derived from years of dedicated service and from qualities he fostered including honor, civic virtue, humble ambition, determination, and other positive character traits.

Using the S.I.G.H.T. tm method, critically analyze the accompanying image S.I.G.H.T. tm → S scan for important details I identify the conflict or tension G guess the creator’s intent or message H hear the voices T talk or write about your observations

S scan for important details _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I identify the conflict or tension ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

G guess the creator’s intent or message ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

H hear the voices ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

T talk or write about your observations ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ www.EdwardTODonnell.com | eodonnell@holycross.edu | © Edward T. O’Donnell, 2009

Gilbert Stuart - An American Painter from Rhode Island 1755 - 1828

Self Portrait of Gilbert Stuart: 1778

Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists. His best known work, the unfinished portrait of George Washington that is referred to as The Athenaeum, was begun in 1796 and left incomplete at the time of Stuart's death in 1828. The painting on the next slide of George Washington has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for over one century.

Portrait artists were also products of the enlightenment but depended on patrons for their survival. By the late 18th century American artists were beginning to find more employment opportunities due in part to the revolutions’ making of the founding guys and because they could find buyers for their talents.

We owe a great thanks to these individuals who have left us and future generations with images from our nation’s formulative period.

George Washington Unfinished: 1796

Depiction by John Trumbull of Washington resigning his commission as Commander-in-Chief

How is this act which Washington repeated several time during his life one of his enduring legacies? What was his rational both on the personal level and in terms of the public point of view?

Benjamin Franklin – The First American• Born January 17, 1706 died April 17, 1790

• Epitomizes the self made working man. He left Boston his birthplace as a teen and struck out for Philadelphia where he worked at and quickly mastered printing. In this hub Franklin fed his voracious appetite for intellectual stimulation and found ground to apply his many faceted talents.

• His success at printing, publications, business, inventions, civic affiliations, and scientific inquires to mention a few earned him great wealth and lasting fame here & in Europe.

• In 1730 he establishes a common law relationship with Deborah Read. They have two children one of which dies at the age of 4 from smallpox.

• Deborah spends many years apart from Franklin due to his appointments overseas and in part due to her fear of transatlantic travel.

• In 1730 Franklin acknowledges an illegitimate son William. William becomes the Loyalist governor of New Jersey to his fathers disappointment.

• Career and Inventions: Printer, chief owner / writer Philadelphia Gazette, Poor Richard’s Almanac, Auto-Biography, Colonial Postmaster General for the Crown, Organizer and promoter of the Albany Congress, Political Theorist, Civic Activist, Ambassador, Staunch Patriot and convert to the American Cause for Independence, signer of the Declaration and the Constitution, First Governor of Pennsylvania, Civic Planner, Scientist-who conducted his famous kite flying electrical experiment, inventor of the Franklin stove, and bifocal glasses.

Painted by Joseph Duplessis 1785

Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin West -1805

Franklin – Epitomizes Practical Enlightenment Virtues• Benjamin Franklin and Washington were by far the

best known Americans of their time. Franklin’s PoorRichards Almanac had wide appeal in all the colonies providing many working farm class Americans the benefit of sound and practical advice. He was widely read by the rapidly growing literate Americans and was a common household name during these times.

• Franklin used his fame and vast learning to endorse causes near and dear to him. He was a powerful advocate for civic planning and organization arguing in the Philadelphia legislature for reforms leading to civic system including the more effective grid pattern for Philadelphia, a municipal fire service, a central postal service, a central sewer system, and spaces allocated for education and public parks. Later in his life he led the Philadelphia Abolition society imploring the new nation to take up this issue.

• Further, he epitomized and conveyed to all Americans the virtues that helped define the revolutionary generation while helping to make the 19th century American entrepreneur. His vision was both practical, forward looking, and reform oriented. His greatest contributions here was his strong endorsement of the Declaration of Independence, and his nearly 7 years of service as foreign ambassador in France when he secured much needed funds and military support for the patriot cause. And finally his endorsement of the Constitutional Convention giving this cause legitimacy and credence.

The Albany Plan

•In 1754 Franklin published the political cartoon Join or die in his Philadelphia gazette. The cartoon appeared along with Franklin’s editorial about the “disunited state” of the colonies, and helped make the case for greater colonial unity.

• The Albany Plan was Franklin’s brainchild in 1754 when he proposed a greater unity amongst the colonies in time of crisis and war. Both the crown and the colonial assemblies rejected the proposal. At this time their still existed far too may jealousies, points of irritation, and pride between the various colonies. Franklin and the Country would have to wait until the provocations of the crown post the French and Indian war, and the building tide of colonial resentments and unresolved grievances before unity and central governing could be attempted.

•His dedication to this cause was re-directed and made more poignant after his humiliating lecture at the hands of upset British officials in London sent him packing a fervent support of the patriotic cause. Franklin’s notoriety and convictions in the cause of liberty made him next to Washington the most important figure. Their association and participation in key events like the Declaration, The Treaty of Paris, and the Constitutional convention were important seals of approval towards those causes.

Revising the draft of the Declaration of Independence

• John Adams realized the significance of having the well known intellectual lawyer from Virginia Mr. Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. Adams was not very well liked and he knew this. Further, he believed that a Virginian would give the Declaration a more universal appeal binding the new nation for the difficulties which lay ahead.

• Franklin also aided in the editing of the final draft. He most certainly earned the respect of his political peers as one of the pre-eminent enlightened political theorists, and by 1776 a staunch defender of American Ind.

•Since the 1750s he had worked towards a greater “independent role” for the Colonies within the context of the Empire. He took measures towards this goal including drafting a grid plan for the future development of Philadelphia, a progressive city which he hoped would be a magnet and a model for all the colonies. His design included a fire department, grid pattern roads, a central postal office, and government buildings. His design also portioned lands for industry, centers of learning, public spaces, and housing with advance sewer systems to improve sanitation.

•The aging sage in 1787 was carefully watched over during the Convention for Franklin could get easily carried away with his still in tact passions. He did live to see the passage of the Constitution and the election of the nations fist Congress and President Washington.

Franklin’s contributions were undeniably vitalIn the forging of a unified American republic and In providing a social model for millions of self driven Forward looking Americans.

Alexander Hamilton

• Born January 11, 1755 – died July 12, 1804• He was born in the West Indies - a bastard child.• He early on showed (mid teens) an inclination for

Finance effectively managing his mentors commercial business on his home Island of Nevis.

• He struck out for the Colonial New York a brash, very bright , and very ambitious young man determined to make and to leave his mark –Studied law and political theory at Columbia.

• Quickest “brain” out of all the founders coupled with workaholic stretches culminating in many great achievements.

• No colonial or state ties – he is an immigrant to America and therefore more National in his outlook.

• Washington noticed Hamilton’s talents of organization and leadership during the Revolution when initially Hamilton led his own artillery company.

• Washington quickly made him his aide de camp forging a lifelong friendship and professional relationship where Washington came to rely upon Hamilton’s advice and Federal visions. For Hamilton, Washington provided the stabilizing father figure and elder mentor.

By John Tumbull 1804Hamilton’s Achievements: • wrote 2/3rs of the Federalist papers•Established Bank of New York and later As Secretary of Treasury – The Bank of the United States

•Created (our capitalistic system) Assumption plan•Swung the critical and initially Anti-Federalist New York State Constitutional convention over to the side of The Constitution•Bolstered Federal plans before, during, and after the Philadelphia convention•Persuaded Washington towards establishing strong central apparatus specifically in realm of loose interpretation of the Constitution, centralized finances,bolstering American Industry & trade, and a strong military.

Alexander and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton

In 1792 John Trumbull painted a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, making the copy above in 1804, after Hamilton’s death. Ralph Earl painted the portrait of Hamilton’s wife Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in 1787. Hamilton’s wealth and connections increased significantly as a result of this marriage. While not completely the dutiful husband Elizabeth stuck by him and did much to sustain and to secure Hamilton’s reputation as a great contributing founding guy both during their lives and after Hamilton’s death in the ill-fated duel with Aaron Burr – who was one of Hamilton's arch political rivals. Who is the other rival?

Dolly Madison by Stuart -1804James Madison by Stuart --1804Yet another marriage which bolstered positively the founding guy. Madison was frail in appearance, neverenjoyed robust health, shy, and a super intellectual. His wife Dolly was definitely his counterpart engaging in Hosting successful events at the White house which included entertaining key national and international guests.She enjoyed decorating the white House and later during the War of 1812 when Washington was in peril she Risked her own safety to save the Washington portrait (see earlier slide), silverware, and the original Declaration.The capitol city of the U.S. was indeed burned down including the white House. The Madison’s would never Occupy this house again but were committed to the capitals’ complete reconstruction. Their fellow VirginianFriend and political ally James Monroe moved into the new White House in 1817.

James Madison Gilbert Stuart 1821

Madison – The Father of the Constitution

Born March 16, 1751 – died June 28, 1836• Virginian whose father owned a large tobacco plantation• Madison was a product of the Enlightenment studying long

Hours during his youth with the most prominent Southern educators. His sphere of specialty was Political Philosophy

•He authored the Virginia Plan – which is the essential basis of the Constitution – the only one of the delegates attendingwho had a clear vision of a American Federal Republic.

• He initially stood for a strong central government providing greater share of power to the larger more populated states.

• Firm opposition from the smaller states forced him to accept a more moderate position allowing for the eventual critical Connecticut Plan compromise which favored a bicameral National Congress with equal state representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House.

• All generations owe him a debt of gratitude for his ideas and because he kept significant notes on the secret proceedings during the long and arduous Constitutional debates.

• He along with other key nationalist delegates( Federalists)continued working towards the Constitutions’ passage writing nearly 1/3rd of the federalist papers along with his Federalist advocates A. Hamilton, and John Jay.

• Madison authored the Bill of Rights as one of his first dutiesas a leader in the newly elected Congress.

• He was honoring a promise made to the Anti-Federalists during the precarious Ratification period when special State Constitutional conventions met to decide on the fate of the new Constitution.

• Madison was more and more influenced by his fellow Virginian friends Jefferson, and Madison during the 1790s as he took issue with Washington’s policies which were being influenced by a Hamiltonian vision.

Thomas Jefferson• Born April 13, 1743 – died July 4, 1826• Virginian whose father was a plantation owner• Educated in the ideas of the enlightenment – Jefferson

is a intellectual who develops expert talents in political philosophy, the natural sciences, architecture, and cuisine.

• His many accomplishments include drafting the Va statues for religious freedoms, Lawyer, state representative, principle author of the Declaration, American Ambassador to France, and the Netherlands, Secretary of State, founder and chief architect of the University of Va, Vice President, two term President, (Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clarke expedition, and founder of the new republican party), and architect of his innovative homestead – Monticello.

• Like many of the founding guys Jefferson was a Deist – A person who believed in god but not in the miracles in the scriptures.

• Jefferson was NOT in attendance during the Convention or the Ratification debates but received update letters from Madison, and others while he was serving the U.S. as Ambassador to France.

• He did approve of the Constitution leaning towards a strict interpretation and favoring state powers over federal power. This belief was shaped and formed out of his experience living in France where he witnessed the decaying effect of absolute power and corruption of the aristocracy. In Jefferson’s mind the American Revolution was the future and it would remain secure due to its good natured hardworking, and pure guardians of democracy – Its yeoman farmers. These beliefs and his later authorship of the Va and Ky Resolutions will lead to the development and credence placed in the Compact theory – a political belief that placed the State Constitutions above the Federal Constitution.

By Charles Willson Peale 1792

Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale: 1805

A Complex Founding Guy to Say The Least

• Jefferson stood apart from many of his peers in his assessment of the national crisis in the mid 1780s. Commenting on Shays and other rebellions he astonished many by saying, “ a little rebellion from time to time is vital to a republic.”

• He believed as did many other founding guys that the Constitution would be a temporary fix. And he believed that each generation of Americans should re-draft their own republican government to better suit their needs.

•As Secretary of State he drew sharp contrasts with many of A. Hamilton’s Federal policies thinking that to much power was yielded and that it was promoting financial interests over those of the planter and southern states (mainly his beloved VA). He argued for stricter adherence to the Constitution a policy he flipped on several occasions during his presidency.

•He staunchly supported American backing of the French Revolution seeing it as one in the same with our Revolution another point of contention with the Federalists.

•He will ask Washington to accept his resignation and take steps later to challenge the Federalists advancements and abuse of power. His dealings lead to Americas’ first political party – The Jeffersonian Republicans who win the white House and majorities in Congress in 1800. In his view the national experiment in republicanism was restored with his election. And while tolerating some of the Federalist programs in a watered down form he did continue to seek their removal from federal offices.

•He is accused during his time and there is strong evidence today that Jefferson likely had a long standing relationship with his House slave Sally Hemings who was the half sister of his wife.

•The dilemma which historians and many grapple with is how theauthor of the Declaration can be reconciled with this fact, and withhis views on slaves. He never releases his slaves not even in his will, partially because he is near bankruptcy at the time of his death. In the 1820s he laments that the next generations’ failure to deal with the issue of slavery may lead to its undoing.

John Adams

Born October 30, 1735 – died July 4, 1826• Braintree, Massachusetts – father was a Congregationalist, Town

selectmen, and farmer• Adams early on showed a voracious appetite for reading and writing.• He broke from the traditional Adams’ vocation (puritan religious studies)

to pursue a career in the Law and to study Political Philosophy.• He married Abigail Smith in 1764. A bright well read intellect in her

own right, she provided her husband a capable sounding board, solid advice, and the nurturing confidence he needed.

• The Stamp Act, the dreaded Townshend Acts, and the Boston Massacre (which J. Adams successfully acquitted the British officers and solders involved) galvanized Adams’ fervent support for Independence.

• A Man of principle he disagreed with his cousin the popular Samuel Adam’s use of the Boston mob to violently oppose the King’s tax collectors and soldiers, but at around the time of the Massacre he came to realize blame lay in the hands of English leaders.

• By 1775 he is an outspoken voice in the Continental Congress arguing for proactive measures: establishing independent State Constitutional governments, raising an army, and breaking with England.

• When the Olive Branch Petition fails the Delegates vote for a Declaration. Adams enlists Jefferson to be it chief composer. The two men forge a strong friendship during at this time which will be tested and strained during the equally tumultuous 1790s. They do reconcile later striking up one of the most famous correspondences in American history.

•During the Revolutionary War Adams serves his country as Ambassador to France, and then to the Netherlands

• He is on the committee of American Delegates (Franklin, Adams, and Jay) who draft and secure the successful Treaty of Paris – 1783.

• He is NOT in attendance at the Constitutional Convention, but like Jefferson, is serving his nation as its Ambassador to England.

• He is for the Constitution, favoring the English model of a republic but one with the authority and checks to guard against aristocratic abuses.

Abigail Adams by Benjamine Blythe1766

John Adams by Gilbert Stuart 1800

John Adams by Gilbert Stuart 1826John Adams by Gilbert Stuart 1800John Adams returned to the country he helped create in 1788. He received the 2nd most electoral votes making him the nations’ first vice president. Adam’s lack of subtlety and strong opinions never endeared him to His fellow founding guys. His style was too stiff and formal and reeked of English monarchy for his peers. Members in congress voted to have the VP silent on all matters of debate, a procedure which hurt the opinionated Adams. Still, Washington and others who knew Adams realized his genius and talents took up council. He was elected the second president of the U.S. but was being more and more alienated and tarnished for his Federalist positions by his ex-colleague T. Jefferson who was V.P. and privately challenging Adams but more specifically Hamilton (who Adams had kept on in his cabinet) with the advent of the Jefferson-Republican party. The late 1790s and early 1800s were a critical period for the young republic. Washington and Adams pursued policies of non-interference / engagement (esp. over the French Revolution), strengthening U.S. financial System, and building up U.S. military forces. Adams amongst his many accomplishments is known as the father of the American Navy. Lastly, Adams sacrificed a second term for his affirmation in keeping the young republic out of the raging European conflict. He remained true to his principles, a value which served his nation well. Adams inherited the title Federalist. In truth he was a-political, and a devoted republican who strove to forge a nation of laws under wise leadership. He believed in the checks and balances and in the separation of powers embedded in the Constitution. He and his wife also left the nation a protégé in their son John Quincy Adams who served as a most effective Secretary of State, and was elected President in 1824 – an event John lived to see. A interesting fact to note both J. Adams and T. Jefferson died on the same day July 4, 1826 apx. 50 years since the birth of the country. Amazingly, both men lived to take a long hard look into the nation they committed their lives to.

Born December 12, 1745 – died May 17, 1829

•John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, and jurist. He is a resident of New York, and attended Columbia University

•His is considered one of the "founding guys" of the United States participating in most critical events, even running the countries Foreign Affairs office during the Articles of Confederation almost singlehandedly.

•Like Adams and Jefferson he was NOT in attendance at the convention but was busy running the shell of a government under the Articles.

•He did not back the Articles believing them too weak to forge and earn the respect of other powers.

•, In the early days of the revolution Jay served in the Continental Congress, and was elected President of that body.

• During and after the American Revolution, he was a minister (ambassador) to Spain and France, helping to fashion American foreign policy and to secure favorable peace terms from the British and French.

• He co-wrote the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

• Jay served on the U.S. Supreme Court as the first Chief Justice of the United States from 1789 to 1795.

•In 1794 he negotiated the hated Jay Treaty with the British - a pillar of Washington’s Foreign policy. A leader of the new Federalist Party, Jay was elected Governor of New York state, 1795-1801. He was the leading opponent of slavery and the slave trade in New York. His first attempt to pass emancipation legislation failed in 1777, and failed again in 1785, but he succeeded in 1799, signing the law that eventually emancipated the slaves of New York; the last were freed before his death.

Chief Justice John Jay – 1794 by Gilbert Stewart

John Trumbull's famous painting depicts the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Congress.John Adams is standing in the center of the painting. Can you identifyA few of the other leading founding guys? How does Trumbull’s paining Depict the event some 50 years after its occurrence?

Gouverneur Morris A Key FederalistsRepresenting Pennsylvania

Born January 31, 1852 –died November 6, 1816• Nicknamed the “Penmen” he wrote most of the

final draft of the Constitution and its Preamble• Wealthy aristocrat living in New York he joined

the Patriot cause.• He served in militia despite losing his leg as a

child • Served in the Continental Congress, and in

1781he moved to Philadelphia to aid Robert Morris run the finances for the U.S. under the Articles.

• He spoke more than anyone else during the convention – He firmly argued that the survival and well being of the country depended on a strong central government that could establish a sound fiscal policy

• Washington asked him to take over Jefferson’s ministry duties in France.

• For the remainder of his life he remained a ardent Federalist condemning the War of 1812 and the policies of the Jeffersonian Republicans.

Robert Morris on right and Gouverneur Morris on left. Painted by Charles Wilson Peale -1783. At this time Robert (no relations) was U.S. minister Of Finance and Gouverneur was his assistant. Both became ardent supporters of the Constitution and were delegates who played a role in its formation and passage. Both men were signers. While quiet during the Convention Robert had contributed his own funds to support General Washington during the dark hours in 1777. unfortunately in his later years he speculated wildly causing his own bankruptcy and earning for himself a spell in debtors prison. His friend Gouverneur came to his rescue setting up bail and a small pension for his family.

Roger Sherman- The Great Compromiser from Connecticut

• Born April 19, 1721 – died July 23, 1793

• A mainly self educated man – he passed the bar in 1754 –but returned to being a storekeeper (his father’s trade)

• He established a reputation as a shrewd political debater

• Member of the Continental Congress serving on the committees that drafted the Declaration and the Articles.

• He was a staunch supporter of the small states at the Convention and the chief architect of the Connecticut Compromise, which forced Madison and the supporters of the VA Plan to reconcile with delegate William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan – which established the bi-cameral Congress in Article I of the Constitution.

• He is credited with proposing the alternative of a "bicameral," or two-chambered Congress, made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Each state, suggested Sherman, would send an equal number of representatives to the Senate, and one representative to the House for each 30,000 residents of the state

• He remained a solid supporter of the Constitution and a devoted Federalist.

• His Compromise plan most broke the impasse over the issue paving the way for other compromises and cooperation towards the writing of the Constitution.

The South Carolina Connection• These delegates from South Carolina were staunch defenders

of a strong national government and supporters of their regional interests those being the life of a gentlemen planter, land acquisition westward, and maintaining their “peculiar institution – slave property.” Their adamant stance on this issue and little opposition from the other delegates who feared loss of their support – entrenches slavery into the Constitution, and further, enhances Southern representation via the 3/5ths clause.

• In Madison’s notes he disclaims that they made a block of federalist who were welcomed despite some of their eccentricities.

• P. Butler was a British military officer who married a Sothern Bell and by the late 1760s converted to the Patriot cause. He was a Patriot General during the War.

• He had lost most of his estate and wealth but remained a loyal founding guy – appearing in a wig and gold lace – at the convention his voice aided the Federalists’ cause.

• C. Pinckney served in the Militia and spent time in a British prison. He was a excellent public speaker who advocated for a strong government at the Convention. Historians cannot validate his claim of having written a Constitutional framework

• He wanted the U.S. to be strong enough to navigate and trade on The Mississippi river.

• He served several terms as Governor of S. Carolina and was later a convert to the Jefferson Republicans.

• C. Cotesworth Pinckney (1st cousin to C.P) also was a resident of Charleston. He to was a Patriot officer and was captured by the British spending time in their prison.

• He remained a loyal Federalist who served as one of the delegates which refused to pay the French bribe – known to Americans as the infamous XYZ affair.

Pierce Butler Delegate from S. Carolina

Charles Pinckney Delegate from S. CarolinaCharles Cotesworth

Pinckney Delegate from S. Carolina

•.

Works Cited

Amar, Akhil R. America’s Constitution. New York: Random House Paperbacks, 2006.

Berkin, Carol. A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution. New York: Harcourt, Inc. 2002.

Bernstein, R.B. Thomas Jefferson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Kammen, Michael ed. The Origins of The American Constitution: A Documentary HistoryNew York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Nenopoulos, John. I wrote the opening message essay a few years ago which I will be reading at the outset of our Great Debate. My inspirations include the materials we are studying and knowledge acquired from our Kennedy text (the Pageant), and my notes from college, and other personal readings.

The constitution: A Primary Sourcebook. The Teaching American History Professional Development Project

Wood, Gordon S. The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Penguin Books, 2004.

Wood, Gordon S. The American Revolution: A History. New York: Random House, Inc. 2002.

www.EdwardTODonnell.com | eodonnell@holycross.edu | © Edward T. O’Donnell, 2009

Exploring The Ideas Behind Our Federal Republic Though Key Federalist Papers

Activity: In your small groups you will read and then brainstorm answers to the thought questions. Use your class notes, text reading, and your understanding of this era to answer. You will then be responsible for making the other groups experts on your Federalist paper. Each group will present their answers, findings, etc.

The Federalist No. 1

Introduction

Independent Journal Saturday, October 27, 1787

[Alexander Hamilton]

To the People of the State of New York:

AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America. The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences nothing less than the existence of the UNION, the safety and welfare of the parts of which it is composed, the fate of an empire in many respects the most interesting in the world. It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force. If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.

This idea will add the inducements of philanthropy to those of patriotism, to heighten the solicitude which all considerate and good men must feel for the event. Happy will it be if our choice should be directed by a judicious estimate of our true interests, un-perplexed and unbiased by considerations not connected with the public good. But this is a thing more ardently to be wished than seriously to be expected. The plan offered to our deliberations affects too many particular interests, innovates upon too many local institutions, not to involve in its discussion a variety of objects foreign to its merits, and of views, passions and prejudices little favorable to the discovery of truth.

Among the most formidable of the obstacles which the new Constitution will have to encounter may readily be distinguished the obvious interest of a certain class of men in every State to resist all changes which may hazard a diminution of the power, emolument, and consequence of the offices they hold under the State establishments; and the perverted ambition of another class of men, who will either hope to aggrandize themselves by the confusions of their country, or will flatter themselves with fairer prospects of elevation from the subdivision of the empire into several partial confederacies than from its union under one government……………………..

I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars: -- The utility of the UNION to your political prosperity -- The insufficiency of the present Confederation to preserve that Union -- The necessity of a government at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the attainment of this object -- The conformity of the proposed Constitution to the true principles of republican government -- Its analogy to your own state constitution -- and lastly, The additional security which its adoption will afford to the preservation of that species of government, to liberty, and to property.

In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

1. What is A. Hamilton’s purpose with Federalist 1? What are his key points?

The Federalist No. 10

The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued)

Daily Advertiser Thursday, November 22, 1787

[James Madison]

To the People of the State of New York:

AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice. He will not fail, therefore, to set a due value on any plan which, without violating the principles to which he is attached, provides a proper cure for it. The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations. The valuable improvements made by the American constitutions on the popular models, both ancient and modern, cannot certainly be too much admired; but it would be an unwarrantable partiality, to contend that they have as effectually obviated the danger on this side, as was wished and expected. Complaints are

everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority. However anxiously we may wish that these complaints had no foundation, the evidence, of known facts will not permit us to deny that they are in some degree true. It will be found, indeed, on a candid review of our situation, that some of the distresses under which we labor have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments; but it will be found, at the same time, that other causes will not alone account for many of our heaviest misfortunes; and, particularly, for that prevailing and increasing distrust of public engagements, and alarm for private rights, which are echoed from one end of the continent to the other. These must be chiefly, if not wholly, effects of the unsteadiness and injustice with which a factious spirit has tainted our public administrations.

By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.

There are two methods of curing the mischief’s of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.

There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.

It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency………………………………………………………….

But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government………………….

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the

rights of other citizens. To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed.

Thought Questions:

1. According to Madison (author of Federalist 10) how will the Constitution guard against Factions (groups or special interests) which may effect the rights of others?

2. What is the presumption behind his answer?

The Federalist No. 51

The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments

Independent Journal Wednesday, February 6, 1788

[James Madison]

To the People of the State of New York:

TO WHAT expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied, by so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places. Without presuming to undertake a full development of this important idea, I will hazard a few general observations, which may perhaps place it in a clearer light, and enable us to form a more correct judgment of the principles and structure of the government planned by the convention.

In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own; and consequently should be so constituted that the members of each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others. Were this principle rigorously adhered to, it would require that all the appointments for the supreme executive, legislative, and judiciary magistracies should be drawn from the same fountain of authority, the people, through channels having no communication whatever with one another. Perhaps such a plan of constructing the several departments would be less difficult in practice than it may in contemplation appear. Some difficulties, however, and some additional expense would attend the execution of it. Some deviations, therefore, from the principle must be admitted. In the constitution of the judiciary department in particular, it might be inexpedient to insist rigorously on the principle: first, because peculiar qualifications being essential in the members, the primary consideration ought to be to select that mode of choice which best secures these qualifications; secondly, because the permanent tenure by which the appointments are held in that department, must soon destroy all sense of dependence on the authority conferring them.

It is equally evident, that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others, for the emoluments annexed to their offices. Were the executive magistrate, or the judges, not independent of the legislature in this particular, their independence in every other would be merely nominal.

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other -- that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights. These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in the distribution of the supreme powers of the State.

But it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit. It may even be necessary to guard against dangerous encroachments by still further precautions. As the weight of the legislative authority requires that it should be thus divided, the weakness of the executive may require, on the other hand, that it should be fortified. An absolute negative on the legislature appears, at first view, to be the natural defense with which the executive magistrate should be armed. But perhaps it would be neither altogether safe nor alone sufficient. On ordinary occasions it might not be exerted with the requisite firmness, and on extraordinary occasions it might be perfidiously abused. May not this defect of an absolute negative be supplied by some qualified connection between this weaker department and the weaker branch of the stronger department, by which the latter may be led to support the constitutional rights of the former, without being too much detached from the rights of its own department?

If the principles on which these observations are founded be just, as I persuade myself they are, and they be applied as a criterion to the several State constitutions, and to the federal Constitution it will be found that if the latter does not perfectly correspond with them, the former are infinitely less able to bear such a test.

1. What arguments does Madison make here to support the Constitutions protections of personal liberties or put another way to guard against tyranny?

The Federalist No. 78

The Judiciary Department

Independent Journal Saturday, June 14, 1788 [Alexander Hamilton]

To the People of the State of New York:

WE PROCEED now to an examination of the judiciary department of the proposed government.

In unfolding the defects of the existing Confederation, the utility and necessity of a federal judicature have been clearly pointed out. It is the less necessary to recapitulate the considerations

there urged, as the propriety of the institution in the abstract is not disputed; the only questions which have been raised being relative to the manner of constituting it, and to its extent. To these points, therefore, our observations shall be confined.

The manner of constituting it seems to embrace these several objects: 1st. The mode of appointing the judges. 2d. The tenure by which they are to hold their places. 3d. The partition of the judiciary authority between different courts, and their relations to each other.

First. As to the mode of appointing the judges; this is the same with that of appointing the officers of the Union in general, and has been so fully discussed in the two last numbers, that nothing can be said here which would not be useless repetition.

Second. As to the tenure by which the judges are to hold their places; this chiefly concerns their duration in office; the provisions for their support; the precautions for their responsibility.

According to the plan of the convention, all judges who may be appointed by the United States are to hold their offices during good behavior; which is conformable to the most approved of the State constitutions and among the rest, to that of this State. Its propriety having been drawn into question by the adversaries of that plan, is no light symptom of the rage for objection, which disorders their imaginations and judgments. The standard of good behavior for the continuance in office of the judicial magistracy, is certainly one of the most valuable of the modern improvements in the practice of government. In a monarchy it is an excellent barrier to the despotism of the prince; in a republic it is a no less excellent barrier to the encroachments and oppressions of the representative body. And it is the best expedient which can be devised in any government, to secure a steady, upright, and impartial administration of the laws.

Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive, that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them. The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.

This simple view of the matter suggests several important consequences. It proves incontestably, that the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power1; that it can never attack with success either of the other two; and that all possible care is requisite to enable it to defend itself against their attacks. It equally proves, that though individual oppression may now and then proceed from the courts of justice, the general liberty of the people can never be endangered from that quarter; I mean so long as the judiciary remains truly distinct from both the legislature and the Executive. For I agree, that "there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers."2 And it proves, in the last place, that as liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, but would have every thing to fear from

its union with either of the other departments; that as all the effects of such a union must ensue from a dependence of the former on the latter, notwithstanding a nominal and apparent separation; that as, from the natural feebleness of the judiciary, it is in continual jeopardy of being overpowered, awed, or influenced by its co-ordinate branches; and that as nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office, this quality may therefore be justly regarded as an indispensable ingredient in its constitution, and, in a great measure, as the citadel of the public justice and the public security.

The complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited Constitution. By a limited Constitution, I understand one which contains certain specified exceptions to the legislative authority; such, for instance, as that it shall pass no bills of attainder, no ex post facto laws, and the like. Limitations of this kind can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing.

1. What does Alexander Hamilton say in Federalist 78 to the concerned Anti-Federalists on the issue of the power of the Judiciary branch?

The Federalist No. 68

The Mode of Electing the President

Independent Journal Wednesday, March 12, 1788

[Alexander Hamilton]

To the People of the State of New York:

It was desirable that the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person to whom so important a trust was to be confided. This end will be answered by committing the right of making it, not to any pre-established body, but to men chosen by the people for the special purpose, and at the particular conjuncture.

It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were

proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.

It was also peculiarly desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder. This evil was not least to be dreaded in the election of a magistrate, who was to have so important an agency in the administration of the government as the President of the United States. But the precautions which have been so happily concerted in the system under consideration, promise an effectual security against this mischief. The choice of several, to form an intermediate body of electors, will be much less apt to convulse the community with any extraordinary or violent movements, than the choice of one who was himself to be the final object of the public wishes. And as the electors, chosen in each State, are to assemble and vote in the State in which they are chosen, this detached and divided situation will expose them much less to heats and ferments, which might be communicated from them to the people, than if they were all to be convened at one time, in one place.

1. Explore Federalist 68 and the Electoral system in the Constitution. What does Hamilton mean when he says, “For forms of government let fools contest, --that which is best administered is best” ?

Key concepts form the U.S. Constitutional Formulative Period:

In your small groups brainstorm Expert Notes for the Concepts assigned to you. Be prepared to share these with the other groups. Be sure to incorporate what you have learned from your readings, our Great Debate, the Federalist assignment, my Power Point presentations, etc.

Separation of Powers –

Checks and balances –

Federalism -

3/5th Compromise

Necessary and Proper Clause (also known as the Elastic Clause in Article I)

Federalist Perspective (rational) and Its advocates –

Anti-Federalist Perspective (rational) and its advocates –

The Electoral College – The Amendment process – and the Bill of Rights (All Compromises – to what end and for what specific purpose?)

-- The Great Debate – At stake is the current and future well being of our country -- Philadelphia June 1787

(Read by Presiding Chairperson) Welcome State delegates and representatives to the location of our countries birth, Philadelphia. Some of you were with us eleven years ago when in this very hall we signed into effect a bold and noble venture. Our unity in 76 and belief in the better notions of a self republican values bonded us then to shed the disgraces of our tyrannical father, and because we believed then as I near hope the same holds true in the present, that a just cause is worth those great efforts – So I tell you my countrymen we can do no less in the service of our country today. Indeed the hard achieved treaty of 83 stands before us today as a testament to our great collective achievement and to that rise given in – the great spirit of 76 -- but also reminds us of the misdeeds or our enemies, and that many works still need to be done – The perils from native tribes aided by our aforementioned father are not relinquished, Spanish overtures in the Southwestern forests threaten American territories and inhibit our rightful claim to these lands and to the Mississippi. Manufacturers in the east struggle against the flood of cheap goods from England, who also prowls the waters and forests of American lands slithering like some vile creature malcontent in avenging their lost cause. In the Caribbean our foe blocks access of the southern gentry and northern merchants who seek open and fare trade relations. Merchants are now forced to venture more boldly then they dare to dangerous waters in the Southern continent and in the far off dangerous shores of Africa at great risk and peril to self for trade. These obstacles stunt the craftsmen’s workshops and has aggravated situations between states who deem it appropriate to take it upon themselves to tax their fellow neighbors. The currency legislation is a dead cause in this inept Congress and now States grandstand their own pressed currencies over others. Possibly more disturbing are the recent episodes of lawlessness in the western hills of Massachusetts and in the Appellation backwoods counties stretching from New York to Georgia.

Are not these the same discontents which threatened us and fanned the flames of social discontent a little more than a decade ago? Do we succumb to this and degrade ourselves to a country of thieves, tricksters, and harlots?….do the boldest States reap the spoils? Then indeed my fellow countrymen we hand victory back to our enemies – who now scoff and laugh at us. Foreign debts – in particular the interest owed on them - are mounting further eroding our cohesive venues into global markets which are restricted to us from nearly every corner we turn. Further, and perhaps worst, these debts are disproportionate, and in a state I dare say of chaos. Serious strangleholds between the states over commerce is a threat from within, and one not sufficiently addressed by the current form of government. It is a disgrace and a shambles when Continental vouchers cannot be redeemed at values safeguarding the properties of fellow patriots in the great cause to secure these blessings in the first place! Nay I say brothers to our enemies and those who would thwart our convictions -- it is time for sober reflections and considerations to be taken. Some of you are shocked or taken by my words -- but most of us can agree that all is not well in our bold republican experiment – I leave you to consider seriously and profoundly the cause – and to take up sincere deliberations that may very well yet save the revolution of 76 – and fulfill the articles set forth in 83 – the alternative is we reward victory to our enemies – and see our bold experiment come apart bit by bit. My countrymen History will take note of what we accomplish or fail to accomplish in this convention. Speech – Philadelphia 1788 A concerned patriot – Upon this opening statement and update of the news from a concerned Patriot – the delegates gathered in Philadelphia on that day quickly deliberated and unanimously chose George Washington to be the Presiding officer of the Convention. After this the delegates moved onto to discuss procedures, and the pressing issue of revising the Articles or the writing of a new Plan of government.

The Great Debate: The Philadelphia Convention 1787 And Follow Up Assignments The Annapolis Resolution (1786): A United States government should be formed which is capable of functioning, safeguarding the country from internal and external threats, and promoting the general welfare. I. The Convention -- The Positions (Group Designations) Pro- Nationalist (Federalist) -- believed in a republic with a strong central national framework. Pro-State Government (Anti-Federalists) – believed in a republic with strong small governments (states) ie. The Articles of Confederation (with possible tweaks), and in protecting the citizens’ liberties – what we called in class the ideas and values associated to the “Spirit of 1776.” Moderates – believed in a republic with elements from both of the positions above. II. The Class Debate – The Process (rather than purely role playing individuals you will instead be debating the ISSUES of the DAY and their IDEAS / CONCERNS / POINTS OF VIEW / REGIONAL OR STATE ARGUMENTS, etc., etc. based on the breakout groups above. We will have three teams (Federalist – Anti-Federalist – Moderate) Each individual in the team will research the issues taking a stand and then effectively arguing your position. The point of the team is to allow students (sorry you delegates) to collaborate together. (YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE IN FULL AGREEMENT ON ALL THE ISSUES – IN FACT YOU CAN EVEN CHANGE POINTS OF VIEW IF YOU WISH). Each of you will be responsible for researching your Group’s General Stand and then formulating and developing your OWN argument (citing examples) on the issues and what YOU want to see accomplished at this Convention. (TAKE GOOD NOTES during our library and at home research sessions). Also consider for a moment that by 1787 there were delegates in attendance who had not participated in the signing of the Declaration or in the Continental Congress – creating a more diverse mix of interests. Indeed many of the delegates were participants to the Patriot cause many participating in the War, or in Congress (in their states or in Philadelphia or sometimes both).

III. The Great Debate: Your Products / Participation / Grading

A. Articles of Confederation Report Card and Ranking (HW check for your Ch 9 notes and a HW grade for your Report Card)

For this activity you will need to have read your Kennedy text through Chapter 9. You will also want to use a credible second source and the Actual Articles of Confederation in order to complete your report card Evaluation. Here are the 5 qualifiers you are grading the Articles on. Leave a space below your grade in which you qualify or justify your grade in writing by citing specific examples.

• Grade it as a working model of governing • Grade it in terms of maintaining and dealing with domestic peace

between the states and within the states. • Grade it on foreign policy. • Grade it on resolving or in dealing with financial issues.

• What grade do you give the Articles for their overall effectiveness?

Be prepared to justify your grades.

B. Each person in the group is required to write their own views on the Annapolis Resolution (basically on the ISSUES confronting the nation) and what you want accomplished at this convention in a TWO PAGE POSITION PAPER. – Further you must respond to and consider during the Debate at least 3 of the following Stock Issues

• The Articles of Confederation (pros and cons).

“I thought we have gathered here to revise what we already have – the Articles?” • The Issues over representation. The New Jersey Plan v. The Virginia

plan (issues of big states v small and over representation) • How do we discourage and deal with future Shays’ rebellions and

other riots against property and state / local authority? • How should the government treat slavery and the black population?

• How should the U.S. pay off its War debts?

• What should we do about currency, and trade policies?

• How do we effectively deal with human ambition checking powers

abuses? • How do we protect other liberties associated with the “Spirit of 76?”

• How do we effectively deal with westward expansion, foreign threats,

and unsecured border issues (particularly the fact that G.B. has not honored her Treaty obligations)

C. Your position paper (apx 2 - 2.5 pages- double spaced- typed)

incorporating your point of views on the issues including at least 3 of the stock issues above is worth 70% of your exam grade.

D. Participation does count towards your grade (30%). It is not as much

based on the frequency but on the qualities of listening and the effectiveness of what you say. Teams will be allowed two time out sessions (roughly 2 minutes each for resetting and re-grouping during the debate).

IV. Looking Beyond the Great Debate: Deriving Meaning & Purpose Reflections (post debate follow-up) – Counts as a HW assignment This is a one page write-up of your personal reflections / questions and so forth that you have from the in class Convention debate. We will use these as a activator to begin our next class. V. The Constitution Packet and Key Federalist Papers / Arguments During the Ratification period and Beyond: Perspectives from both The Federalist and The Anti-Federalists explored. Here we shall analyze together some of the key arguments favoring the Constitution and some of its weaknesses. Explored will be key components (Article I), the compromises, the intent of a Federal Republic, and built in innovative checks on power which the founding guys came up with. Topics include: The VA and NJ plan, the Great Compromise, 3/5ths compromise & the slave issue, the gag rule on slavery, Article I, The Bill of Rights, contributions and visions of key founding guys (some who were in attendance and some who were not), the Amendment process, Federalism, Checks and Balances and Separation of Powers, the Connections to the Enlightenment, and the Electoral College, Etc. Resources: Your text, the Constitution Packet, Federalist papers #1, 10, 51, 68, 78, and my power-point presentation on the key founding guys.

Unit: The Constitutional Period and The Founding Guys Target Group: AP United States History Juniors. 13 students. Time Allotment: Block time (80 minutes sessions) (4-5 blocks) Framework tie in: USI.2 Explain the historical and intellectual influences on the American Revolution and the formation and framework of the American government. (H, C)

USI.3 Explain the influence and ideas of the Declaration of Independence and the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. (H, C)

USI.6 Explain the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781, including why its drafters created a weak central government; analyze the shortcomings of the national government under the Articles; and describe the crucial events (e.g., Shays’s rebellion) leading to the Constitutional Convention. (H, C)

USI.7 Explain the roles of various founders at the Constitutional Convention. Describe the major debates that occurred at the Convention and the “Great Compromise” that was reached. (H, C)

Major Debates A. the distribution of political power B. the rights of individuals C. the rights of states D. slavery

Founders A. Benjamin Franklin B. Alexander Hamilton C. James Madison D. George Washington

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the U.S. Constitution

USI.8 Describe the debate over the ratification of the Constitution between Federalists and Anti-Federalists and explain the key ideas contained in the Federalist Papers on federalism, factions, checks and balances, and the importance of an independent judiciary. (H, C)

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Federalist Paper number 10

Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Federalist Papers numbers 1, 9, 39, 51, and 78

USI.9 Explain the reasons for the passage of the Bill of Rights. (H, C)

A. the influence of the British concept of limited government B. the particular ways in which the Bill of Rights protects basic freedoms,

restricts government power, and ensures rights to persons accused of crimes

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the Bill of Rights (1791)

Targeted Lessons by Objectives: Objective Lesson I: Students will identify the relevant issues gripping the nation during the 1780s

• Lesson 1: In class review of HW reading: The Confederation and The Constitution

(utilize inner and outer circle method for review – students use their hw notes and each other as resources to convey ids,4 terms, and topics to the class.) Set up unit activities and the Convention Project in advance by handing out student packet (see attached). Also assign groups and establish due dates Set up Articles of Confederation Report Card Assignment Start in class students finish for HW Objective Lesson 2: Students will research the various concerns, personal

perspectives, and regional interests as well as the dynamic and fluid political debate over republicanism during this critical period.

• Lesson 2: In class review of several of the student report cards making

sure we cover all the issues, and some of the perspectives.

Commence to the library / computer lab for research Remind students that the Great Debate is on target for next class. They will need to be ready with their write-ups, notes, and positions, etc. Objective Lesson 3: Students will engage in a mock debate depicting

similar issues and perspectives which the delegates faced at the start of the sessions in 1787

• Lesson 3: The Great Debate – The Philadelphia Convention Students will engage in the debate focusing on the issues Impacting the nation and on their personal and regional Interpretations / perspectives, etc

I will serve as the chairperson – framing the key point, redirecting, prompting, and keeping an eye on our time.

HW Students write Post Debate Reflection papers. Objective Lesson 4: Students will share their reflections taking note of the

enormous differences of opinions amongst the delegates and the difficulties in forging compromises during the convention. Students will also analyze the key compromises and the leading figures who played a significant role during the convention and during the critical Ratification period.

• Lesson 4: Post Great Debate conference – we all share our reflections

Hand out the Constitution packet when I will preview its key sections. I will focus students’ attention on the underlined passages denoting where the original wording on critical issues, some of which has changed over time. For example the 3/5ths clause and statement on slaves as property. I will point out the two arguments zeroing in on the excerpts of key Federalist Papers. Another section we will focus on is the letters exchanged by the founding guys during the critical Ratification period. We will analyze together the letter from T. Jefferson to J. Madison and I will inject my knowledge / research in this area. I will begin my power point presentation HW: Students will be divided into 6 pairs. Each pair will be assigned One of the Federalist essays to read in their Constitution Packets and to be prepared to discuss these making connections to the founding period, etc.

Objective Lesson 5: Students will identify key points of contention or controversies which manifested themselves during the Convention and Ratification debates and the compromises, and the ideas or rational provided by some of the founding guys to support the new government framework.

• Lesson 5: Students’ thoughts / reflections from my prior classes power point presentation.

CW Activity: students will convene with their partner where they will exchange their thoughts on the Federalist reading they had for hw. Then they will answer the thought questions and report their finding back to the class. The other students will listen and write down notes during these mini presentations.

The pairs will be given 1 of the following in which they will have to use their resources to become experts and to then have one member rotate to the other pairs where information will be mutually exchanged (Carousel Strategy): 3/5ths Compromise, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, The Electoral College, The Amendment Process, The Bill of Rights, and The Necessary & Proper Clause (Elastic Clause).

The Wrap Up: The focus here is to synthesis what most historians and people who study this period is a brilliant surge of innovative ideas (enlightened government) and riveting depth debate culminating in the creation of our government with all its laws and strengths.

TAH Professor Peter Gibbon Proctor Rich Houston Submitted By: John Nenopoulos September 23, 2010 The following is a unit plan I am submitting to my peers in the TAH program. The rational for this unit is to enhance my lesson option offerings to my students by utilizing a new strategy for me, the power point slide presentation, and by incorporating into my lessons my own knowledge on the subject with fresh new perspectives and scholarship I have attained through my participation in this course. My project is a unit on the Constitutional formulative era of our republic. It is targeting APUS level Juniors. I am planning on using this unit and this material over the next few weeks. (see attached unit plan, project, and power – point slides) Initially the Philadelphia convention was convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, so at least that is what so many delegates thought was going to take place in Philadelphia during the Summer of 1787. The Annapolis committee formed a year before had not indicated a radical change but a pressing need to make more efficient the operations of government and to address the vast array of economic interests of those groups. I want my students to know that once the war ended much of what bound the fragile republic together was lost. The hastily put together Articles was a emergency war Government penned up to solicit cooperation during the crisis and to have a legitimate government by which to conduct the much needed funds and resources from France and any other nation willing to aid the U.S. Initially, power resided in the State Legislatures. I also want

Nenopoulos 2 my students to critically think of the period between 1781 and 1789 with its shift back to small / local governments, a precarious, if surprising Treaty Of Paris which left us vast territories on paper but serious issues over administrating it. I want students to know the issues confronting the weak nation in terms of finances, the Shays type uprisings, and intrastate tensions threatening the republic. The Articles of Confederation report card activity is directly designed to solicit this type of reflection and understanding. This made for a very interesting summer or debating, and committee sessions to say the least. And this should make for an interesting class debate! The next methodology, the Great Philadelphia Debate offers my students the experiential opportunity to engage in the concerns, perspectives, and ideas emanating from the founding guys during the 1780s. I do want my students to understand the terms moderate, Federalist and Anti-Federalist in terms of the issues during the time and this is why I am having them do some research and writing in preparation for the debate. Nevertheless, I have intentionally kept the Great Debate loose limiting research to apx. 1 hour in the library and limiting its organizational configuration to 3 groupings: Nationalists, Moderates, and Small government advocates. This is done so they can have a more realistic experience during the debate session one in which I hope will translate over into a listing of the concerns, passionate arguments, regional concerns/ interests, vehement disagreements, and grounds for potential compromise.

Nenopoulos 3 During Lesson 3 I hope my students inform me during our discussion of their Post Debate Reflections that they were amazed at the overwhelming differences in terms of the interests and also in terms of the varying prescribed solutions. I hope they are charged up over the 3/5th compromise as well. At this point I will interject informing them of a small group of devoted nationalist including Franklin, Washington, Gouvernear Morris, Alexander Hamilton, James and Madison, and which later grew to include Roger Sherman and the Pinckney delegates from South Carolina. This core group especially the first 5 names worked together before, during, and after during the ratification period to promote the Constitution favoring a strong national framework. I will ask them to identify the core group of Anti-Federalists and to identify their concerns during the ratification debates and conversely, I will ask them to identify the core group of Federalist and to identify their strongest arguments. At this point I will also inform my students of the Kaminski source which contains the revealing letters these nationalist minded Founding guys circulated in promoting the Constitution. An intriguing question to ask students is to speculate as to why they thought these nationalists felt the way they did? This query will set up Lesson 4 when they will explore in greater depth some of the Federalist papers and check out my interactive power point presentation (see attached). Lastly, I also will introduce to the students the Constitution Packets point out critical topics which they will further explore. The point of the Constitution Packet and the selected Federalist Papers is to provide my students with primary source documents they can read identifying,

Nenopoulos 4 analyzing, and synthesizing these products from the compromises, and the ideas which make up our government. I want them to examine the controversies, the pros and the cons which include the: 3/5th clause, the debate over representation, Article I, the Preamble, the Elastic clause, the Amendment process, the Electoral College, and the concepts of Checks & Balances, Separation of Powers, Civic virtue, and Federalism. I also want them to know what the special pet ideas were for some of the founding guys including Hamilton’s vision of an American economic dynamo, Madison’s vision of a nation incorporating wide array of talents and interests checked by the clockwork precision of the government which he had a large part in conceiving, and Washington’s image of a expanding, globally respected and unified nation. I also want my students to know of the opinions of those key founding guys who were not in attendance men like John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson who would return to this country to play leading roles, after having served their nation dutifully abroad during most of the 1780s. After my point presentation students will be pared up and asked to become familiar with one of the Federalist essays reporting back to the class their finding and answers to questions I have posed. In the same method we will explore key ideas refining our understanding and having students sharing their knowledge as they incorporate these into their notes. It is my affirmation that the injection of new anecdotes, and scholarship into my methodologies will enhance for students the invaluable lessons from our

Nenopoulos 5 nation’s formulative period. For me this course has revitalized my already strong passions for the subject at a point in my career when I needed it. Also of great benefit are the resources, and the accompanying lesson applications some of which of I utilized in this project and many of which I have already used and will be using with my students. It is so easy to become consumed into the routines and multifaceted demands placed on educators these days to lose sight of the discipline, research, and the benefits of professional collaborations. For me and for the students that I serve this course is a rewarding and most beneficial experience.