Understanding & Appreciating our Constitution

The annual celebration of Constitution Day is September 17. On September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, a majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, authorized by Congress, approved the documents over which they had labored since May. Then, the delegates swiftly returned to their homes to organize support, most were for but some were against the proposed charter.

Before the Constitution could become the law of the land, it would have to be accepted by Congress and withstand public scrutiny and debate. For two days, September 26 and 27, Congress debated whether to censure the delegates to the Constitutional Convention for exceeding their authority by creating a new form of government instead of simply revising the Articles of Confederation. They decided to drop the matter. Instead, on September 28, Congress directed the state legislatures to call ratification conventions in each state.

The ratifying conventions served the necessary function of informing the public of the provisions of the proposed new government. They also served as forums for proponents (Federalists) and opponents (Anti-federalists) to articulate their ideas before the citizenry. The Anti-federalists were led by George Clinton (pen name, Cato), Patrick Henry, and James Monroe. The Federalists were led by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay (pen name, Publius) who responded to Clinton with a series of 85 essays published in New York newspapers (Federalist Papers) which analyzed the Constitution, detailed the thinking of the framers, and responded to the Anti-federalist critics.

It took 10 months for the first nine states to approve the Constitution. The first state to ratify was Delaware, on December 7, 1787, by a unanimous vote, 30 - 0. The first real test for ratification occurred in Massachusetts, where a recommendation for adding a bill of rights proved to be a remedy for their ratification -- as it would also prove to be in deciding ratification in several other states.

New York's struggle over whether to adopt the 1787 Constitution was critical to the nation's survival and perhaps to avoiding civil war. The Constitution's draftsman, James Madison, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, anonymously coauthored 85 essays, or "op-eds," signed "Publius," to promote the new system; these became known as The Federalist Papers. New York ratified the Constitution by a narrow three-vote margin. Publius' Federalist helped save the country with the finest commentary on limited government ever written.

Type "James Madison" in the Quick Search box for the 1st search and "Alexander Hamilton" for the next search. Look for information that will help you to answer the following essential questions for critical thinking:

1. What beliefs and background motivated these leaders to promote such a radical idea of government?
2. What new principles did their works convey to readers that would create confidence that this type of government could work?
3. What were the arguments against the Federalists and why do you think they failed?
4. Are the arguments of the Federalists significant today--why or why not?

Assign students to cite at least three resources in completing a report of at least 150 words that addresses the essential questions listed above. Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Assign students to create a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources. Students should address the following examples of essential questions for critical thinking (you can create others):

1. How does the Constitution reflect the background of the founders experience with the monarchy of England?
2. What were the major issues for federalism?
3. What were the major issues for anti-federalism?
4. What were the strategies used to support the eventual adoption of the Constitution?

Click the History icon > Study Units > American History > The United States of America, 1776-1865.

Students should choose among the following subtopics:

• The foundations of American government
• The United States Supreme Court and the Constitution
• The United States Constitution and the Republic, 1776-1800

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Learning about the Constitution and our government is something that students need to do continually, not just on September 17--Constitution Day. That's why a U.S. Government & Civics course is required in high schools in every state. The good news for teachers is that ProQuest has created a collection of 21 CourseCarts that directly correlate to U.S. Government and Civics (or similar) textbooks and courses of study.

What's a CourseCart? This new eLibrary Curriculum Edition resource helps teachers of U.S. Government and Civics courses to enrich learning with great resources directly correlated to the chapters in their textbooks. ProQuest Editors have created this collection of BookCarts to facilitate inquiry-based enrichment activities that support the content, standards, and course of study. In addition, several current issues such as gun control and the 2nd Amendment serve to motivate students to understand the Constitution in light of their current world.

Each CourseCart provides more than 30 articles and websites relevant to the chapter topic. Even more important, each CourseCart has a template for teachers to customize it as a lesson plan for a student inquiry-based learning activity. Teachers can type in student directions, selected end-of-chapter critical thinking questions, and even create a quiz.

Now, Social Studies teachers can integrate an enrichment activity whenever they think it's appropriate. Each CourseCart provides students with quick and easy access to credible and relevant information, save learning time by reducing searching, and address both content and issues relevant to that content.

Here is the list of CourseCarts for U.S. Government & Civics. Teachers or librarians can copy and adapt this CourseCart collection and hundreds of other ProQuest models from ProQuest Carts collection (learn how).

• Logon to the eLibrary CE Teacher Edition to access BookCart Editor.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Scroll down list of Folders, then click U.S. Government & Civics CourseCarts.
• Click the Copy icon in the Actions column for the first CourseCart.
• Click Return to My Local Carts.
• Repeat the process until all CourseCarts are copied.

With editing, each CourseCart can include information that students can use to complete the assignment (example: write a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources and addresses each of the essential questions listed).

To edit each CourseCart for your students to use:

• Click the first new BookCart Title with the prefix "Copy of".
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the Author boxes.
• Type any brief STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click Save.
• Click the My Local Carts tab to return to your collection.
• Repeat the process until all CourseCarts are edited.

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

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