Download Document Based Question:

Document Based
Question:
How can the Preamble to the US
Constitution be restated yet still retain
its original meaning?
In this lesson plan you will find the following:
Background comparison information on the Articles of Confederation and the
Constitution
Images of the first page of the Articles of Confederation AND the Consitution
A timeline for the writing and ratification of the Articles of Confederation
FAQs (aka trivia) on the Constitution
Create a glossary from words in the Articles preamble
Dissect the Constitution’s preamble
Preamble art
Creative options #1 and #2
Student Names: ________________________________________________________________________
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Digital image of
page one of
the US
Constitution
Digital image of
the Articles of
Confederation
What are some of the
differences in the
documents that you
can SEE?
Day 1:
A Brief Comparison of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution
The Articles were created by delegates from the states in the Second Continental Congress out of a
need to have "a plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United
States." After the war, nationalists, especially those who had been active in the Continental Army, complained
that the Articles were too weak for an effective government. There was no president, no executive agencies, no
judiciary and no tax base. The absence of a tax base meant that there was no way to pay off state and national
debts from the war years except by requesting money from the states, which seldom arrived. In 1788, with the
approval of Congress, the Articles were replaced by the United States Constitution and the new government
began operations in 1789.
Even though the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were established by many of the same
people, the two documents are very different. The Articles are less straightforward and they lay out very
different forms of government. The original five-page Articles contained a preamble, 13 articles, a conclusion,
and a section where representatives from the 13 states signed their names. The preamble states that the states
whose representatives signed the Articles "agree to certain articles of Confederation and perpetual Union"
between the 13 states.
Here are summaries of some of the Articles:
The preamble establishes the name of the confederation with these words: "The Style of this
confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'"
It asserts the sovereignty of each state, except for the specific powers delegated to the confederation
government.
Not being sovereign, it does not call the United States of America a "nation" or "government," but
instead says, "The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for
their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding
themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them,
on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever."
It establishes equal treatment and freedom of movement for the free inhabitants of each state to pass
unhindered between the states.
Only the central government is allowed to conduct foreign political or commercial relations and to
declare war.
It defines the sole and exclusive right and power of the United States in Congress assembled to
determine peace and war.
It accepts the war debt incurred by Congress before the existence of the Articles.
It declares that the Articles are perpetual, and can only be altered by approval of Congress with
ratification by all the state legislatures.
Day 1:
Timeline for the Articles of Confederation
These are important milestones related to the Articles of Confederation from the Journals of the Continental
Congress. Circle the 3 most important milestones and in the margin say why you believe these are important.
June 11, 1776 - The Continental Congress resolved "that a committee be appointed to prepare and
digest the form of a confederation to be entered into between these colonies."
June 12, 1776 - The committee members were appointed "to prepare and digest the form of a
confederation to be entered into between these colonies."
July 12, 1776 - The first draft of the Articles of Confederation was presented to the Continental
Congress.
November 15, 1777 - The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.
November 17, 1777 - The Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states with a request for
immediate action.
June 26, 1778 - The Articles of Confederation were ordered to be engrossed.
June 27, 1778 - The first engrossed copy was found to be incorrect, and a second engrossed copy was
ordered.
July 9, 1778 - The second engrossed copy of the Articles was signed and ratified by the delegates from
eight states: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and South Carolina.
July 21, 1778 - North Carolina delegates signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
July 24, 1778 - Georgia delegates signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
November 26, 1778 - New Jersey delegates signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
May 5, 1779 - Delaware delegates signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
March 1, 1781 - Maryland delegates signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. The Articles
were finally ratified by all thirteen states.
February 21, 1787 - Congress approved a plan to hold a convention in Philadelphia to revise the
Articles of Confederation.
Day 1:
FAQs (aka Trivia) Pertaining to the Constitution
Put an asterisk (star *) next to the trivia questions and answers you feel are the most important. Next to each one, state
why your group thought so.
Q. Which State did not send representatives to the Constitutional Convention?
A. Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Q. Where and when did the representatives to the Constitutional Convention assemble?
A. In Philadelphia, in the State House where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The meeting was
called for May 14, 1787, but a quorum was not present until May 25.
Q. Who were the oldest and youngest members of the Constitutional Convention?
A. Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, then 81; and Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, 26.
Q. Who was called the "Father of the Constitution"?
A. James Madison, of Virginia, because in point of erudition and actual contributions to the formation of the
Constitution he was preeminent.
Q. Was Thomas Jefferson a member of the Constitutional Convention?
A. No. Jefferson was American Minister to France at the time of the Constitutional Convention.
Q. Who presided over the Constitutional Convention?
A. George Washington, chosen unanimously.
Q. How long did it take to frame the Constitution?
A. It was drafted in fewer than one hundred working days.
Q. Who actually wrote the Constitution?
A. John Rutledge, of South Carolina; Edmund Randolph, of Virginia; Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts;
Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut; and James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, reported a draft which included a
Preamble and twenty-three articles, embodying fifty-seven sections.
Q. Did some of the representatives to the Constitutional Convention refuse to sign the Constitution?
A. Only thirty-nine signed. Fourteen deputies had departed for their homes, and three--Randolph and Mason,
of Virginia, and Gerry, of Massachusetts--refused to sign.
Q. Did George Washington sign the Declaration of Independence?
A. No. He had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army more than a year before and
was at the time with the army in New York City.
Q. The vote of how many States was necessary to ratify the Constitution?
A. Nine (Art. VII).
Q. In what order did the States ratify the Constitution?
A. In the following order: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts,
Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York. After Washington had been
inaugurated, North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified.
Q. When did the United States government go into operation under the Constitution?
A. The Constitution became binding upon nine States by the ratification of the ninth State, New Hampshire,
June 21, 1788. Notice of this ratification was received by Congress on July 2, 1788. On April 30, 1789, George
Washington was inaugurated as President of the United States, so on that date the executive branch of the
government under the Constitution became operative. But it was not until February 2, 1790, that the Supreme
Court, as head of the third branch of the government, organized and, held its first session; so that is the date
when our government under the Constitution became fully operative.
Q. Did Washington receive the unanimous vote of the electors in his first election as President?
A. Yes, of all who voted. Four, two in Virginia and two in Maryland, did not vote; and the eight votes to which
New York was entitled were not cast because the legislature could come to no agreement upon how the
electors should be appointed. There should have been 81 votes; he received 69.
Q. What is meant by the term "constitution"?
A. A constitution embodies the fundamental principles of a government. Our constitution, adopted by the
sovereign power, is amendable by that power only. To the constitution all laws, executive actions, and, judicial
decisions must conform, as it is the creator of the powers exercised by the departments of government.
Q. Are there original ideas of government in the Constitution?
A. Yes; but its main origins lie in centuries of experience in government, the lessons of which were brought
over from England and further developed through the practices of over a century and a half in the colonies
and early State governments, and in the struggles of the Continental Congress. Its roots are deep in the past;
and its endurance and the obedience and respect it has won are mainly the result of the slow growth of its
principles from before the days of Magna Carta.
Q. When did the phrase, "The United States of America," originate?
A. The first known use of the formal term "United States of America" was in the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Paine, in February, 1776, had written of "Free and independent States of America." The terms "United
Colonies," "United Colonies of America," "United Colonies of North America," and also "States," were used in
1775 and 1776.
Day 1:
Understanding the Preamble
to the Articles of Confederation (1777)
To all to whom these Presents shall come, we, the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our
Names send greeting. Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled
did on the fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
Seventy seven, and in the Second Year of the Independence of America agree to certain articles of
Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in the Words following:
“Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of New Hampshire,
Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.”
Below, list words (at least 5) that you needed to look up and create a glossary:
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Day 1:
Dissecting the Preamble to the Constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order to
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
The Preamble states six specific goals of the Constitution. The United States had just finished the War
for Independence and a revision of the original Articles of Confederations. List the 6 goals of the
Constitution as outlined in the Preamble. Use the wording in the original document, then paraphrase
in your own words.
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