Lesson Plans from EDSITEment

Review 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.

NOTE: The Constitution uses the spelling "insure." In modern usage "ensure" means "make certain" while "insure" is generally restricted to the narrower meaning "taking out a policy" (i.e., an insurance policy).

Obtain background information about the Constitution and the history of its formation from the following EDSITEment resources:
- A basic, and conveniently organized introduction to the historical context is To Form a More Perfect Union: the Work of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, available from American Memory
- A more detailed examination of the historical context is offered in A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution, available on The Digital Classroom
- An overview and outline of the text of the Constitution is available at About the Constitution, available via a link from American Memory
- The Library of Congress provides a brief overview of the first Congress demonstrating that much needed to be done to establish a working government based on the Constitution. See Acts Passed at a Congress, also available through American Memory
- The American Constitution: A Documentary Record, available on The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School offers an extensive archive of documents critical to the development of the Constitution.

Familiarize yourself with the Articles of Confederation
- The entire text as well as related documents and information are available at Articles of Confederation, accessible on the EDSITEment-reviewed website Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.
- Additional kid-friendly information on the Articles may be found in the story A More Perfect Union, available via a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory.
- An excellent summary of Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and how they were corrected in the Constitution is available through a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Congresslink.

Familiarize yourself with each lesson plan. The first three lessons are intended to provide context. The heart of the unit is Lesson 4. Download copies of the documents used in Lesson 4 and duplicate them as necessary.

This unit is one of a series of complementary EDSITEment lesson plans for intermediate-level students about the foundations of our government. Consider adapting them for your class in the following order:
- Declare the Causes: The Declaration of Independence
- The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
- Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances:
- The First Amendment: What's Fair in a Free Country

The Digital Classroom, available through EDSITEment, offers a series of worksheets for analyzing primary source documents, including written documents and photographs, that you may wish to use or adapt to help students in reviewing the materials presented in this unit.

Suggested Activities

Lesson Plans

1. Revolutionary Needs

When the American Revolution succeeded, what did the colonists need to do? As stated on America's Library, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory, "When the Colonies declared their independence from Britain, they had a flag and an army. What they lacked was a government."

What are the responsibilities of independence?

Pose a hypothetical situation to the class. Imagine that, on a field trip to Tahiti, the students became stranded—without any adults and with little hope of being rescued in the foreseeable future—on a very hospitable tropical island. Start with a brief, general discussion about such matters as: How will you work together? How will you create rules? How will you deal with people who group members think are not following the rules?

Then, either brainstorming as a class or working in small groups (if desired, groups can be assigned the questions below), make lists of the things the group would have to consider in developing its own government. Help the students by asking these guiding questions, which relate to phrases from the Preamble (indicated here for the teacher and to be discussed with the students in Lesson 4):

2. An Imperfect Union

In the hypothetical situation in Lesson 1, did the class arrive at a system that determined simply that each person could decide for her or himself what s/he wanted to do? Probably not. Though ideas may have differed on how to deal with being stranded, every idea probably involved people working together to some degree through compromise.

For the most part, the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1777 and ratified in 1781, allowed each state to do what it wanted! Important decisions had to be agreed upon by the states unanimously, which was nearly impossible. Such protections were a response to the fear of a strong central government (such as a monarchy). Protecting the rights of states was a primary concern of those who drafted the Articles. A federal government was established, but that government had very little power to compel states to do anything such as pay taxes, send representatives to Congress, or help another state.

As explained on the kid-friendly Ben's Guide to Government for Kids, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library:

3. We the People

After much debate and compromise, our present Constitution was adopted. Share with the class an image of the Constitution from the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Digital Classroom.

Students will not be able to read the fine print, and that's fine. What students will easily see are the words "We the People" at the top of the page and the heading for Article I a short way down the page. Why did the Founders choose to begin the document with the words "We the People..." and to make them so large? How is it different from the opening of the Articles of Confederation (below)?

Continue by sharing with students the lyrics for "The Preamble," from the television series "Schoolhouse Rock," created by American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. You can find the lyrics on the Internet; just do a search for "Schoolhouse Rock" on a search engine such as google.com or yahoo.com.

Discuss what the students think the words of the Preamble mean. Then divide the class into six small groups. Assign each group a phrase from the Preamble to interpret and provide each group with documentary evidence of what the phrase means (sources listed below). It's the job of group members to share the document they were given and to offer their own interpretation of what their assigned phrase means.

Group 1: Establishing Justice
Print out the abstract for Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource. Students should read the facts of the case and the question presented and respond to the following:

For a case to arrive at the Supreme Court, it must be difficult to decide. What good points are there on both sides of the case Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections? It costs money to hold an election. The tax being charged at Virginia polling places was used by counties for expenses such as conducting voting and by the state to support public education. The maximum tax was only $1.50. Shouldn't anyone be happy to pay such a small amount for the privilege of voting and to help pay for the voting process? Would it be fair to ask people who do not vote to pay for voting through some other tax, such as a tax on items you buy at the store (a sales tax)? On the other hand, if you have no money at all, is that a good reason to keep you from voting?

What do you think the court decided?

Another word for justice is fairness. What happens in our country to make sure that things are fair? What does establishing justice mean?

After the exercise is completed, share with students the actual outcome (conclusion) of the case.

Group 2: Ensuring Domestic Tranquility
Print out Burson v. Freeman — Abstract from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource.

Students should read the facts of the case and respond to the following:

For a case to arrive at the Supreme Court, it must be difficult to decide. What good points are there on both sides of this case? Shouldn't voters be able to walk to the polling place in peace and quiet (such peace and quite could be considered one kind of domestic tranquility) without someone trying to get them to vote for their candidate? On the other hand, don't we have the right to talk to people about candidates we want elected? What do you think the court decided?

What does it mean to "insure domestic tranquility"? How did the case Burson v. Freeman ensure domestic tranquility"? What other examples of domestic tranquility can you list?

After the exercise is completed, share with students the actual outcome (conclusion) of the case.

Group 3: Providing for the Common Defense
Print out the last page of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's request to the Congress that the United States declare war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor from the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Digital Classroom, and the Uncle Sam Recruiting Poster, available via a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory. Students should review the documents and respond to the following:

Why did the President have to ask Congress to declare war? Why didn't he declare war himself? Why does it make sense to require the President to ask Congress? How does that help provide for the "common" defense?

What is the point of the Uncle Sam poster?

How does our government today "provide for the common defense"?

What does "provide for the common defense" mean?

Group 4: Promoting the General Welfare
In 1906, no one was required to inspect meat that was sold to the American public. Public reaction to Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle was a major factor in the passage of the 1907 Meat Inspection Act, which established a system of meat inspection that lasted until July 1996, when the federal government announced new rules requiring more scientifically advanced methods of meat inspection.

Print out the letter from author Upton Sinclair to President Theodore Roosevelt (March 10, 1906) concerning conditions in the meat packing industry from the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Digital Classroom. Students should read the letter and respond to the following:

Shouldn't the companies that sell meat inspect the meat they sell? Why should the government have a system for inspecting meat? How do meat inspections "promote the general welfare"?

What else does the government do to promote the general welfare?

What does "promoting the general welfare" mean?

Group 5: Securing the Blessing of Liberty to Ourselves
Print out Wisconsin v. Yoder — Abstract from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource and the poster celebrating the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, available via a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory (The text of all Constitutional Amendments, including the Fifteenth Amendment, is available on the EDSITEment-reviewed CongressLink.) Students should review the documents carefully and respond to the following:

For a case to arrive at the Supreme Court, it must be difficult to decide. What good points are there on both sides of this case? Why do some people believe parents should be required to send their children to school? On the other hand, shouldn't parents be able to raise their kids the way they want?

What do you think the Supreme Court decided in this case?

Look up "liberty" in the dictionary. What does liberty mean? What might happen if everybody felt s/he had the liberty to do what ever s/he wanted no matter what the consequences? When, why and how should liberties ever be restrained...and when should they not be?

What is being celebrated in the poster? How did the Fifteenth Amendment secure the blessings of liberty to those who had been enslaved? That's an easy question, but here's a hard one: How did the Fifteenth Amendment secure the blessings of liberty to those who had NOT been enslaved?

What does it mean to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves"?

Share the actual outcome (conclusion) of the case.

Group 6: Securing the Blessing of Liberty to Our Posterity
Print out the photograph of coal breaker boys from the EDSITEment resource American Memory. (Note to the teacher: An image using less memory is available by searching American Memory for the exact phrase "Coal breaker boys." Students should review the image carefully and respond to the following:

Wouldn't some children your age be tempted to leave school and take up a job if they could? What's wrong with that?

Why are there no more coal breaker boys?

The Constitution is still being changed with amendments. Our country's laws are still being changed today. How does improving the rules today help secure the blessings of liberty for people in the future (that's what "posterity" means)? Can you think of some other ways the government makes sure people in the future will have liberty?

What does "securing the blessing of liberty to our posterity" mean?

Assign each group to create its own picture book version of the Preamble. Each phrase should be written on its own page with an appropriate illustration. If desired, the group can add an introduction and/or conclusion (about a paragraph long each) for their book.

Give the groups an opportunity to share their books with the class.

Technically savvy classes could use programs such as PowerPoint or HyperCard to create slide versions of the assignment, which could then be posted online.

An alternative way to organize this lesson would be to assign a page to each student group, creating a single class book.

Students can interview parents or grandparents to discuss how laws and concepts of justice have changed in their lifetimes. The EDSITEment lesson plan "Listening to History" introduces students to the experience of capturing oral history.

Students might be interested in looking through newspaper editorial pages and magazines for political cartoons. Collect cartoons the students like. Students can try to draw their own cartoons with a message. They can also locate historical cartoons by searching for the word "cartoon" on the EDSITEment resource American Memory.

Through the EDSITEment-reviewed websites Congresslink and Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource, students can find out what bills are in Congress today and what cases are on the docket of the Supreme Court.

Students with a historical bent might be interested in researching Shay's Rebellion, an incident that greatly dramatized the need for improving upon the Articles of Confederation.

Students could create a documentary timeline showing how our Union has continued to become more perfect. Students can download images of documents and photographs that show improvements in our country (women securing the vote, for example). A good place to start would be the American Memory Timeline.

The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?

Introduction

Learning Objectives

Guiding Question:

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

Suggested Activities

Lesson Plans

Extending the Lesson

EDSITEment Websites

Other Resources