Subject Areas |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Civics and U.S. Government |
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Time Required |
| Lesson 1: 1 class period
Lesson 2: 1 class period or less
Lesson 3: 1 class period or less
Lesson 4: About 2 class periods for group preparation and 1 period for presentations
Lesson 5: About 2-3 class periods if groups create their own picture books; 1 period if each group completes one page. Time required will vary depending on the specific assignment and technology. |
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Skills |
| collaboration
presentation skills
primary document analysis
critical thinking |
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Date Posted |
| 10/3/2006 |
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Special Features |
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![Constitution Day](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090117055712im_/http://edsitement.neh.gov/sf_images/sf3/CD-SF-icon.jpg) Constitution Day
![Freedom of Speech Week, October 17-23](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090117055712im_/http://edsitement.neh.gov/images/write_icn.gif) Freedom of Speech Week, October 17-23
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The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
"...little
more than the shadow without the substance"
-George Washington on the
Articles of Confederation
We the people
of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union..."
-From The Preamble to the Constitution
Introduction With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in
1783, the U.S. firmly established itself as an independent nation. Six years later,
in 1789, George Washington was elected the first President, initiating the form
of government, based on the Constitution, that we recognize today. Before
1789, the young nation had been ruled by the Articles of Confederation, written
in 1781 in reaction to years of British rule. By 1787, however, it was clear that
a more perfect Union was required; while protecting the independence of member
states, the Articles of Confederation did not describe the powers of a federal
chief executive or a judicial system. The creation of our Constitution and present
form of government was informed by these and other considerations that arose during
the years of the Confederation. Archival materials and other resources
available through EDSITEment-reviewed websites can help your students begin to
understand why the Founders felt a need to establish a more perfect Union and
how they proposed to accomplish such a weighty task.
Learning Objectives After completing the lessons in this unit,
students will be able to: - Explain the purposes of the U.S. Constitution
as identified in the Preamble to the Constitution.
- Identify fundamental
values and principles as they are expressed in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
Guiding Question:
How does the language of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
reflect historical events and the goals the Founders had for the future? What
does the Preamble mean?
Preparing to Teach this Lesson - 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:
- Familiarize
yourself with the Articles of Confederation
- 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:
- 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 1: Revolutionary
Needs Lesson 2: An
Imperfect Union Lesson
3: We the People Lesson
4: What the Preamble Means Lesson
5: The Illustrated Preamble Extending
the Lesson
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):
- How will you make sure that anyone who feels unfairly treated will have a
place to air complaints? (establishing justice)
- How will you make sure that people can have peace and quiet? (ensuring
domestic tranquility)
- How will you make sure that group
members will help if outsiders arrive who threaten your group?(providing
for the common defense)
- How will you make sure that the
improvements you make on the island (such as shelters, fireplaces and the like)
will be used fairly? (promoting the general welfare)
- How will you make sure that group members will be free to do what they want
as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else? (securing
the blessing of liberty to ourselves)
- How will you make
sure that the rules and organizations you develop protect future generations?
(securing the blessing of liberty to our posterity)
If
the students worked in groups, allow time for sharing. Now share with
the class the political cartoon The
Horse America, Throwing His Master and its title, available through a link
from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory. What do the students observe in the cartoon? What is the
cartoonist saying? What was happening in 1779? Encourage class discussion.
Having just released themselves from Britain's monarchy, what would the colonists
fear? Judging from some of the complaints the colonists had against Britain, what
might some of their concerns be for any future government? As in the hypothetical
situation on the desert island, what decisions would the colonists have to make
about forming a new government out of 13 colonies, which, until 1776, had basically
been running themselves independently?
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:
The Articles proved to be a weak system of government. The federal
government only had the power to declare war and manage foreign affairs. Under
the Articles, each state worked independently. Chaos erupted from this system
of government. Something had to be done, but the road ahead proved to be a bumpy
one. While Americans were glad to be free of British rule, they were used to being
sovereign and wanted to stay that way. Share
with the class these two incidents that demonstrate the problems inherent in the
Articles of Confederation: - Where
Is Everybody?
Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government
had very little power to compel states to act. It was very difficult to get representatives
from the states to show up at meetings. This story, available on America's
Library, a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory, shows how the U.S. almost failed to sign the Treaty of Paris, which
formally ended the American Revolution and granted to the new country land all
the way to the Mississippi River.
- Journals
of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, for Tuesday, June 27, 1786
The
first and last sentence of page 366 (locate by using the Find function of your
browser to locate "Page 366"—from the entry for June 27, 1786, available
on the EDSITEment resource American
Memory), reveal that by 1786, the U.S. was virtually out of money. Having
just fought a long and difficult war, the federal government had incurred great
debt. However, Congress did not have the power to compel states to contribute
money to the national treasury. The Union might go broke because the federal government
had no sure way of raising money!
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)? To all to whom these Presents shall come,
we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting.
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. The short introduction the students saw
in the Constitution, prior to Article I, is called the Preamble. A preamble is
a preliminary statement, especially the introduction to a formal document that
serves to explain its purpose. Review the significance of beginning the
document with "We the People...." Review why the Articles of Confederation created
a need for a more perfect union. Now students are ready to take a closer look
at the phrases in the remainder of the Preamble.
4. What the Preamble Means
Make sure every student has in hand a copy of the Preamble to the Constitution.
The text is available through the EDSITEment resource The
Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. Read the Preamble to the class.
Tell students their goal is to learn what the Preamble means. Now review
the ideas the students had for protections in the deserted island discussion of
Lesson 1. Relate each
point to the appropriate phrase in the Preamble, as shown: - How will you
make sure that anyone who feels unfairly treated will have a place to air complaints?
(establishing justice)
- How
will you make sure that people can have peace and quiet? (insuring
domestic tranquility)
- How will you make sure that group
members will help if outsiders arrive who threaten your group? (providing
for the common defense)
- How will you make sure that the
improvements you make on the island (such as shelters,
fireplaces and the like) will be used fairly? (promoting the general welfare)
- How will you make sure that group members will be free to do what they want
as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else? (securing
the blessing of liberty to ourselves)
- How will you make
sure that the rules and organizations you develop protect future generations?
(securing the blessing of liberty to our posterity)
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?
5. The Illustrated Preamble
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.
Extending the Lesson - 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.
EDSITEment Websites
Other Resources
Recommended
reading from American Memory
- Brill, Marlene Targ. Let Women Vote!
Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1996.
- Ciment, James. Law
and Order. N.Y.: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995.
- Fritz, Jean.
The Great Little Madison. N.Y.: G.P. Putnam
and Sons, 1989.
- Grant, R.G. The American
Revolution. N.Y.: Thomson Learning, 1995.
- Smith, Carter, ed. The
Revolutionary War: A Sourcebook on Colonial America. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook
Press, 1991.
- Spier, Peter. We the People:
The Constitution of the United States of America. N.Y.: Doubleday, 1987.
- Weber, Michael. Our Congress. Brookfield,
CT: Millbrook Press, 1994.
Standards Alignment
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