20th Century U.S. History
Checks and Balances
Classroom Based Assessment - Research
100 points
Your job is simple; you must show that you understand what “Checks and Balances” is in an inclass essay. The example you will use is the Watergate scandal involving Richard Nixon. Your
thesis is whether or not Checks and Balances worked with regard to Nixon and Watergate. I have
provided an outline that you may use if you wish. We will spend some time in the library to
research these topics. Included in II under rubric, you’ll note that you’ll need to cite three sources
in the essay. You may use quotes from an article, or simply state “according to the . . .” followed
by parentheses which contains the source name. The source name will be readily identifiable
because you will list your sources in a bibliography that you will have prepared ahead of time
and have stapled to the back of the essay. I’m sure I have forgotten something. Ask
Outline – a suggestion
I – Thesis – Checks and Balances and whether it worked in Watergate
II – Describe what Checks and Balances is and why it’s in the Constitution
III – Describe what Watergate was all about
IV – Describe the examples of checking and balancing with regard to Watergate
V – Analyze the checking and balancing in Watergate
VI – Conclude with a summary of the importance of the Constitution and the importance of
following what it says to insure that it remains the foundation of this country.
Rubric
This essay will be graded on a four point scale. The following are the point totals for each part of
the rubric that you complete:
4/4 – 100
3/4 – 80
2/4 – 60
1/4 – 40
The four components are:
I – The essay must be at least four paragraphs in length, not including the introduction or
conclusion. Each paragraph must be at least four sentences in length. There must also be a
clearly defined thesis statement. Don’t forget to keep it in third person.
II – The essay must include references to three reputable news sources; Time, Newsweek, New
York Times, Washington Post, etc. Each source must be cited in the body of the essay and must
be listed at the end of the essay. Proper citation is required. See guidelines at the end of this
paper.
III – The essay must show that you understand what “Checks and Balances” is. You will
demonstrate this by following number II of the outline.
IV – The essay must demonstrate that you can defend your thesis with evidence. Hint: most
people believe that Checks and Balances did work, or would have worked had not Nixon
resigned. He certainly tested the system.
Terms
This list is by no means complete, and you don’t have use all of the terms. It is simply a guide to
help you.
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Pentagon Papers
Plumbers (hush money)
Committee to Re-elect the President
Saturday Night Massacre
June 17, 1972 – Break-in
USA v. Nixon (1974)
Tapes
Burglars
o Virgilio González
o Bernard Barker
o James W. McCord, Jr.
o Eugenio Martínez
o Frank Sturgis
 Nixon’s men who helped in the cover-up
o Bob Haldeman
o John Dean (later helped prosecution)
o John Mitchell
o John Erlichman
o E. Howard Hunt
 Washington Post reporters who uncovered story
o Bob Woodward
o Carl Bernstein
o Their informant, “Deepthroat”
Possible Sources
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/
 http://www.time.com/time/
o Go to search, type in “Watergate”, then refine search by putting a date range of
June, 1972 to present and select “oldest” as your option to view the articles.
 http://www.nytimes.com/
o Use the search engine
 http://watergate.info/
Citation Guidelines
There are many websites to help you cite your sources in MLA format. I’ve included three that
may be helpful. Of course you may search on your own and find a site, if you don’t like these.
 http://www.easybib.com/
 http://citationmachine.net/
 http://www.uwp.edu/departments/library/guides/mla.htm
 http://www.studyguide.org/MLAdocumentation.htm
 Etc.