U.S. Government Debate
Is America Living Up To The Ideals in the Declaration of
Independence?
Debates are a wonderful way to begin thinking critically. Every argument can be approached by multiple points
of view.
Your mission is to come up with at least three affirmative arguments (agreement) and three negative arguments
(disagreement) to the following proposition (statement for debate):
The United States is living up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence.
You will need to prepare and be able to articulate your views in our class debate. While you are expected to do
your own research Do not, I repeat, DO NOT copy information from websites for your debate preparation –
instead read through the RELIABLE information and formulate your own opinions! YOU MAY quote a
reliable source but give the source credit (cite) – do not pass it off as your own. I look forward to hearing your
thoughts!
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Ideals (pg 21 of text)
Liberty
Equality
Self-Government
Helpful Information about the Declaration
According to the Declaration, all individuals
have “certain unalienable rights,” which are
inherent to everyone
 The Declaration reaffirmed the idea of
government by the consent of the governed. The
people have “certain unalienable rights,” of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness
 If the government violates these rights, then the
people have the power to change their
government.

(http://www.mapsofworld.com/)
You will be graded upon FOUR different categories:
 Debate Preparation
 Debate Participation
 Understanding of the Topic
 Completing your Self – Assessment
Make sure you turn in your entire packet, completed, after the debate.
Name: ___________________________
Date: _____________________
Debate Preparation
To prepare for your debate, fill in your statement (position), major points, and examples. You will be required to support
three affirmative and three negative arguments as to why or why not the United States is living up to the ideals in the
Declaration of Independence. As the debate unfolds, make notes about the other team’s points, as well as your response to
them
Affirmative Statement: (Agrees with the proposition)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Major Point 1: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples/Illustrations:
2. Major Point 2: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples/Illustrations:
3. Major Point 3: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples/Illustrations:
NOTES DURING THE DEBATE:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Negative Statement: (Disagrees with the proposition)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Major Point 1: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples/Illustrations:
2. Major Point 2: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples/Illustrations:
3. Major Point 3: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples/Illustrations:
NOTES DURING THE DEBATE:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Self-assessment:
□ My position statement(s) was/were clear and concise.
□ My major points strongly supported my viewpoint.
□ I spoke at least once and I did not speak more than three times (unless given permission by Mrs. Leonard)
□ My team gave specific examples and illustrations to make major points more clear.
□ My team was able to find weak points in the opposing team’s viewpoint and point those out.
□ We strengthened our argument and convincingly closed the debate with why our position should win.
□ We used good eye contact, tone of voice, and kept the attention of everyone.
One thing I could have improved upon to make this experience better was:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
One thing I did very well before or during the debate was:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
What did you learn about the debate process/being a part of a debate in class?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
After debating both points of view, do you believe the United States is living up to the ideals in the
Declaration of Independence? Why or why not?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Class Debate
Teacher Name: Mrs. Leonard
Student Name:
CATEGORY
4 (20-25pts)
________________________________________
3 (15-19pts)
2 (10-14pts)
1 (<10pts)
Debate Preparation Every major point was Every major point was Every major point was
well supported with
several relevant facts,
statistics and/or
examples.
adequately supported
with relevant facts,
statistics and/or
examples.
Every point was not
supported with facts,
supported.
statistics and/or
examples, but the
relevance of some was
questionable.
Debate
Participation
Student consistently
used gestures, eye
contact, tone of voice
and a level of
enthusiasm in a way
that kept the attention
of the audience, as
well as participated at
least 2 times in the
debate.
Student usually used
gestures, eye contact,
tone of voice and a
level of enthusiasm in
a way that kept the
attention of the
audience, as well as
participated at least
once in the debate.
Student sometimes
used gestures, eye
contact, tone of voice
and a level of
enthusiasm in a way
that kept the attention
of the audience, as well
as participated at least
once in the debate.
Student had a
presentation style that
did not keep the
attention of the
audience, or did not
participate at all during
the debate.
Understanding of
Topic
The student clearly
understood the topic
in-depth and presented
their beliefs forcefully
and convincingly in
their final selfassessment.
The student clearly
understood the topic
in-depth and presented
their information with
ease in their final selfassessment.
The student seemed to
understand the main
points of the topic and
presented those with
ease in their final selfassessment.
The student did not
show an adequate
understanding of the
topic in their final selfassessment.
Self Assessment
The student provided
well thought out and
thorough answers to
his or her selfassessment, showing
clear growth from the
assignment.
The student provided
thought out answers to
his or her selfassessment, showing
some growth from the
assignment.
The student provided
incomplete answers to
his or her selfassignment and could
not show clear growth
from the assignment.
The student did not
answer his or her selfassessment and did not
show growth from the
assignment.
Score