THE CONSTITUTION
CHAPTER TWO SEMINAR SCHEDULE
Directions: The questions below are designed to get you thinking more deeply about
what you are reading. Discussion leaders will use them as a jumping off point to
help them shape their questions for their respective sections. This means
discussion leaders should create additional broad questions from their assigned
section. Discussion leaders may create appropriate daily quizzes based on the
reading. The instructor reserves the right to discard the quiz if it lacks seriousness
of purpose. This will affect discussion leaders’ grade. Consider yourself warned.
All students are graded every day for their level of participation. Everyone is
expected to be prepared every day for seminar. This means you must stay ahead
of where we are in class by one seminar. Make a copy of this handout and keep
one at home. Discussion leaders may use the class set of textbooks, students are
expected to have all of the questions answered in their note books. Absolutely
no print offs of the text allowed. Spot checks by the instructor are to be expected.
Yes, this can have an impact on your class participation grades. Inclement
weather or any other reason for school delays or closings is no excuse not to be
prepared to launch into discussion the day we return. Refer to seminar mark
scheme (separate hand out for details)
Roots of the New American Nation (pgs.30-39)
What problems for the 18 year old vote did the U.S. Supreme Court trigger in their
decision Oregon v. Mitchell (1970)? How did Congress respond and what is the
significance of that response? Why did Great Britain keep such a tight leash on the
British North American colonies? Why was the Proclamation Line of 1763 created?
Why was the 1764 Sugar Act passed? Stamp Act 1765? Quartering Act 1765?
Specifically, how did the colonists react? What was the Stamp Act Congress? How
successful was it and why? 1767 Townshend Acts? Committees of Correspondence?
Why was there a tea party? 1774 Coercive Acts? What was the purpose of the First
Continental Congress? Second Continental Congress? What did Thomas Paine write and
why was it important? Who inspired the Declaration of Independence? Break it down by
introduction, body, and conclusion? Is this a good example of analytical writing? Why?
The First Attempt at Government: The Articles of Confederation (pgs.39-41)
Identify:
 Articles of Confederation
 Confederation
What were the key elements of the Articles of Confederation?
Why do scholars refer to the period 1781-1789 as the “critical period”? Flesh this out
with lots of details! How effective were the Articles in response to these stresses and
why? How and why did Shays’s Rebellion tip the balance regarding the effectiveness of
the Articles?
The Miracle at Philadelphia: Writing the Constitution (pgs.41-46)
What was the purpose of this convention and how did Edmund Randolph hijack the
original purpose? Who attended this convention? What varied backgrounds did they
bring to this convention? Why is this important to know? What did Charles A. Beard
have to say about the significance of the Framers’ background? How did the scholar
Gordon S. Wood contradict Beard’s thesis? What were the suggestions posed in the
Virginia Plan? New Jersey Plan? Great Compromise (aka Connecticut Compromise)?
Three-fifths Compromise? Who proposed electors to choose the executive? What was
the thinking behind this still controversial decision? How could President Barrack
Obama be removed from office? Details, please, the devil’s in them!
The U.S. Constitution (pgs 46-53)
Fully identify:
 Separation of powers
 Checks and balances
 Federal system
 Enumerated powers (aka delegated and expressed)
 Necessary and proper clause
 Implied powers
 Full faith and credit clause
 Supremacy clause
How does the flow chart Figure 2.2 pg. 47 help you better understand the first two
bulleted principles? Using the table 2.1 pg. 49 compare and contrast the Articles of
Confederation with the U.S. Constitution, specifically: legislature, membership, and
voting; executive and national judiciary; amendment process; taxation authority;
ratification process. Why must our president be “natural born”? What are the arguments
in favor of changing this requirement in the Constitution? What are the arguments
against changing it? Identify and discuss the provisions in each of the seven articles of
the U.S. Constitution.
The Drive for Ratification of the U.S. Constitution (pgs. 53-57)
What were some of the fears expressed by the new Americans about this constitution?
How did both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists respond to these fears? What were the
Federalist Papers? Who wrote them? What was the purpose of these papers? Looking at
Table 2.2 compare the backgrounds and viewpoints of Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
You’ve already read them so now discuss both Federalist #10 and Federalist #51!
Significance? What were some of the problems in ratifying the Constitution? Details,
please, the devil’s in them! What was the purpose of the Bill of Rights? Who supported
it? What were the concerns? Memorize, yes you read that correctly, the Bill of Rights
beginning on pg.79-83 and discuss the provisions found within!
Toward Reform: Methods of Amending the U.S. Constitution (pgs. 57-62)
What was James Madison biggest fear about potential damage to the Constitution?
(beyond factions) How did he and the Framers protect both the Constitution and the
government against this fear? What are the two-stages for amending it? How are
amendments proposed? What was the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act and what is
the connection to the amendment process? What was the outcome of this act? What are
the provisions for ratification of amendments? Why is the 18th Amendment a good
example of poor ideas getting into the Constitution? The very fact that the Constitution
can be amended reveals what about the Framers’ understanding in the late 18th century?
How did the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson (1989) underscore the
difficulties in amending the Constitution? What is the significance of Marbury v.
Madison (1803) in changing the Constitution? Why does the practice of judicial review
trigger heated argument?