Lesson Title
Constitutional
Convention: The
role of S.C. in
Development of a
Nation.
Teacher
College of
Charleston Ann
DuPre Candice
Solyan
Grade Level
8th
Duration of
Lesson
90 minutes
Lesson Topic
Constitutional Convention: The role of S.C. in the Development
of a Nation.
SC Standards
and Indicators
Standard 8-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of
South Carolina’s role in the development of the new national
government.
Indicator 8-3.2: Explain the role of South Carolina and
her leaders in the Constitutional Convention, including
their support of the 3/5 Compromise and the Commerce
Compromise and the divisions of South Carolinians over
the ratification of the Constitution.
Indicator 8-3.3: Explain the basic principles of
government as established in the US Constitution.
Academic
Vocabulary
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Constitutional or Philadelphia Convention – Delegates
met in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention to
revise the Articles because the Articles of Confederation
failed to give the government the power to collect money
or conduct foreign affairs. Instead they drafted an entirely
new Constitution.
Articles of Confederation - The Articles of Confederation
provided a loose framework of a national government for
the new nation. Each state had one vote and maintained
its sovereignty.
Constitution - Fundamental laws and principles that
describes the nature, functions, and limits of a government
or another institution. The fundamental law of the United
States, framed in 1787 became the United States
Constitution.
Bicameral legislature a legislature consisting of two
houses. The Great Compromise, re-defined a
bicameralism legislature in which the upper house would
have states represented equally, and the lower house
would have them represented by population.
 Judiciary (also known as the judicial system) is the system
of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of
the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for
the resolution of disputes
 Ratify vote to approve a constitution or treaty. Article
Seven of the constitution of the United States describes
the process by which the entire document was to become
effective. It required that conventions of nine of the
thirteen original States ratify the constitution.
 Virginia Plan Edmund Randolph, the governor of
Virginia, presented the Virginia Plan, which called for
three branches of government and a system of checks and
balances. Favored by the larger states. It proposed two
houses of Congress, both elected based on a state’s
population.
 Pinckney Plan the design for the Constitution presented by
Charles Pinckney.
 Compromise when both sides agree to make changes to
settle differences. Each side has to give up something.
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3/5 Compromise Delegates opposed to slavery generally
wished to count only the free citizens of each state.
Delegates supportive of slavery wanted to count slaves in
their actual numbers. The Three-Fifths Compromise was
a compromise in which three-fifths of the population of
slaves would be counted for representation purposes
regarding both the distribution of taxes and the
apportionment of the members of the United States House
of Representatives.

Commerce an interchange of goods or commodities,
especially on a large scale between different countries
(foreign commerce) or between different parts of the same
country (domestic commerce) trade; business.

Imports to bring in (merchandise, commodities, workers,
etc.) from a foreign country for use, sale, processing,
export to another country or services.
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Exports to ship (commodities) to other countries or places
for sale, exchange, etc.
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Charles Pinckney South Carolina representative to the
Philadelphia Convention who contributed greatly to the
writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. His
most significant contribution was in Article VI which
states that there will be no religious test required to hold
office and in the first amendment which states that the
government cannot require it citizens to belong to a
certain religion. He was a signer of the Constitution.
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Pierce Butler- representative from South Carolina. He
proposed the Fugitive Slave Clause to the Constitution and
fought for the rights of the common man. The
Constitution contains his idea of an Electoral College f or
choosing the President. He was a signer of the
Constitution.
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John Rutledge - representative from South Carolina. A
governor of South Carolina, he chaired a committee that
wrote much of what was included in the final version of
the United States Constitution, which he also signed. He
served as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court,
and was the second Chief Justice of the Court from July to
December 1795.
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Charles Cotesworth Pinckney - representative from South
Carolina. He was a first cousin to Charles Pinckney. He
was a signer of the Constitution. He wanted a strong
national government with checks and balances. He ran
unsuccessfully for President twice. Show 1st 3 segments
 Edmund Randolph - the Governor of Virginia, presented
the Virginia Plan, which called for three branches of
government and a system of checks and balances.
Favored by the larger states.
 James Madison Delegate from Virginia who wrote the
Virginia Plan. He is known as the Father of the
Constitution.
Lesson Materials
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PowerPoint Presentation
SmartBoard accessibility
Political Cartoon: “Constitutional Convention Updated”
“Forgotten Father: The Story of Charles Pinckney”
obtained from ETV Streamline (23:02-28:02)
“Forgotten Founder” guided note handout
“Creating a Government” worksheet
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“Government Created” worksheet
Writing assignment outline with rubric
Lesson Set
Content
Objective(s)
TSW be able to demonstrate an understanding of South
Carolina’s representation at the Constitutional Convention and its
influence on the formation of the American government.
Literacy
Objective(s)
Standard 8-2: The student will read a variety of informational
texts in print and non-print formats.
Indicator 8-2.1: Compare/contrast central ideas within and
across informational texts.
Indicator 8-2.2: Compare/contrast information within and
across texts to draw conclusions and make inferences.
Lesson
Importance
Standard 8-4: The student will create written work that has a
clear focus, sufficient detail, coherent organization, effective use
of voice, and correct use of the 8-4.4 8-4.5 8-4.6 8-4.7
conventions of written Standard American English. Use
grammatical conventions of written Standard American English,
including the reinforcement of conventions previously taught.
Revise writing to improve clarity, tone, voice, content, and the
development of ideas. Edit for the correct use of written Standard
American English, including ellipses and parentheses. Spell
correctly using Standard American English.
Politicians are important components in the formation of a new
nation.
Connections to
prior and future
learning
Prior knowledge
- Students will have previous knowledge of the passing of
the Articles of Confederation and the role of the new
American colonies in the Revolutionary War against the
British.
- The students will have an understanding of the role of the
Founding Fathers in the development of the new
American government.
Anticipatory
Set/ Hook
(Engage)
1. SLIDE 2: TTW hook the students by showing a picture of the
Constitutional Convention.
2What were the questions facing the new Government?
Skill Development
Content
components
to be
introduced
TTW introduce both the Constitutional Convention and the Articles of
Confederation.
“I do”
Procedures (Lecture): Show FF Segment 4
Skill from
literacy
objective
During the American Revolution, delegates from the 13 colonies came
together and wrote the Article of the Confederation, the first
constitution of the United States. Each state had one vote (equal
representation) in defining the rules. The Second Continental
introduce/ex Congress approved the Articles for distribution to the states on
plain/model November 15, 1777. The copies were sent to each state for ratification
unsigned. A cover letter had only the signatures of Henry Laurens
and Charles Thomson, who were the President and Secretary to the
Congress. The Articles provided domestic and international legitimacy
for the Continental Congress to direct the American Revolutionary
War, conduct diplomacy with Europe and deal with territorial issues
and Indian relations. After America won her independence from
England, the leaders recognized that the Articles of the Confederation
were not adequate to govern the new nation. They could not even get
the delegates together to sign the treaty ending the war. The Founding
Fathers realized changes needed to be made. Congress had debated the
Articles for over a year and a half, and the ratification process had
taken nearly three and a half years. Many participants in the original
debates were no longer delegates, and some of the signers had only
recently arrived. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
were signed by a group of men who were never present in the
Congress at the same time.
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SLIDE 3: “The Constitutional Convention, also known as the
Philadelphia Convention, was convened to revise the Articles
of Confederation. Some of the Founding Fathers were in favor
of a whole new document. The chief problem with the new
government under the Articles of Confederation was, in the
words of George Washington, "no money."
The Continental Congress could print money, but by 1786 the
currency was worthless.
Congress could borrow money, but couldn't pay it back.
No state paid all their U.S. taxes and Congress had no
authority to collect it.
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By 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts
as their dates came due.
The United States could not defend its sovereignty as an
independent nation. If any new military crisis required action
the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a
response.
The new government was proving inadequate to the
obligations of sovereignty within the confederation of the
individual states.
Individual states proceeded to violate it the Treaty of Paris.
Individual state legislatures independently laid embargoes,
negotiated directly with foreigners, raised armies and made
war, all violating the letter and the spirit of the “Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union”.
Congress was paralyzed. It could do nothing significant
without nine states, and some legislation required all thirteen.
When a state produced only one member in attendance its vote
was not counted. If a state's delegation were evenly divided, its
vote could not be counted towards the nine-count requirement.
The Articles Congress had "virtually ceased trying to govern”.
The vision of a "respectable nation" among nations seemed to
be fading in the eyes of revolutionaries. Their dream of a
republic, a nation without hereditary rulers, with power
derived from the people in frequent elections, was in doubt.
1. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton proposed a Convention
to revise or recreate the Articles of Confederation.”
2. SLIDE 4: “The Articles were too weak and caused multiple
conflicts between the states. In one case, Maryland and Virginia
disagreed about the Potomac River.” There was no authority to settle
the dispute.
3. “In another case, Rhode Island was imposing taxes on all traffic
passing through the state. In addition, the Articles could only be
amended with a unanimous vote from all the states. Ultimately, it gave
all states the power of veto. The Articles needed to be revised because
the federal government had no power to tax the states which left the
federal government without money to operate. They had no way to
enforce law on the delinquent states.”
4. SLIDE 5: “James Madison had some major problems with the
Articles of Confederation. He and Alexander Hamilton wanted not
only to revise the Articles but also to replace the whole government
system with a new federal document. These are Randolph’s quotes
from April of 1787, one month before the Convention in
Philadelphia.”
"It does not provide against foreign attacks."
"It does not secure Harmony to the States."
"It is incapable of producing certain blessings to the States.”
"It cannot defend itself against encroachments."
"It is not superior to State constitutions."
6. SLIDE 6: “The delegates met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on
May 14, 1787. There was representation from twelve of the thirteen
colonies. The only state not present was Rhode Island because they
believed any change in the Articles would be detrimental to them in
the long run. The elected president of the convention was no other
than George Washington.”
7. SLIDE 7: The Constitutional Convention was convened to
revise the Articles of Confederation. Many issues had to be
addressed – how would each state be represented, how would the
new nation be governed and by whom, and what power would the
government have over the state. On May 29, Virginians James
Madison and Edmund Randolph presented the Virginia Plan. The
plan proposed a powerful bicameral legislature. Bicameral is a
government consisting of two houses. They proposed that the
representatives in the legislature would be determined based on
the population of the State. The lower house would be chosen by
the people, and the upper house would be chosen by the lower
houseIn addition to dealing with legislative representation, the
Virginia Plan addressed other issues as well, with many provisions
that did not make it into the Constitution that emerged. It called for a
national government of three branches: legislative, executive, and
judicial. The executive would be chosen by the legislative branch.
Terms of office were unspecified. The legislative branch would have
the power to veto state laws if they were deemed incompatible with
the articles of union. The concept of checks and balances was
embodied in a provision that legislative acts could be vetoed by a
council composed of the executive and selected members of the
judicial branch; their veto could be overridden by an unspecified
legislative majority.
8. SLIDE 8: “A second plan was proposed on the third full day of the
convention. This was from our very own Charles Pinckney from
South Carolina. His plan was similar to the Virginia Plan. He wanted
to have a treaty or convention of all thirteen colonies. He proposed to
have a Federal Judicial Court and a bicameral legislature. The
legislature would be separated between the House of Delegates and
Congress. The House would have one member for every thousand
inhabitants of that state. Many of Pinckney’s ideas and language were
included in the Constitution and in the Bill of Rights.
9. SLIDE 9: “One of the most controversial issues was over slavery.
A majority slave states wanted to count slaves in the population to
increase their representation in Congress but not be counted when
collecting taxes. Non-slave- states did not agree. Since slaves did not
have rights and were treated as property, many believed they
shouldn’t be counted in the actual population count. Delegate James
Wilson and Roger Sherman proposed the 3/5 Compromise. 3/5ths of
the population of the slaves would be counted for determining the
number of representatives and taxes.
10. SLIDE 10: In September the Constitution adopted the 3/5
Compromise.
11. SLIDE 11: The 3/5ths Compromise.
12. SLIDE 12: “In addition, there was the proposed Commerce
Compromise. Was it a compromise? It established that only the
federal government had the authority to impose taxes on imports, but
not exports. Northern states wanted the federal government to regulate
the interstate commerce and foreign trade, but southern states were
afraid that taxes would be put on agricultural products. Tariffs were
the largest source of United States federal revenue from the 1790s to
the eve of World War I, when they were surpassed by income taxes.
14. SLIDE 13: “In late July, the Convention was coming to a close..
All agreed to a republican form of government which represented the
people in the all of the states. In the House, representation was to be
based on population and representatives were elected by the white
landowners. In the Senate, the state legislature elected two Senators
from their State, agreement on Presidential term, powers, and method
of selection; and jurisdiction of the federal courts. On July 24, a
committee of five (John Rutledge (SC), Edmund Randolph (VA),
Nathaniel Gorham (MA), Oliver Ellsworth (CT), and James Wilson
(PA)) was elected to draft a detailed constitution.
After a month, another committee received and read wrote the final
draft. Finally, on September 17, 1787, the new U.S. Constitution was
ready to sign.”
15. SLIDE 14: Some delegates were not happy with the outcome of
the Convention. Of the 55 delegates that were initially present, only
39 signed the final draft of the Constitution. Some left early, and four
just refused to sign. One of the most notable of the four was Edmund
Randolph, the creator of the Virginia Plan. The legendary Ben
Franklin said, ‘There are several parts of this Constitution which I do
not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. ...
I doubt, too, whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be
able to make a better Constitution. ... It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to
find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I
think it will astonish our enemies...’”
16. TTW ask, “Are there any questions?”
Guided Practice
“We do”
Activity
Description
Include student
“explore”
components and
opportunities for
them to explain
their learning.
1. Background knowledge: Students will have previously learned
about the Constitutional Convention and the impact of each
state’s delegates at the convention.
2. TTW begin by splitting the class into groups of three. The
groups will be predetermined before the lesson. TTW pass out
slips of papers with the states that were represented at the
Constitutional Convention: “Each group is going to be designated
a state that was represented at the Constitutional Convention.
Each group will choose a speaker for their group.
3. Ask the students to close their eyes and begin to set the scene
with guided imagery: “Imagine that you are in Philadelphia in
1787. You have been asked to represent your state at the
Constitutional Convention. The group is there to review and
modify the Articles of Confederation. The goal of the Convention
is to create a government that will last long after you have passed.
You are sitting with other delegates from your state. Your hope is
to create the best possible government for your state and to make
sure you have representation in the established colonies...”
4. Ask students to open their eyes. Encourage students to be in a
mindset of 200 years ago and disregard all things you know about
today’s current government: “I want you think like a delegate in
1787. That is over 200 years ago. Disregard everything you know
about today’s government.”
5. TTW pass out a “creating government” worksheet to each
group. “This worksheet will help you outline your ideas. I want
you to go over the questions that the delegates faced and how
they wanted to have equal representation in their own state. You
need to be prepared to contribute to the class discussion. After
discussion, we will hold our own Constitutional Convention here
in our classroom. I want to hear ideas from all of our colonies.
(Divide the class into 12 colonies – Rhode Island did not send
delegates so they will not be represented in this activity).
6. TSW have thirty minutes to organize their ideas and answer
the questions within their group. TTW walk around helping
groups and answering any questions. It is important that the
teacher helps students see these issues based on their knowledge
of the colony. TTW will groups in the right direction by adding
issues that were presented at the Convention: “I want you to think
about the issues that the states faced. How did they feel about
slavery? How did the small states feel about representation in
Congress? What was each states view on representation? Was
religion a factor? Should there be a president, king, parliament, or
congress?”
10. “I want you to complete your thoughts and get prepared for
class discussion. Organize the main ideas that you would like to
present to the Convention. ”
11. TTW end group discussion. “Ok, time is up. I would like to
begin the Convention, and I welcome all colonies to the
Constitutional Convention here in Philadelphia!”
Checking for
Understanding-
“Informal”
Assessment
1. TSW come together as a whole convention and discuss their
ideas for the American government (30 minutes): “I would like
to start by asking all colonies to have one speaker and tell us
where you are from.”
2. Each group will have the speaker tell what state they are
representing.
3. TTW start by asking the first question on the “creating a
government” worksheet and then go over other questions: “Do
we want to keep the articles of Confederation? Why or why not?
I would like to open the floor to our delegates. I encourage you to
pose all the benefits or disadvantages for America. Who would
like to speak first?”
4. Throughout discussion, TTW encourage debate and pose key
questions to start debates among the states’ delegates. “How
does your state feel about slavery? Do you believe slaves should
be represented in your state’s population? Who will make the
laws? How many representatives will each state get? Will every
state have the same number? What if a state has more people?
Shouldn't they have more of a say about a law affecting the
nation?” (Questions are pulled from the creating a government
worksheet.)
5. The discussion will last for thirty minutes: “The Convention
has to end. We are going to work together to modify the Articles
of Confederation to better suit our nation and the new principles.
Thank you all for your thoughts and feelings. You presented
great ideas that will help the future of our nation.” (Still in 1787
mindset.)
Instructional Closure
Content
Solidified
1. TSW share their group work and we will review the material.
Questions will be based off the Creating a Government
worksheet. “How did we feel about the Articles of Confederation?
Are we going to keep them in our government?”
2. TTW will call on different states to get their opinions. Their
answers will be based on the states’ thoughts during that era.
“Virginia, should we have a central government? What powers
should the central government have?”
3. “Georgia, what is your opinion about a central government?”
4. “Should we have a main ruler? What do you think, South
Carolina? Will he be a king?”
5. “New York, how can we determine how much power the main
ruler has?
6. “New Jersey, what if the main leader becomes tyrannical? How
can we modify our government so this main leader doesn’t have
all the power?”
7. “How should we structure Congress? Should it be based on
population? I want to hear from New Hampshire and
Pennsylvania.”
8. “North Carolina, should slaves be included in the population
count?”
9. “Delaware, should slaves be included in population count?”
10. “Is there any suggestion of how we can incorporate slaves in
population?” (open floor)
11. “Is there anything else you would like to see in our new
government proposal that will benefit us as
a nation?” (open floor)
12. “How can we work together to better our new nation?” (open
floor)
13. Content Solidified: “The Articles of Confederation were
replaced at the Constitutional Convention because they were too
weak and caused many conflicts between the states. Problems
with the limited power of the central government to collect taxes
from the States. In the Articles, there had to be a unanimous vote
between the states. Ultimately, all states had the power of the
veto. Many new principles needed to be addressed, including
slavery and Congressional representation. The Convention
allowed all states to have representation and pose their ideas. At
the Convention, the colonies were able to come to an agreement
about slavery with the 3/5 Compromise. This meant that 3/5 of the
slave population would be included in the count of the states.
Also, the Convention looked at the imports and exports of
America. The Commerce Compromise allowed the federal
government to tax imports but not exports.”
14. “Next we will look at how parts of the Virginia Plan was
implemented in the Constitution adopted on September 17, 1787.
The Virginia Plan was supported by Governor Edmund Randolph,
and presented by James Madison at the Convention. It called for a
bicameral legislature. The Senate would be elected from the
House. It proposed a judiciary system with a higher court to settle
large state disputes and the ability to override any other court.
Today, this is known as the Supreme Court. Because of his p role
in the Constitutional Convention, James Madison is known as the
Father of the Constitution.”
15. “Does anyone know how South Carolina played a role at the
Constitutional Convention?”
16. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, presented the Pinckney
Plan on the third full day of the Convention. He proposed to have
a Federal Judicial Court and a bicameral legislature. It was very
similar to the Virginia Plan. The legislature would be separated
between the House of Delegates and Congress. The House would
have one member for every thousand inhabitants of that state.
Even though the Pinckney plan was not adopted for the
Constitution, Pinckney’s ideas were used later in the Bill of
Rights.” Trial by jury, writ of habeous corpus, freedom the press
and freedom of religion.
17. “In late July of 1787, the Convention wrote a draft of the new
U.S. Constitution. The draft went through several committees
before the final document was created. On September 17, 1787,
39 delegates from twelve of the colonies signed the new
American Constitution. We can see how the founding fathers
created our newly established government. Although it has been
amended, it is still the document that governs the United States of
America.”
Independent Practice
“You Do”
1. TTW explain the homework. “I am passing out a “Government
Created” worksheet. I want you to do this at home. I want you to
think and write about the issues faced by the delegates. Explain
what actually happened at the Constitutional Convention. I want
you to use examples such as the Virginia Plan, Commerce
Compromise, Pinckney Plan, and the 3/5 Compromise. It will be
due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Are there any questions
about this assignment?”
2. NEXT DAY: TTW collect the homework. Class will go over
questions and solidify the material covered the day before.
Worksheet will be graded for completion.
Summative/ “Formal” Assessment
Assessment
1. PERFORMANCE TASK with rubric- Writing assignment in
class without using books or notes. Write a short essay explaining
how the Founding Fathers called together a national convention to
discuss the Articles of Confederation. Explain what issues the
delegates faced at the Convention in 1787. Remember to use
examples and key people from the Convention. Remember to
proofread! Don’t forget to check spelling and grammar!
Questions to Consider: What were some of the issues facing the
delegates? Who was responsible for the change? What role did
the South Carolina delegates play at the Convention? How did
the states attending the Convention differ? What types of plans
were proposed for the Constitution?
“Forgotten Founder” Guided Notes
Name:______________________
Date:_______________________
Please watch the video and fill in the missing key terms.
1. From the time _________________set foot in the Confederation Congress, he was one of the
three guys who wrote the rules. He was interested in:
a. How the Articles of Confederation worked
b. Why the Artices of Confederation didn’t seem to be working ,
c. How to improve the Articles of Confederation.
2. The Pinckney Draft that is presented to the Constitutional Convention is similar to the
________________ Plan presented by Edmund Randolph.
3. If you put ___________ ____________ _____________ side by side with the Constitution, there
are astonishing similarities.
4. We know virtually everything about the Constitutional Convention because of
_______________ ______________.
5. The three branches of government in Pinckney’s Plan were _____________, ____________, and
_________________.
6. After Pinckney presents his plan of the administrative branch, only the grand ____________
___________ is able to get the delegates of the Convention to talk again.
7. The annual speech that is made by the President to the legislature of what was happening in the
nation is called the ____________ ____ _____ _________ Address.
8. Under the Pinckney Plan the Legislature could ______________ or remove the President from
office.
9. To calculate the African American population for the lower house, Pinckney used the
________________. According to Pinckney, every _______ slaves would be counted as
_______ people.
10. A small Bill of Rights was a major part of Pinckney’s plan that was not included in the
Constitution. They included:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Trial by _____________
Writ of habeous ________
Freedom of the __________
Freedom of _____________
Answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Charles Pinckney
Virginia
Articles of Confederation
Madison’s notes
Legislative, judicial, administrative
Ben Franklin
State of the Union
Impeachment
3/5
3, 5
Bonus: Legislative, judicial, executive
CREATING A GOVERNMENT
Instructions: As a colony, you need to decide the needs of your people and what you’d
like to see in a national government. Keep in mind the information you know about your
colony as you answer these questions–size, economy, reasons for establishment, cultural
differences, etc.
A. Do we want to keep the Articles of Confederation? Why or why not? Do we want
to revise or throw them out entirely and start again? Why?
B. Do we want a strong central government? Why? What powers will the central
government have?
C. Do we want a leader? Should we call him a king? Why or why not? What should
we call him if it’s not a king? What if the leader gets too powerful? What should we
allow the leader to be able to do? How will we make sure he doesn’t get tyrannical?
D. *What about a group to make laws? Should it be the leader? A Congress–a group of
representatives from each state? How many people should make up Congress? How will
that number be determined? By size of state? Or same representatives for each state, no
matter the size?
E. If you decided to create a Congress based on the population of the states, answer this
question: if not, go on. Should children and women count as population even though they
probably won’t be allowed to vote? What about slaves? Are slaves considered
population?
F. Who will choose Congress? Who should we let vote? Everyone? Even people who
cannot read or write and may know nothing of politics? What if the people vote for an
evil leader?
GOVERNMENT CREATED
NAME:___________________________
Instructions: After having discussed what YOU would have done, let’s talk about what
actually happened.
1. Did we keep the Articles of Confederation? Why or why not?
2. Did we create a strong central government? Why? What powers does central
government have?
3. Did we establish a leader? Did we call him a king? Why or why not? What did we
call him if it’s not a king? What powers is the leader granted? What if he gets too
powerful? How do we make sure he doesn’t get tyrannical? BALANCE OF
POWER?
4. Explain the legislative branch of the government. How many houses are in he
legislative branch? How are they chosen? Who was allowed to vote? What are
their responsibilities?
The Constitutional Convention Essay
Writing assignment in class without using books or notes. Write a short essay explaining how
the Founding Fathers dismissed the Articles of Confederation and produced the United States
Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in 1887. Remember to use examples and key
people from the Convention. Remember to proof read! Don’t forget to check spelling and
grammar!
Questions to Consider:
What were some of the issues facing the delegates?
Who was responsible for the change?
What role did the South Carolina delegates play at the Convention?
What types of plans were proposed for the Constitution?
3 points
2 points
1 point
0 points
Covers topic in-depth
with details and
examples. Subject
knowledge is
excellent. Clearly
explains all cultural
differences. Evidence
of research.
Includes essential
information about the
topic but there are 1-2
factual errors. Minimal
research.
Content is minimal OR
there are several factual
errors.
No evidence of research
and limited
understanding of topic.
Demonstrate an
understanding of the
influence of the
Constitutional
Convention on the
American
government.
Covers topic in-depth
with details and
examples. Subject
knowledge is
excellent. Clearly
explains all cultural
differences. Evidence
of research.
Includes essential
information about the
topic but there are 1-2
factual errors. Minimal
research.
Content is minimal OR
there are several factual
errors. Little evidence of
research.
No evidence of research
and limited
understanding of topic.
The student will
create written work
that has a clear focus,
sufficient detail,
coherent organization
and correct use of the
conventions of
written Standard
American English.
Content is well
organized with a clear
focus with sufficient
detail. There is a
correct use of the
conventions of written
Standard American
English.
Content is somewhat
organized with some
detail. There are some
mistakes in spelling and
the written Standard
American English.
Facts included but no
clear or logical
organizational structure.
There are many mistakes
in spelling and the
conventions of written
Standard American
English.
No evidence of
organization and very few
facts. Excessive errors in
spelling and the
conventions of written
Standard American
English.
Demonstrate an
understanding of
South Carolina’s
representation at the
Constitutional.