YOU CAN WIN $100 Cash Prize in Constitution Week Essay Contest
September 17th, 2012 marks the 225th Anniversary of the signing of our U.S. Constitution. To
commemorate this historic occasion, members of our Local Community* are supporting a Constitution
Week Essay Contest for junior high and high school students grades 7-12.
Cash Prizes will be awarded as follows: One Grand Prize: $100;
A First Prize: $75, Second Prize: $50, and a Third Prize: $25.00 will awarded for both Jr.
high (grades 7-8) and high school (grades 9-12).
Who is Eligible: Students, grades 7-12 who currently attend school in Vacaville, Dixon, or
Fairfield/Suisun.
Jr. High Contest Rules (Grades 7-8):
Jr. High Essay Topic: What are the blessings of Liberty we enjoy in the United States
because of our Constitution? How does the U.S. Constitution protect those liberties?
Give examples from the Constitution or its Amendments. (See suggested background readings
1 and 2 below.)
1. Essay must be 500 words or less.
2. Entry must be an original work (not plagiarized) or previously appeared in any medium. Entries
judged primarily on strength of the content (however, poor grammar, punctuation, spelling will not
help your chances.) Any quotations or copyrighted material used in the essay must be properly
identified in the text, MLA format.
3. Completed essays are to be submitted via e-mail to constitution225@gmail.com and must
include the following affidavit and information: “I certify that I am a student at ________ in the
_____grade and that I am the sole author of this submission. The affidavit page must also
include your full name, address, phone number and email address if possible. (You can
copy and paste the sentence above) Include your teacher’s name and email address if you are
earning extra credit for entering the contest. Winners will be notified in writing during Constitution
Week, Sept. 17-23rd.
4. Deadline: All entries must be submitted by midnight, September 14th, 2012.
5. Entries not meeting these submission guidelines will be automatically disqualified.
6. Results are the sole discretion of the judges. No entry fee is required.
Suggested Background Reading #1
In 1607 the first successful colony, Jamestown, was founded in Virginia. Over the next hundred and fifty years,
colonies sprang up all along the eastern coast of what is now the United States. The colonists considered
themselves loyal English subjects following the laws and with the rights of all English men and women;
however they were not the same. Their experiences were different. England had kept hands off the
developing trade as the colonists had struggled to survive and to carve a living from the land in their individual
colonies. They were also different because the noble classes of Europe did not come to the colonies, except
as representatives of the King. Essentially they were considered part of the middle class due to land
ownership. The other large groups of people who also lived in the colonies were the Indian tribes and the
slaves brought from Africa. As the colonies grew in population and prospered, England wanted to exert more
control over the colonies through taxes and imposing restrictions on trade. This began to anger the colonists
and by the later half of the 1700’s many in the colonies began to refer to themselves as ‘Americans’, rather
than as Englishmen.
By 1776 relations had deteriorated to the point that the 13 American Colonies had actually been fighting with
the British for over a year. Hopes for a peaceful resolution to their grievances were nonexistent. A Continental
Congress was called, composed of representatives from the colonies. This Congress appointed a Committee
of Five—including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin—to draft a document which stated
the causes which compelled the Colonies to separate from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson composed the
initial draft and submitted it to the Congress on June 28, 1776. On July 2, Congress voted for independence,
and two days later, on July 4th, after numerous edits, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of
Independence by unanimous vote.
The principles expressed in this declaration helped unify the Colonies in their quest for freedom and liberty
during the Revolutionary War with Britain. The Constitution of the United States sets forth the framework
for a government which our Founders hoped would preserve the rights and principals set forth in the
Declaration of Independence.
Extract from the “Declaration of Independence” July 4, 1776
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient
causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the
necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of
an absolute Tyranny over these States”. . . .
Background Reading #2: Following the Revolutionary War with Great Britain, the leaders of this
new country tried at all costs to avoid creating form of government which would again impose tyranny
upon the people. Their first attempt, The Articles of Confederation, was a weak agreement between
the Thirteen Colonies. From the very beginning it was ineffective. There was much chaos and unrest
in the fledging country. Had the War been fought in vain? In May of 1787 a Constitutional
Convention was called in Philadelphia. Fifty-five delegates from twelve states attended. They quickly
scrapped the Articles of Confederation and after four months of deliberation, on September 17 th, 1987
they adopted a new framework of government, The Constitution of the United States of America.
This year we proudly celebrate the 225th Anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United
States of America.
Preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America
Signed September 17, 1787
“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 Preamble is the introduction to the U.S. Constitution. Please review the entire U.S.
Constitution and Amendments as you write your essay.
Constitution Essay Rubric: Criteria for Judging Essays
Topic: What are the blessings of Liberty we enjoy in the United States because of our
Constitution? How does the U.S. Constitution protect those liberties? Give examples from
the Constitution or its Amendments
1
Name several “Blessings of Liberty”. These may include: Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of
Happiness. Freedoms of Speech, right to bear arms, Freedom of Religion, Press,
Assembly, to petition our government against grievances, right to a speedy trial, etc. .or …
simply the freedom to live your life as YOU see fit without interference from the
government.
2
Illustrate ways the Constitution protects those liberties. This may include: checks and
balances between the 3 branches of government; judicial review; elections, the power of the
vote of the people, consent of the governed. Site particular Article or Amendment which
addresses that specifically.
3
Essay Development: Introduction, body, and conclusion; sentence structure; topic sentences
4
Grammar and spelling
*Supporters of the Constitution Week Essay Contest include: The Reporter, Independent Voice, Military Officers
Association of America-Solano Chapter, Vaca Valley Tea Party.