Directions: Please answer the following question in a well developed essay.
Were the Framers of the United States Constitution democratic reformers (simply attempting to
benefit the people of the newly formed republic) or were they only interested in preserving
their own economic interests?
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Read the article attached to the website
Use primary and secondary sources from the course
If you answer yes, you should address the following documents and key points:
 Look at yes argument in the reading linked to my website
 Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation
 Founding Fathers believed in republican principles
 They were influenced by Enlightenment ideas
 Washington represents the embodiment of the republican principles and refer to
Washington primary source packet
 The book Revolutionaries addresses many of these topics
 Refer to the Federalist paper arguments especially in Federalist
If you answer no, you should address the documents and key points:
 Look at the no argument in the reading linked to the website
 Strengths of Articles of Confederation
 Progressive Historian arguments appearing documents from group reading on Friday
10/11 especially Zinn (you can also access all of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the
United States online for free)
 The book Revolutionaries addresses many of these topics
 Negative view of Federalist 10 and 51
 Anti federalist Brutus 1 and 2