ACTIVITY CARD
☞ Have the RECORDER write down your responses to the DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.
☞ Examine the TASK and complete the project to meet all of the EVALUATION CRITERIA.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Read Documents A and B out loud AS A GROUP.
Then, annotate each document individually. After annotating, discuss and answer
the discussion questions as a group. Then, complete the group task.
1. What were the Articles of Confederation and what powers did they grant
Congress? (1paragraph) (use your notes as well)
2. How many branches of government existed under the Articles of
Confederation?
3. Identify at least seven weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
4. After closely analyzing each weakness built in to the Articles of
Confederation, what conclusions can we draw about how our founding
fathers felt about governments and how much power governments should
have? EXPLAIN (1-2 paragraphs)
5. The Great Compromise provided for what type of Congress? Explain both
parts. What are they, and how would those 2 parts be represented and
elected? (1-2 paragraphs)
6. By how many votes did the Great Compromise pass? What does this tell us
about both how controversial it was? What does this tell us about how
divided our young nation was?
GROUP TASK Option #1: Create a children’s book that tells and teaches the
story of the Articles of Confederation and Great Compromise.
GROUP TASK EVALUATION CRITERIA:
ü The book has to have page numbers, illustrations and be in the format of a
children’s book.
-2 direct quotes
-An original title for the book
- Illustrations on every page
-Minimum of 8 pages, 4-5 sentences per page.
Document A
Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?
The Articles of Confederation established the first governmental structure
unifying the thirteen states that had fought in the American Revolution. They
went into effect on March 1, 1781 and lasted until March 4, 1789 when they
were replaced by the US Constitution. Why did the Articles of Confederation
only last eight years? In effect why did the Articles of Confederation fail?
Answer: The purpose of the Articles of Confederation was to create a
confederation of states whereby each state retained "its sovereignty,
freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right . . . not
. . . expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." In
other words, every state was as independent as possible with the United
States only responsible for the common defense, security of liberties, and
the general welfare. To this effect, the Articles were purposely written to
keep the national government as weak as possible. However, there were
many problems that soon became apparent as the Articles took effect.
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Following is a list of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation:
•
Each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size.
•
Congress had not have the power to tax.
•
Congress did not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate
commerce.
•
There was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by
Congress. In fact, the new government had no authority to enforce the
Articles of Confederation
•
There was no national court system.
•
Amendments to the Articles of Confederation required a unanimous
vote.
•
Laws required a 9/13 majority to pass in Congress.
Under the Articles of Confederation, states often argued amongst
themselves. They also refused to financially support the national
government. The national government was powerless to enforce any acts it
did pass. Some states began making agreements with foreign governments.
Most had their own military. Each state printed its own money. There was no
stable economy.
In 1786, Shays' Rebellion occurred in western Massachusetts as a protest to
rising debt and economic chaos. However, the national government was
unable to gather a combined military force amongst the states to help put
down the rebellion.
DOCUMENT B
July 16, 1787
A Great Compromise
July 16, 1987, began with a light breeze, a cloudless sky, and a spirit of
celebration. On that day, two hundred senators and representatives boarded a special
train for a journey to Philadelphia to celebrate a singular congressional anniversary.
Exactly two hundred years earlier, the framers of the U.S. Constitution, meeting at
Independence Hall, had reached a supremely important agreement. Their so-called
Great Compromise provided a dual system of congressional representation. In the
House of Representatives each state would be assigned a number of seats in
proportion to its population. In the Senate, all states would have the same number of
seats. Today, we take this arrangement for granted; in the wilting-hot summer of 1787,
it was a new idea.
In the weeks before July 16, 1787, the framers had made several important
decisions about the new government’s structure. They agreed the congress would
consist of senators AND representatives in the house that would be elected and voted
for by the people they represented.
By July 16, the convention had already set the minimum age for senators at thirty
and the term length at six years, as opposed to twenty-five for House members, with
two-year terms. James Madison explained that these distinctions, based on “the nature
of the senatorial trust, which requires greater extent of information and stability of
character,” would allow the Senate “to proceed with more coolness, with more system,
and with more wisdom than the popular[ly elected] branch.” When Sherman proposed
the compromise, Benjamin Franklin agreed that each state should have an equal vote in
the Senate in all matters—except those involving money. The number of
representatives in the House of Representatives would be based on the population of a
state.
The result of the Great Compromise was the government we have today. There
would be a legislative branch (congress) that would consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives. There would be an Executive Branch, which would consist of one
President, who would enforce and execute laws. The third branch would be a Supreme
Court, 12 judges nominated by the President but approved by the Congress. The
Supreme Court would interpret laws to make sure they were constitutional.
Over the Fourth of July holiday, delegates worked out a compromise plan that
sidetracked Franklin’s proposal. On July 16, the convention adopted the Great
Compromise by a heart-stopping margin of one vote. As the 1987 celebrants duly
noted, without that vote, there would likely have been no Constitution.
Reference Items:
Farrand, Max. The Framing of the Constitution of the United States. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1913. Chapter 7.
Rossiter, Clinton. 1787: The Grand Convention. New York: Macmillan, 1966. Chapter
10.