United States History and Government

Resource Guide

I

UNITED STATES HISTORY

AND GOVERNMENT

RESOURCE GUIDE

(Work in Progress - Some Documents Presented Pending Copyright Permission)

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Jerry Cammarata Irving S. Hamer, Jr.

Sandra E. Lerner Ninfa Segarra Terri Thomson Members

William C. Thompson, Jr.

President

Irene H. Impellizzeri Vice President

Harold O. Levy Chancel/or

Andrea Alexander Spiridon Ardavanis Student Advisory Members

Topic 15: Immigration (1850-1920) and Reactions to the "New" Immigration

325

'FABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgments

Preface

II

Topic 1: Physical/Cultural Setting in the Americas 1

Topic 2: Historical Foundations of American Society 16

Topic 3: The Revolutionary War and the Declaration ofIndependence 37

Topic 4: The New York State Constitution 48

Topic 5: The Articles of Confederation 71

Topic 6: The Constitutional Convention 88

Topic 7: The Bill of Rights, Separation of Power and Basic Constitutional Principles 101

Topic 8: Implementing New Constitutional Principles: Domestic and Foreign Policy 119

Topic 9: Constitutional Stress and Crisis 144

Topic 10: Territorial Expansion

225

Topic 11: The Constitution in Jeopardy - The American Civil War

248

Topic 12: Reconstruction After the Civil War

260

Topic 13: The Rise of American Business (1865-1920)

283

Topic 14: The Impact ofIndustrialization: Labor's Response to Economic Change and the Agrarian Response to Economic Change

306

Topic 16: The Frontier (1850-1890)

339

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The United States History and Government 1 Resource Guide was initiated under the aegis of the Chief Executive for School Programs and Support Services and continued under the Executive Director of the Division of Instructional Support and the Director of Office of Multicultural Education and Social Studies.

The consultant for the Resource Guide was Professor David Jaffee, Simon H. Rifkind Center for the Humanities, City College of the City University of New York.

The writers were: Geoffrey Cabat, Assistant Principal, Social Studies, Seward Park High School; Monique A. Darrisaw, Staff Developer, Office of the Superintendent of Queens High Schools; Jorge Gonzalez, Social Studies Teacher, Susan E. Wagner High School; Laura Miller, Staff Developer, Office of the Superintendent of Manhattan High Schools; Raj Nanda, Assistant Principal, Social Studies, Martin Luther King, Jr. High School; Philip Panaritis, Staff Developer, Office of the Superintendent of Bronx High Schools; Joseph Zaza, Assistant Principal, Social Studies, New Utrecht High School

Special thanks to Barbara Gurr and Burt Posner from the Office of School Programs and Support Services for their help in preparing this document.

Thank you to Howard Seretan of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History for providing lessons and materials for this guide.

The overall production ofthis publication was supervised by Dr. Anthony Elia, Assistant Principal, Social Studies, Walton High School. The book was edited by Ellen Victor, Assistant Principal, English, High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology; Elaine Weiss, Assistant Principal, English, South Shore High School; and Patricia Friedman, Assistant Principal, English, Walton High School.

PREFACE

The New York City Board of Education is committed to higher expectations for all. The United States History and Government Resource Guide provides strategies for raising standards. The New York State content standards for social studies are:

1. The History of the United States and New York;

2. World History;

3. Geography;

4. Economics; and

5. Civics, Citizenship, and Government.

This resource guide incorporates these standards as well as English Language Arts Performance Standards, i.e.,

I. Reading;

2. Writing;

3. Speaking, Listening, and Viewing;

4. Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language;

5. Literature;

6. Public Documents; and

7. Functional Documents.

The English Language Arts Standards are indicated in this guide by notations in the strategies, for example, "(Standard El a)," "(Standard El b)," etc.

By combining social studies standards with "English Language Arts Performance Standards," we are enhancing what Dennie Palmer Wolf of the Harvard Graduate School of Education calls "the opportunity to learn." According to Wolf, the opportunity to learn is "the level of academic demand and student support as evident in assignments,

directions, rubrics, comments and questions to students" (Presentation for the Institute for Learning, Pittsburgh, P A., August 5, 1998). The strategies in this resource guide were developed with the intention of not only raising standards in social studies but also in English language arts. Indeed, a good social studies lesson must include literacy assignments.

The challenge facing us is to ensure that all students perform at their highest level. The United States History and Government Resource Guide will aid social studies teachers in achieving this goal by offering for each ofthel6 topics:

• Suggested aims;

• Timelines;

• Key vocabulary terms;

• Strategies and documents;

• Sample exam questions;

• Additional activities.

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Suggested activities incorporate methodologies requiring cooperative learning; reading, writing, speaking and listening skills; researching; and making inferences and drawing conclusions. The sample exam questions utilize the two types of essays that will appear on the "new" United States History and Government Regents Examinations, i.e., document based questions and thematic essays.

We welcome your use of this guide. Please forward comments or suggestions to:

This document follows the new New York State United States History and Government curriculum.

Monique A. Darrisaw

Office of Multicultural Education and Social Studies 131 Livingston Street Room 601

Brooklyn, NY 11201

111

Topic 1: The Physical/Cultural Setting in the Americas

1. Suggested Aims:

• How does geography affect American society?

• Was westward expansion necessary for the survival of the United States?

• How did climate influence the agriculture of the United States?

• How do climatic hazards influence American lifestyles?

1519 1520 1565 1607 1609

1776 1781 1803 1845 1848 1853

1959

2. Timeline

Events

• 1519- Conquest of Aztecs occurs.

• 1520- Spanish Texas is established.

• 1565- Saint Augustine is founded.

• 1607 - Jamestown is established.

• 1609- Santa Fe is founded.

• 1776- Colonies declare independence from Britain.

• 1781-States officially become the United States of America.

• 1803-Louisiana is purchased.

• 1845- Texas is admitted to the union.

• 1848- The Mexican Cession takes place.

• 1853- Gadsden Purchase occurs.

• 1959- Alaska and Hawaii admitted as the 49th and so" states.

• Have students brainstorm the word "geography" and create a semantic map on the board based on the students' responses.

3. Key Vocabulary Words

agriculture, climate, vegetation, Great Plains, delta, humid subtropical, steppe, desert, subarctic, humid continental, marine climate, temperate climate

4. Strategies and Documents

• Have students determine the importance of geography on the United States.

• Distribute Documents 1 to 10 and inform students that they deal with the geography of the United States.

1

• Divide the class into cooperative learning groups and have groups prepare illustrated brochures describing some of the natural resources of the United States. Each group must research, write, and illustrate the brochures. Each group should include maps locating each resource as well as a paragraph explaining how and where it is used. Have each group present its brochure to the class. (Standard E2a)

• Draw a map: Making a physical map of the United States

Have students locate topographical features, using their textbook and any atlas as guides. Students should initially work in pencil. Completed maps should include a key and standard coloring for elevation. Have students write a procedure report of their activity. (Standard E2d)

• Read and Compare Maps:

Have students identify the different climates of the United States, describe the main feature of each, identify the states located in each climate region, and report their findings to the class in oral reports. (Standard E3c)

2

Document 1: United States: Physical

Unit~d St ahs : Physi cal Cop\lriQht (C) 1999. HouQhton Mifflin Comoan\l. All riQhts r~nrVE'd

From: http;/ /www.eduplace.comlss/ssmaps/usphysical. htl

3

Continued on next page

Document 2: Physiographic Provinces of the United States

M.jor Prwindt CIa...am.lia
DiWi .....
Laurentian Superior An uplaDd wilh altlludes up 10 2.000 feel, but wilhout much local reo
Upland Upland lie!; drainage irregular; many laltes; Dtrnds far north in Canada
around both sides of Hudson Bay.
Continental Submarine plain "opine seaward to deplh of about 600 f ee t; th. lUi).
Sh.1f mCJed pan of th< CoasIaI Plain.
Atlantic Coastal Broad plain riIlng inland; shores mostly sandy beadles back<d by estu-
Plain Plain aria and marshes; mud &au at mouth of Mississippi RIYer; _ lime-
stOM bl .... on W<II caut of Florida; inland ridca parallel the COUI:
altitndes I ... than 500 leet; alone Atlantic COlSt the sunac. Ilopes nonh·
east and northern valleys arc tidal inl.u.
Piedmonl Rolline upland; altiludn 500 10 2.000 1 ee 1 in the south; surface slopes
Pnnince northnsl (like the Coastal Plain) and altitudn at the north arc below
500 I ee r,
Blue RidS' East<mmoo ridec of Ih. AppalaChian Highlands; altitudes up to 5,000
Province feet.
Valley and Ridec Parallel nll.y. and mountaino ... riden: altiludes mOltly betw een 1,000
Province and ',000 ftct; lo .... r 10 the north like the Coaslal Plain and Pi<dmonl
provinces.
Appalachian
Hichlands Appaladlian Plaleau; IUrface mOltly 2.000 to '.000 feel; siopes .... t; d ee ply incistd by
PlalUUs winding stfClm nneys; considerable local re lid; hillsides Sleep.
N.., En,land MOldy hilly upland with altiludes below 1.500 feel; locally mounlainous
Province with altlludes abo .. 5,000 teet: coasl irrcsular and rocky.
Adirondack )founlains rising 10 morc than 5,000 I«L
Province
SL Lawrence Rolling lowland with altiludn below 500 feet.
Vaney
Central VUt plain, 500 10 2.000 1«1; the agricullural heart 01 the country.
Lowland
Interior Great Plains Wesl<m exlension of ill. Cenlral Lowland rising westward from 2.000
Plains Province 10 5,000 feet: se miarid.
Inlmor Low Pial ..... ; .... thaD 1,000 f ee l; roUing uplandl with moderale reli.1.
Pial .....
Oark Rolling uplaDd; mootly aboY< 1.000 IttL
Int<rior Plateaus
HiCbland. Ouacltita Lik. the Vall.y and Ridge Province; a1litud., 500 10 2.000 ftcL
Province 4

Soulhern Rucky A series of mountain ranges and Intermontane basins. mostly trending
~Iountaills north; high part of the ccnrinental dtvtde: altitudes 5.000 to 1-4.000 feet.
Wyoming Elevated semiarid basins; isolated 10\\' mountains: altitudes mostly be-
Basin tween 5.000 and i.ooo feet.
Rocky
Mountlin ~liddle Roeky An assortment of different kinds of mountains with differing trends and
Syslem ;\Iounwns semiarid intermontane basins; features here resemble those of the neigh-
boriog prcvinces; altitudes mostly 5,000 10 about 12,000 feet.
Northern Rocky Linear blocky mountains and basins in the east; highly irregular granitic
~Iowuain. mountains without linear trends in the southwest; altitudes mostly be-
Iween 4.000 and 7.000 feel.
Colorado Highest plateaus in the country; surface mostly above 5.000 feel and lip
Plaleau to ll,OOO feet; cUllons; semiarid.
Basin and Range Mostly elongate. blocky mountains separated by desert basins and trend-
Intermontane Province ing north; pattern more irregular in the south; altiludes from below
Plateaus sea level (Dealh Valley. Sallon Sea) 10 more than 12.000 feet. bUI relief
between mountains and adjoining basins generally no more than about
5,000 feet; most basins in the north are without exterior drainage.
Columbia MOItly a plateau of lava Hows: allitudes mostly below 5.000 (eel; semi-
Plateau arid but crossed by two major ri,,·cn. the Columbia and Snake.
Cascade·Sierra Northerly trending mountains; Cascades a series of volcanos; Sierra xe-
Nevada vada a blocky mass of gnnite with sleep eastern slope and long gentle
western slope; altitudes up to 14.000 feet: western slopes humid. eastern
Pacific slopes semiarid.
Mountain Pacific Border Coastal Ranges with altitudes monly below 2.000 Ieet and separated
S~stem Province from the high Cascade- Sierra xevada Province b)- troughs less than 500
feet in altitude.
Lower California Northern end of the gr.:anitic ridge forming (he Lower California Penin-
Province sula.
Southe3Stern Rugged coastal mountains up to 9.000 teet in altitude: glaciers. fjords.
Coast Mountains
Glaciered Coastal Mountains up to 20.000 feet in anuude: 5.000 square miles of
Coast glaciers; perpetual snow above 2,500 feet.
South-cenlral Mountain ranges a~d troughs in :ltCS curving around the Gulf of Alaska;
Alaska altitudes up 10 20.000 feel.
Alaska Peninsula Chiefly a chain of volcanos; altitudes mostly less than 6.000 feet except at
and Aleutian the north; bordered on the south by the Aleutian trough. an oceanic
Islands trench 20.000 feel deep.
Alaska
Interior Moslly (he Yukon River valley between Alaska Range on the south and
Alaska Brooks Range on the north; deltaic ft:11 at the we$[; mostly dissected up.
land in the east with uplands 1.000 to 2.000 feel higher than the rivers. From; Charles Hunt, Physiography of the United States, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1967, pp. 4-5.

5

Document 3: Landform Map

From: Charles Hunt, Physiography of the United States, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1967, p. 48.

6

Document 4: Major Climatic Regions of North America

FIGURE 1-12 Major ctrmaric regions of North America ere (I) humid subtropic a I; (2) humid continental wirh wunn summers: {3} humhJ contineutal wi,h "O~I summers: (4) S!eppe: (5) desen: {6) rneduerranean, or dry summer subtrupicul; (7) marine W.c.sl cuasr; (8) subarctic: (\I) lun~r.: (10) ire cup; alld (' I) ulldifferen,ia'eo highland, (afier G reon T Tre won h. _ An hut H_ Robinson, and Edwin H. Hammond, £I~ c-mlC'nl,) ()} CeographJ'. 5th co. [New Yur"k: Mt.:Gn~w~llill Buo~ Company,

From; Tom L. Knight, Regional Geography of the United States and Canada. 2nd edition. Upper SaddJe River, NJ: Prentice Hall 1997, p.19.

7

-

Document 5: Climate Hazards

Areos ",bleC! to hurncones

Areos subjecr 10 lo,,,,,d,,,,.

Average number of days per ye Or Wl,h <!Mse fog

.o.v"!roge IiUmoer of day, per Y'"'' !>JbJect to hod

Average number of clOY' per yeor 'Nlln eiectnc stcerns

figUl-e 1.4 C /l'mallc hazards, Ruled or I) lack U'T(UU in dicate iuhere hazard is greatest,' flippled aT~as intermediate; while oretlS sligru,

From: Charles B. Hunt, Plwsiographv oftbe United States. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1967, p. 61.

8

-

Decument 6: Climate Conditions of the United Stales

Average annual Iempercture

Average minimYm lemperch,l.re

Frost-fr •• penod, overo<)e lenQIM (days)

AveroQ" annLJOI ~Ioll (inches)

F,oSI penetrction, overQg" depth (iru:~)

A."etoge number of cteor doy5

Figure 4.2 Climlltic conditions in the United. StllteS. (Dllla from U.S.D.A.)

From: Charles B. Hunt, Plwsiographv of the United Slates, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1967, p. 59.

9

Document 7: Major Types of Land Use in the United States

• •

· -.. ,-

m _ .. - ......

IlI!ilI F:ure 9,5 Major types of land use in the United States. (After U.S.D.A.) Th:

Central Lowland includes the corn belt and mOSI 0/ Ih~ wheal areas. Althaug the plains wes! Of Ihe JOOlh m~ridiaTl (!r~ semiarid, much of tha; area produces wheal. II also produces dust,

0_

From; Charles B. Hunt PhYsiogTaphv of the United States, San Francisco: W, H. Freeman and Company, 1967. p, J2 L

10

DocumentS: Natural. Vegetation in the United States

"'QOAr-MOlL(I(lII,~,.,. ~~ ~ ~~ _'1I'I11t1111; __ .[ETI]L

_.. •••• • __ 0

,,_ ... e:iR

"'~~I1'ItI0~ .PJ

OW'~~,~ [ffiilC

~ .... ~~

~~~ . . __ .E3P~

~~~ ... uIt ~ •••••• Dp ...

~II~~'" """ •• ~ .~_PJ.

,~~~~ w,:::=:_J'sIDvt ~~~~--

O-;.....pIUIT __ ~ .. _ ----

OM.""'" ~ E OF"

c;,,':.~!-~~~ __

1.0,·W~·~~~~~~:mpl

1I&M(j.IW'II'(I,...,~~,r.ao61I_1111

""

DE~~~l ::;::;~::~~ 1m DS

TALL GiiRASS -~~ ~ rc

SHORT ""A.S ~ Cl SG

SA6[ 8RU5H ~ __ .Qse

OCSERT_SS 1ITll ""

C"R[OSOT'E BUSH_, ~ CfJ

Q'l,JNtH GAASS rrr1 B6

GRE.'""'.000 .8.

o

o .... :~~oI'QIIIP)

~=~~. .O

From: Charles B. Hunt, Physiography oflhe United States. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company. 1967, p. 102.

11

Document 9: Rainfall in tbe United States

Rainfall: U_S.

~~-~~~ ~~~

... -... ... ~ • .I,r,.

A ..... t'rage Annu" Pre-elplt.tton (Ioche-w.}

D10mlMs D,o-leo 020-30 g:J<J-.a

IJIllIlIID .O~50 III 50-100

_ 100 andiQVftr

From: Martin Greenwald Associates, Inc., Maps on File, New York; Facts on File, 1998 p. Ht002.

12

Document 10; Coal Field in the United States

Coal Fields: U.S.

• Bituminous (.001) La S.u,bbiturn.inous Coat

tr::{~ Ugnit~

~; ta.tlo.u:"Ap~('ml (~~inf"'''.f:.c.o'l''~I,.·IItiOl'l

From: Martin Greenwald Associates. Inc .. Maps on File. Ne« York: Facts 011 File. 1<)<)8. p. 10003.

13

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Throughout American history, geographic factors often playa major role in the United States' historical, political, social, and economic development.

5. Crosswalk

The American Nation, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston pp. 50-61 & pp. 66-93

The Americans, McDougal Littell

pp. 36- 61 & pp. 64- 82

6. Sample Test Questions

Thematic Essay

Theme: Places and Regions

Task:

• Identify a region of the United States.

• Explain a geographic factor in that region.

• Discuss how the factor has had both a positive and a negative effect on the historical, political, social, or economic development of the region.

Suggestion

You may use any geographic factors from your study of United States history. Some suggestions you might wish to consider include: location, mountain range, plains, river system, and desert.

You are not limited to these suggestions

Guidelines

In your essay be sure to:

• Address all aspects of the Task.

• Analyze, evaluate, or compare and/or contrast issues and events wherever possible.

14

15

• Fully support the theme of the essay with relevant facts, examples, and details.

• Write a well-developed essay consistently demonstrates a logical and clear plan of organization.

• Introduce the theme by establishing a framework that is beyond a simple restatement of the Task.

• Conclude your essay with a strong summation of the theme.

•

7. Additional Strategies and projects

• Read and compare maps: refer students to a u.s physical map. Have students discuss

and answer the following:

a. What is the dominant feature of the land in the United States?

b. Where are the plains located?

c. Where are the mountains located?

d. Identify the significant feature of the U.S. river system and its effect on that area.

e. What conclusions can you make about the influence of geography on the development of the United States? (Standards E2a and 2t)

• Survival Game: Students imagine themselves as pioneers moving to the frontier.

Students are to select items that they would need to survive the move. Students make five journal entries detailing their journey to the west. (Standard E2t)

TOPIC 2: Historical Foundations of American Society

1. Suggested Aims:

• Was the American Revolution inevitable?

• Was the British role more harmful or helpful in the political and economic growth of the

American colonies?

• Were American colonial leaders more interested in independence or liberation?

• Was colonial America built on racism and oppression?

• How could colonial American leaders reconcile ideals of freedom and liberty with the

practices of slavery and intolerance?

• To what extent were the American colonists ready for self government?

• Was the colonial American settler a "new man"?

• To what extent was the Enlightenment responsible for the American Revolution?

• Did the political practices of the American colonies embody democratic principles?

1620

1646

1672

1698

1724

1750

1776

2. Timeline

1619: House of Burgesses is established (VA). 1620: Mayflower Compact is signed.

1639: Fundamental Orders of Connecticut is issued. 1649: Maryland Toleration Act is passed.

1654: Hispanic Jews arrive in Dutch NY.

1675: King Philip's War begins.

1688: Quakers protest slavery (PA).

1689: English Bill of Rights is issued.

1690: Locke publishes Treatises on Government. 1692: Salem, Massachusetts Witch Hunt occurs.

1732: Franklin publishes "Poor Richard's Almanack." 1735: Zenger trial (NY) begins.

1739: Slave Revolt in South Carolina occurs. 1748: Montesquieu publishes the Spirit of Laws. 1754: French and Indian War begins.

1762: Rousseau publishes the Social Contract. 1763: Pontiac's Rebellion begins.

1765: Stamp Act is passed.

1776: Declaration of Independence is signed

16

3. Key vocabulary words

aristocrat, Burgesses, colonial charters, deism, delegate, direct democracy, enforceable contracts, Enlightenment, habeas corpus, indentured servant, Magna Carta, nationalism, natural rights, optimism, patriot, Puritan, Quaker, republican, salutary neglect, secular, separation of powers, social contract, social mobility, town meeting, triangular trade, tyranny, unalienable rights, universal suffrage, Zenger Case

4. Strategies and Documents

• Brainstorm the phrase "People of Colonial America" and create a semantic map of the results, e.g., famous people, races, countries of origin, characteristics, occupations, etc.

• Based on the results above and students' prior knowledge of U.S. history, ask them to describe the People of Colonial America, i.e., Who were they? How did they get here? How did they survive? What made them different than other peoples of the world?

• Based on these results, have students compare and contrast the people of colonial America with tocIay's Americans. What do they have in common? How are they different?

• Ask students to brainstorm a list of other multiethnic, multiracial, multilinguistic, ID.mti~yJtaJr31 societies in the world 300 years ago? Today? List student responses on the bOyd mId §upplsmentlclilfify a§ needed.

Cooperative Learning Activities

• Divide the class into groups of four and distribute sets of four-eight DBQ documents to each group. Assign the following group task(s):

A. Identify and summarize the main idea of each document.

B. Group the documents into categories--e.g.: -a primary or secondary source?,

-topic: govemment?coloniallife? ... colonial population?

-primarily fact or opinion?,

-similar or dissimilar point of view or main idea?

C. For each document, generate group answers to a set of reader response cues, e.g.,: -question: Create pertinent questions about the document-Who? What? When?, Where? How? Why?;

-prediction: What will happen next? What will the outcome be? Who will agree or disagree? Why?;

-clarification: What else do we need to know? How does it compare with the other documents? Which curriculum topics or concepts does it pertain to? Why?

• Debriefing: Groups present and defend their findings.

• Practice writing paraphrases of a major idea from one or more of the sample document.

Exchange and evaluate examples of student work withinlbetween groups.

• Practice writing topic sentences with transitional words. Compare and evaluate copies of exemplary student work [benchmarks].

• Practice highlighting directions and blocking-out essays. Exchange and evaluate student work withinlbetween groups.

17

• Practice writing thesis statements and/or introductory paragraphs for the sample DBQ essay question based on one or more of the documents. Exchange and evaluate student work withinlbetween groups.

• Practice reading one or two documents and answering reading comprehension questions, e.g., the author would support?, the best title?, the main idea?, most nearly means?, etc.

• Practice reading one or two documents and responding to the cue questions: Who? What?

When? Where? How? and Why?

• Model the document-analysis process with a sample DBQ question and document:

"Think-Aloud" (explain what you know (who? when? why? etc.) and what you need to know).

• Distribute one set of documents per group and a Think- (individually)- Pair (as a group)Share (report out to class) worksheet with analysis questions, e.g., two key words?, what else we need to know?, agree or disagree?, etc.

• Distribute a different set ofdocuments to each group, and when each group completes its task (worksheet), one student from each group will move to another group, present its document and explain how his/her group answered the worksheet questions.

• Distribute the same 4-8 DBQ documents to all groups, Skim each document and group into one or more categories, e.g., primary/secondary sources, pro/con, cause/effect, fact/opinion, similar/dissimilar, yes/no/maybe, etc. Groups present and defend their decisions.

Writing Assignments:

A. Write a new title or caption that expresses the main idea of each document.

B. Block out major ideas; block out at least two details that elaborate on or support each concept; and, write two or three sentences that best incorporate these important ideas.

C. Analyze and evaluate one or more documents by developing a reader response outline where one column lists four or five pertinent concepts, arguments, ideas, people, events or short direct quotes from the document(s); while columns to the right could be entitled: "Enlightenment Ideals", "British Political Traditions", "Colonial Developments", "Causes and Effects", or "Who Would FavorlWho Would Oppose",-adapted from Global History Curriculum Guide. Second Semester. Theme IV, New York: Board of Education, 1982, pp. 40 &42.

D. For each document, develop individual and group answers to a set of essay writing prompts, e.g.:

• enumeration: to begin with, next, then, most important, for example, also, finally;

• comparison: however, but, unless, although, as well as, not only, on the other hand, either/or, yet;

• cause-effect: as a result, because, since, this led to, if it hadn't been for, so that, thus, consequently.

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E. Use traditional library and/or electronic library resources to prepare and present an oral report on the origin of a place name in the New York City area that dates from the colonial era. Possible assignments include:

• Native American: Manhattan, Jamaica, Mosholu, Rockaway, Montauk, Mamaroneck, Piscataway, Castle Hill, Canarsie;

• Dutch: Brooklyn, Staten, Broncks (Danish), New Utrecht, Flushing, Yonkers, Harlem, Spuyten Duyvil, Bushwick, Gansevoort, Van Cortlandt, Tappan Zee, Catskill,

• French: DeLancey, New Rochelle, Bayonne, Bayard.

F. Use World Wide WebllNTERNET computer links to prepare and present an 1- search project/biographical report on a prominent Native American leader from the colonial era (Powhatan, Pontiac, King Philip [Metacom], Squanto, Pocahantas, Joseph Brant, Red Jacket);

or

on the career of a prominent African-American from colonial times (Benjamin Bannecker, Phillis Wheatley, Gustavas Vasa, Tituba);

or

on the career of a prominent American colonial leader (Oglethorpe, Calvert, Penn, Franklin, William Johnson, Pastorius, Zenger, Bradford, John Smith, Morris family);

or

on an event or idea from British political tradition that impacted

colonial American political development (Magna Carta, Glorious Revolution, Cromwell, English Bill of Rights, habeas corpus, bi-cameral);

or

on a prominent Enlightenment thinker admired in America (Voltaire, Burke, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau);

or

on a prominent adversary of colonial America (Champlain, Nat Bacon, Jacob Leisler, Montcalm);

or

on a prominent American institution founded in the colonial era (Columbia, Harvard, Yale, town meeting, turnpikes, Congregational Church, public library, NY Stock Exchange, militia, public schools);

or

on the evolution and variation of slavery in Chesapeake, South Carolina and Georgia, lower Mississippi Valley, middle colonies, and the North;

or

on slave resistance and slave revolts;

or

on the influence of Africa and African-American culture on colonial cultures.

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Students will illustrate oral reports with graphics (charts, photographs, drawings,

maps, etc.) downloaded from www and presented via one or more electronic media technology-e.g.: CD-ROM display, overhead transparencies, computer-generated posters or banners, selected film/video excerpts or an original CD-ROM/videotape presentation. (Standard E2a)

G. Research and present a historical research report on the principles, leadership and historical significance of a religious reform movement that originated in Europe and then took root in America during the period of the Enlightenment era, e.g., Great Awakeners, Quakers, Masonic Order or the Moravian Brethren. (Standard E2a)

• Create a Venn Diagram or side-by-side chart that compare and contrasts the beliefs and practices of this movement with those of another religious reform movement from world or American history, e.g., Jesuits in Latin America, Lutherans in Northern Europe, Presbyterians in Scotland and America, Puritans in England and America, Mormans, Shakers or Mennonites in America, Taiping in China, Dukhobory in Czarist Russia, Hasidics in Eastern Europe and Europe, Mahdists in Sudan and West Africa, Sikhs in India, evangelical Christians in North and South America.

H. Write a reflective essay explaining why you agree and/or disagree with the deist beliefs of Franklin, Adams, Washington, Jefferson and other prominent Enlightenment American colonial leaders. (Standard E2f)

1. Working individually, in cooperative learning groups, and finally as a whole class, students will produce a brief historical account that explains the origins of the American Revolution for a fourth grade social studies textbook. This account must be written at 4th grade reading level (min. length: 150 words, max. length: 200 words). Students revise individual, group and class drafts as needed in peer evaluation teams. (Standard E2c)

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Document 1: The Mayflower Compact, 1620

"Leaving Plymouth (England) on the overburdened Mayflower, the plucky band of Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic. After severe storms and much seasickness, they sighted the Cape Cod coast of Massachusetts, far to the north of the site to which they had been granted patent privileges by the Virginia company. The absence of valid rights in the Plymouth area, so William Bradford recorded, caused 'some of the strangers amongst them' to utter 'discontented and mutinous speeches' to the effect that when they 'came ashore they would use their own liberty; for none had the power to command them, the patent they had being for Virginia, and not for New England ... ' In an effort to hold the tiny band together, the leaders persuaded fortyone male passengers to sign a solemn pledge known as the Mayflower Compact:

'In the name of God, amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, et al., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November, in the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland, the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620.'"

From: The Federal and State Constitutions, ed. B.P. Moore, (2nd ed., 1878), Pt. I, p. 931. Quoted in The American Spirit: United States History As Seen By Contemporaries, ed., Thomas A. Bailey, Boston: D.C. Heath and Co., 1963, p. 26.

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"The place where we live is a wilderness wood, Where grass is much wanting that's fruitful and good; Our mountains and hills and our valleys below,

Being commonly covered with ice and with snow; And when the northwest wind with violence blows, Then every man pulls his cap over his nose;

But if any's so hardy and will it withstand,

He forfeits a finger, a foot or a hand.

But when the Spring opens we then take the hoe, And make the ground ready to plant and to sow; Our corn being planted and seed being sown, The worms destroy much before it is grown;

And when it is growing, some spoil there is made By birds and by squirrels that pluck up the blade; And when it is come to full corn in the ear,

It is often destroyed by raccoon and by deer ... If fresh meat be wanting to fill up our dish,

We have carrots and turnips as much as we wish; And if there's a mind for a delicate dish

We repair to the clam-banks, and there we catch fish .

. . . We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon, If it were not for pumpkins we should be undone!

... We can make liquor to sweeten our lips,

Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips. But you whom the Lord intends hither to bring, Forsake not the honey for fear of the sting,

But bring both a quiet and contented mind,

And all needful blessings you surely will find."

Document 2: "Forefathers' Song", Plymouth Colony, c.1630

From: Annals of America, Vol. 1; Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed., in Life in the American Colonies: Daily Lifestyles of the Early Settlers, Carlisle, MA: Discovery Enterprises, Ltd., 1995, p. 13.

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Document 3: The Foundations of Education: "Satan Inspires a School System" (1647)

"It being one chief project of the old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use oftongues, ... that learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the church and the commonwealth, the Lord assisting in our endeavors-

It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number 50 householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their own town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to read and write, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials [proceedings] of the town shall appoint; provided, those that send their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for in other towns.

And it is further ordered that where any town shall increase to the number of 100 families or householders, they shall set up a [Latin} grammar school, the master thereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university; provided, that if any town neglect the performance hereof above one year, that every town shall pay five pounds to the next [nearest] school till they shall perform this order."

From: N.B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, 1853, II, p. 203. Quoted in The American Spirit: United States History As Seen By Contemporaries, ed., Thomas A. Bailey, Boston: D.C. Heath and Co., 1963, p. 69.

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"Soon after the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754, delegates from seven British colonies met in Albany to discuss actions that might be taken for the defense of the colonies. Benjamin Franklin put forth the following Albany Plan of Union:

Document 4: The Albany Plan of Union

1. That the said general government be administered by a President-General to be appointed and supported by the Crown; and a Grand Council to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the several colonies in their respective assemblies.

2. That within _ months after the passing such act, the House of Representatives that happens to be sitting within that time may and shall choose members for the Grand Council, in the following proportion, that is to say,

Massachusetts Bay -7 Rhode Island -4

New Hampshire -2 New Jersey -3

North Carolina -4 Pennsylvania-6

South Carolina -4 Connecticut-5

4. That there shall be a new election of the members of the Grand Council every three years ...

5. That after the first three years, when the proportion of money arising out of each colony to the general treasury can be known, the number of members to be chosen for each colony shall be regulated by that proportion, ...

6. That the Grand Council shall meet once in every year, and oftener if occasion require.

7. That the Grand Council have power to choose its speaker; and shall neither be dissolved nor continued ... without their own consent or the special command of the crown.

9. That the agreement of the President-General be required from all laws of the Grand Council, and that it be his office and duty to cause them to be carried into execution.'''

'It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies, within and under which government each colony may keep its present constitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the said act, as hereafter follows:

Virginia -7

Maryland -4

New York -4

Adapted from: World of Benjamin Franklin, ed. J. Sparks; cited in Henry Steele Commager, Documents of American History (New York: Appleton-Century-Croft, Inc., 1958; in Grade 7 U.S. and New York State History: A Multicultural Perspective, Volume Il, New York: Board of Education, 1990, pp. 15-16.

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Document 5: A Defense of Buying Indian Land (1722)

"The Reverend Solomon Stoddard, for fifty-six years pastor of the Congregational Church in Northhampton, was easily the most influential figure of his day in western Massachusetts. Tall, dignified, and domineering, he was dubbed by his critics 'the Pope.' He advocated the frequent preaching of hell-fire as a restraint against sin, and he bitterly opposed long hair and wigs for men, extravagance in dress, and intemperance in drink. The following is part of a tract he published in 1722:

'Question VITI: Did we any wrong to the Indians in buying their land at a small price?

Answer 1: There was some part of the land that was not purchased, neither was there need that it should be; it was vacuum domicilium [a vacant dwelling place]; and so might be possessed by virtue of God's grant to mankind, Genesis

1:28' ... and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it;' ... The Indians made no use of it but for hunting .... When Abraham came into the land of Canaan, he made use of vacant land as he pleased; so did Issac and Jacob.

Answer 2: The Indians were well contended that we should sit down by them. And it would have been for great advantage, both for this world and the other, if they had been wise enough to make use of their opportunities. It has been common with many people, in planning this world since the Flood, to admit neighbors, to sit down by them.

Answer 3: Though we gave but a small price for what we bought, we gave them their demands .... And, indeed, it was worth but little; and had it continued in their hands, it would have been of little value. It is our dwelling on it, and our improvements, that have made it to be of worth. '"

From: Solomon Stoddard, An Answer to Some Cases of Conscience Respecting the Country, 1722, pp. 14-15. Quoted in The American Spirit: United States History As Seen By Contemporaries, ed., Thomas A. Bailey, Boston: D.C. Heath and Co., 1963, pp. 34- 35.

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"In the late eighteenth century, a young Moravian missionary asked permission to open a mission on Indian land. In refusing his request, Chief Saguoaha [the Keeper-Awake] of the Seneca people in Western New York State [members of the Iroquois Confederacy], known to the whites as Red Jacket, gave a challenge:

Document 6: "Voices of Dissent", Saguoaha [Red Jacket]

You say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why are not all agreed, as you can all read the book?

'Your forefathers crossed the great water and landed on this island. Their numbers were small. They found friends and no enemies. They told us that they fled from their own country for fear of wicked men and had come here to enjoy their religion ... We gave them corn and meat, they gave us poison in return ...

The Great Spirit has made us all, but He has made a great difference between His white and red children ... Since He has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that He has given us a different religion according to our understanding? The Great Spirit does right. He knows what is best for His children; we are satisfied.

We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from father to son. We also have a religion, which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us, their children. We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful for all the favours we receive, to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion.

We do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own. We are told that you have been preaching to the white people of this place. These people are our neighbors. We will wait a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, makes them honest and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again of what you have said. ",

From: Roger Moody, ed., The Indigenous Voice, 1:247. Quoted in Renny Golden, Michael McConnell, Peggy Mueller, Cinny Poppen, and Marilyn Turkovich, Dangerous Memories: Invasion and Resistance Since 1942, Chicago: Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America, 1991, p. 71.

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A. Maryland, 1664: A Colonial Law

Document 7: Slavery

"And as much as divers freeborn Englishwomen, forgetful of their free condition, and to the disgrace of our nation, do intermarry with Negro slaves .... or deterring such free-born women from such shameful matches, be it enacted: That whatsoever free-born woman shall intermarry with any slave, from and after the last day of the present assembly, shall serve the master of that slave during the life of her husband; and that all the issue [offspring] of such free-born women, so married, shall be slave as their fathers were."

From: Lerone Bennett Jr., Before the Mayflower, 301. Quoted in Renny Golden, Michael McConnell, Peggy Mueller, Cinny Poppen, and Marilyn Turkovich, Dangerous Memories: Invasion and Resistance Since 1942, Chicago: Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America, 1991, p. 95.

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B. Estimates of Blacks as a Percentage of Population

Estimates of Blacks as a Percentage of the Population by Colony, 1680-1770

(From Peter Kolchin, American Slavery 1619-1877. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993, pp. 240, parts of Table I - Appendix).

Colony

1680

1770

North

New Hampshire Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New York

New Jersey Pennsylvania

3.7 0.4 5.8 0.3

12.2 5.9 3.7

1.0 1.8 6.5 3.1

11.7 7.0 2.4

5.2

South Delaware Maryland Virginia

North Carolina South Carolina Georgia

Totals

~orth

South

Thirteen Colonies

4.4 39.7 21.4

From: Phyllis Raybin Emert, ed., Colonial Triangular Trade: An Economy Based on Human Misery, Carlisle, MA: Discovery Enterprise, Ltd., 1995, p. 19.

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9.0 6.9 3.9

16.7

i .5 +2 0 .'" .3 60,5 45.2

2.3 5.7 4.6

Document 8: "Crevecoeur Discovers a New Man" (c. 1770)

"Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur, a young Frenchman of noble family, served with the French army in Canada from 1758 to 1759. Finally reaching the English colonies in 1759, he traveled widely, married an American woman, and settled down to an idyllic existence on his New York estate, 'Pine Hill.' A born farmer, he introduced into America a number of plants, including alfalfa. Probably during the decade before 1775, he wrote in English the classic series of essays known as Letters from an American Farmer (published in 1782). This glowing account was blamed for luring some 500 French families to the wilds of the Ohio Country, where they perished.

' ... Whence came all these people?

They are a mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans and Swedes. From this promiscuous breed, that race now called Americans have arisen ...

In this great American asylum, the poor of Europe have by some means met together, and in consequence of various causes; to what purpose should they ask one another what countrymen they are? Alas, two-thirds of them had no country. Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose life is a continual scene of sore affliction or pinching penury [poverty]-can that man call England or any other kingdom his country? A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of the extensive surface of this planet? No! Urged by a variety of motives, here they came. Everything has tended to regenerate them: new laws, a new mode of living, a new social system. Here they have become men ...

What then is the American, this new man? .. He is an American who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones form the new mode of life that he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he

holds ... Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men whose labors and posterity [future generations] will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the Western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them the great mass of arts, sciences, vigor, and industry which began long since in the East. They will finish the great circle ... '"

From: Jean de Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer, (1782); cited in Thomas A. Bailey, The American Spirit, Boston: D.C. Heath and Co., 1965, pp. 67-68.

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5. Crosswalks

AmericanN oices: A History of the United States, Scott Foresman, 1992, pp.49-93

History of the American People, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1986, pp.24-81

America: Pathways to the Preser:tt, Prentice Hall, 1995, pp.38-114

Triumph of the American Nation, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Inc., 1990, pp.30-118

The American People: Creating aN ation and a Society, Harper & Row, 1990, pp.4-132

Document-Based Essay

6. Sample Exam Questions

This task is based on the accompanying documents (1-6). Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of this task. This task is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you analyze the documents, take into account both the source of each document and the author's point of view.

Task:

Directions: Read the documents in Part A and answer the questions after each document. Then read the directions for Part B and write your essay.

Historical Context:

American political rights and institutions are derived from (1) British political traditions, (2) 18TH century Enlightenment thought, and (3) developments during the colonial period.

Using information from the documents and your knowledge of United States history and government, write an essay in which you:

• Describe two major events, ideas, or institutions from colonial America that helped to establish the historical foundations of the United States.

• Evaluate whether the two major events, ideas, or institutions had more of a positive or negative effect on United States history after 1776.

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Part A Short Answer

Directions:

• Analyze the documents and answer the questions that follow in the space provided.

Document 1:

1. One definition of a constitution is "a document defining and limiting the powers of government." To what extent does this document fit the definition cited above?

Document 2:

2. Briefly summarize the author's complaints about Plymouth colony.

Document 3:

3. Which decisions does the law leave to individual towns?

Document 4:

4. To what extent does the Albany Plan embody democratic political principles?

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5. What does the author mean by saying that the Indians should have "been wise enough to make use of their opportunities?"

Document 5:

Document 6:

6. According to Red Jacket, how does the Seneca religion differ from the white people's religion?

Document 7:

A. Why would inter-racial marriages be considered such a threat to society at this time (1664)?

8. According to Crevecoeur, what caused the American to become a "new man"?

B. What conclusion about the change in slave distribution within the 13 colonies is best supported by these statistics?

Document 8:

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PartB Essay

Directions:

• Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a

conclusion.

• Use evidence from the documents to support your response.

• Do not simply repeat the contents of the documents.

• Include specific related outside information.

Historical Context:

American political rights and institutions are derived from (1) British political traditions, (2) 18TH century Enlightenment thought, and (3) developments during the colonial period.

Task:

Using information from the documents and your knowledge of United States history and government, write an essay in which you

• Describe two major events, ideas, or institutions from colonial America that helped to establish the historical foundations of the United States.

• Evaluate whether the two major events, ideas, or institutions had more of a positive or negative effect on United States history after 1776.

Be sure to include specific historical details. You must also include additional information from your knowledge of United States history and government.

7. Additional Strategies and Projects

Portfolio Projects:

1. Prepare and present a research report on the historical significance of a prominent colonial craft (quilts, candles, spinning, guns, scrimshaw, pewter, headstone carving); trade (farmer, whaler, cooper, tavern keeper, blacksmith, scrivener, waterman, sawyer); food/drink (pudding, salt pork, hominy/grits, cod, pumpkin, cider, applejack, sack, whiskey); fashion (breeches, waistcoats, corsets, wigs, petticoats, hats, cosmetics, shoes); or utensil (trencher, adze, pillory, loom, brazier, long rifle, kettle, theodolite, canoe, Dutch oven, weir, leeches, distillery). (Standard E2c)

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2. Prepare and present a research report on the historical, social and/or cultural significance of a

New York City landmark building that dates form the colonial era, e.g.:

African Burial Grounds-l S'" century (M), Bowne House-1661 (Q), Fraunces Tavern Museum-1719 (M), Historic Richmondtown-I'l'" century (Sl), King Manor Museum-IS'" century (Q), Morris-Jumel Mansion -18th century (M), Queens County Farm Museum- 18th century (Q), Valentine-Varian HouselMuseum of Bronx History -1758 (BX), Van Cortlandt House Museum _18th century (BX), Vander Ende-Onderdonk House-1709 (Q), Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House Museum-1652 (BK). (Standard E2a)

Pick a specific date and time to be a "fly on the wall" and write a first-person account that describes what you see (hear, feel, smell, etc.) going on inside of/and or around this landmark at that particular moment in colonial history. (Standard E2c)

3. Geography Project: Students locate prominent cities, regions, battles and geographic features of colonial America and, if applicable, their respective modem names on a blank U.S. map, e.g.:

Features: tidewater, Appalachian Mountains, Mohawk River, Hudson River Valley, St. Lawrence River, James River, Chesapeake Bay, Delaware RiverlBay, Connecticut River, Piedmont, Lake Chaplain, low country, Grand Banks, Cape Cod, Long Island Sound, lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Wyoming Valley, Ohio River;

Cities: St. Augustine, Annapolis, Ft. Orange, New Amsterdam, Boston, Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Williamsburg, Newport, New Haven, Charleston, Jamestown, Plymouth, Savannah, New Smyrna, Baltimore, New Bedford, Norfolk, Salem, Germantown;

Regions: middle colonies, frontier, Spanish Florida, New France, New England, the South;

Battle sites: Crown Point, Schenectady, Quebec, Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, Fort Duquesne, Pequot Fort, Deerfield, Ft. Wm. Henry, Ft. Vincennes, Ft. Necessity, Montreal;

• In cooperative learning groups, students research one or more of these places and prepare a brief oral report that describes the topic and explains how it affected the development of colonial America. (Standard E3b)

• "Jigsaw" oral presentations so one or more students form each group ''teach'' its topic to another group and is in tum ''taught'' a new topic by the remaining members of that group. The process may be repeated if necessary. Upon completion, students return to their original groups to debrief and share information. (Standard E3b)

• Based on the results above, have the class create a timeline or flow chart showing the chronological development and spread of the English colonies from 1620 to 1776.

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• Brainstorm with the class possible categories for classifying the topics listed under each heading above, e.g.:

Cities: disputed territory, seaport, founded by religious zealots, oldest, most populous, changed name, New England;

Regions: disputed territory, fertile land, Roman Catholic, boundaries changed, most slaves, most Scotchllrish;

Features: disputed territory, fertile land, useful for manufacturing, fishing center, obstructed expansion, aided colonial expansion, most slaves, Native American name, in New York state, invasion route, navigable, major transportation route today;

Battles: Indian raid, French and Indian War, English victory, English defeat, Native American name, in New York State, in New England, on frontier, bloodiest.

List results on the board.

• In cooperative learning groups, students decide by consensus which of the above categories apply to the topic(s) they researched; and develop a semantic map (Venn or spoke-and-wheel diagram) showing connections and overlaps among categories.

• Based on the above results, students write a thesis statement for a DBQ Essay responding to the question: "Was geography more of a blessing or a curse for the English colonies?"

THEMATIC ESSAY

Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs explaining your position, and a conclusion.

Theme: Diversity

Diversity means the similarities and differences people have in terms of language, gender, socioeconomic class, race, religion, and other human characteristics. The experiences, ideas and institutions of the colonial era (1609-1776) helped establish the foundations of America's social history.

Task:

Select two aspects or institutions of colonial society from your study of colonial America: 1609-1776.

• Identify and explain which social groups controlled and most benefited from each of these institutions.

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• Identify and explain which social groups were excluded from and/or oppressed by each of these institutions.

• Compare and/or contrast these institutions in terms of how well they respected the human diversity of colonial American society.

You are not limited to these suggestions.

You may use any examples from your study of United States History and Government. Some suggestions you might wish to consider include public schools, colleges, town meetings, courts, religious worship, marriage, plantation farming, inns/taverns, indentured servitude, housing, holidays, periodicals, turnpikes/stages, child-rearing, apprenticeship, death/burial, census, taxes, financial exchanges.

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Topic 3: The American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence

1. Suggested Aims

• What were the causes of the American Revolution?

• Were the colonists justified in revolting against Britain?

• To what extent was the American Revolution an outgrowth of Enlightenment ideas?

• How radical was the American Revolution?

2. Timeline

. __ . __ ."-_---' ---"--_. __ . __ ."---------

1783 l789

1763 1764 1765

1770

1772

1774 1775 1776

1763: Proclamation of 1763 prohibits colonial settlement west of the Appalachians. 1764: Sugar Act is passed.

1765: Stamp Act and Quartering Act are signed. 1770: Boston Massacre occurs.

1772: Samuel Adams sets up Committees of Correspondence.

1774: First Continental Congress is called in response to the Intolerable Acts.

1775: First shots of the American Revolution are fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. 1776: Declaration ofIndependence is signed.

1783: The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution.

1789: The French Revolution begins, inspired in part by the American Revolution.

3. Key Vocabulary Words

colonist, mother country, mercantilism, minutemen, Tory, loyalist, patriot, revolution, independence, Hessian mercenaries

4. Strategies and Documents

• Have students brainstorm the reasons why citizens would choose a path of revolution. Write student responses on the board, using a semantic map. Categorize the reasons as social, political and economic.

• Have students explain which ones are the strongest arguments for revolution. Have students explain which are the weakest arguments.

• Distribute Documents I to 6 and inform the class that each document deals with the American Revolution.

• Divide the class into cooperative learning groups. Assign the following tasks:

A. Using Documents I to 5, discuss at least two causes of the American Revolution.

B. Develop and defend an argument in favor of the American Revolution.

C. Develop and defend an argument against the American Revolution

D. Examine Document 5 (The Declaration oflndependence) and determine which statements reflect Enlightenment thought and which statements reflect colonial experiences. Be ready to defend your choices with concrete examples. (Standard E3b)

E. Using Documents 6 and 7, discuss how primary and secondary sources (including date of publication) offer varying accounts of the effects of the American Revolution.

• Debriefing: Groups can report their findings to the class. Each group can make a presentation based on one of the tasks listed above. (Standard E3b)

• Portfolio projects

A. Prepare a map showing the extent of British, French, Spanish and Russian holdings in North America in 1754 at the beginning of the French and Indian War. In addition, prepare a map showing their holdings as a result of the peace settlement in Paris in 1763 ending the French and Indian War. Include a legend or key. Write a narrative procedure report. (Standard E2d)

B. Imagine you are a newspaper reporter interviewing either a British or American official during the American Revolution. Write an interview with that person. (Standard E2c)

C. Write a newspaper article using the following headline: THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR: THE BRITISH EMERGE VICTORIOUS BUT IN HEAVY DEBT (Standard E2a)

D. Write a journal entry as if you were a patriot or a loyalist during the American Revolution. (Standard E2c)

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Document 1: Patrick Henry on the Stamp Tax (1765)

"Mr., Attomey, from the Committee of the whole House [of Burgesses], reported according to Order, that the Committee had considered of the steps necessary to be taken in Consequence of the Resolutions of the House of Commons of Great Britain relative to the charging Stamp Duties in the Colonies and Plantations in America, and that they had come to several Resolutions thereon ... and are as follow:

Resolved, ... (Virginia colonists have) all the Liberties, Privileges, Franchises, and Immunities, that have at any Time been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the people of Great Britain.

Resolved, That by two royal Charters, granted by King James the First, the colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all Liberties, Privileges, and Immunities of Denizens and natural Subjects, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been abiding and born within the Realm of England.

Resolved, That the Taxation of the People by themselves, or by the Persons chosen by themselves to represent them ... is the only Security against burdensome Taxation ....

Resolved, That his Majesty's liege People of this his most ancient and Loyal Colony have without Interruption enjoyed the inestimable Right of being governed by such Laws ... as are derived by their own Consent ....

Resolved, Therefore, that the General Assembly of this colony, together with his Majesty or his substitutes, have in their representative capacity, the only exclusive right and power to lay taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants of this colony ... "

From: Avery Craven, Walter Johnson and F. Roger Dunn, eds., A Documentary History of the American People, Boston: Ginn and Company, 1951, pp. 139-140.

Document 3: A Tory Point of View

Document 2: Samuel Adams Promotes Revolution (1771)

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks .... Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former for the sake of the latter. Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the time more than ever calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that 'if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom! '"

From: The Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771.

"True liberty, then, is a liberty to do every thing that is right, and then being restrained from doing anything that is wrong. So far from our having a right to do every thing that we please, under a notion of liberty, liberty itself is limited and confined-but limited and confined only by laws which are at the same time both it's (sic) foundation and it's (sic) support ...

Accordingly, when man was made, his Maker did not turn him adrift into a shoreless ocean, without star or compass to steer by. As soon as there were some to be governed, there were also some to govern ... The first father was the first king: and if. .. the law may be inferred from the practice, it was thus that all government originated; and monarchy is its most ancient form ... King and princes (which are only other words for supreme magistrates) were doubtless created and appointed, not so much for their own sakes, as for the sake of the people committed to their charge ... They receive their commission from Heaven; they receive it from God, the source and origin of all power."

From: Jonathan Boucher, a sermon preached in Maryland in 1775 "On Civil Liberty, Passive Obedience, and Non-Resistance" in Avery Craven, Walter Johnson and F. Roger Dunn, eds., A Documentary History of the American People, Boston: Ginn and Company, 1951, pp. 148-151.

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Document 4: Thomas Paine Demands Immediate Independence

"I have heard by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more than is true; for I answer roundly that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her. The commerce by which she hath enriched herself are the necessaries of life, and will always have a market while eating is the custom of Europe.

But she has protected us, say some. That she hath engrossed us is true, and defended the continent at our expense as well as her own is admitted; and she would have defended Turkey from the same motive, viz. for the sake of trade and dominion ...

I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resentment to espouse the doctrine of separation and independence; I am clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that 'tis the true interest of this continent to be so; that everything short of that is mere patchwork, that it can afford no lasting felicity-that it is leaving the sword to our children, and shrinking back at a time when a little more, a little further, would have rendered this continent the glory of the earth ...

o ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. 0 receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind ... "

From: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.

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Document 5: The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson with some assistance from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on 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 institutes among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form ofGovemment becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or 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 ...

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. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws ...

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance ...

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature ...

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of the Public Record, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people ...

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands ...

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

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He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders

which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States:

For cutting offall Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government ... :

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Government:

For suspending our own Legislature ....

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy to be the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections among us ...

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury ... We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connections between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Fifty-six signatures of representatives from the thirteen colonies follow.

" ... In these times of action, classical education was found of less service than good natural parts, guided by common sense and sound judgment. .. The Americans knew but little of one another, previous to the revolution ... A Continental Army, and Congress composed of men from all the States, by freely mixing together, were assimilated into one mass .... Men ofliberal

minds led the way in discouraging local distinctions, and the great body of the people, as soon as reason got the better of prejudice, found that their best interests would be most effectually promoted by such practices and sentiments as were favorable to union."

Document 6: A Contemporary View of the Effects of the American Revolution

From: David Ramsay, The History of the American Revolution, Vol. II, Philadelphia, 1789, pp. 315-325.

A. The American Revolution Considered as a Social Movement

Document 7: Slavery, African-Americans, and the Outcome of the American Revolution

"At the time when the Revolution broke out there were about a halfmillion of slaves in the thirteen colonies, the figures probably running about as follows: 200,000 in Virginia, 100,000 in South Carolina, 70,000 or 80,000 each in Maryland and North Carolina, 25,000 perhaps in New York, 10,000 in New Jersey, 6,000 in Pennsylvania, 6,000 in Connecticut, 5,000 in Massachusetts, and 4,000 in Rhode Island .

. . . We may note the organized efforts toward the removal or alleviation of slavery manifested in the creations of a whole group of societies for these purposes. The first anti-slavery society in this or any other country was formed on April 14, 1775, five days before the battle of Lexington, by a meeting at the Sun Tavern, on Second Street in Philadelphia. The members were mostly of the Society of Friends. The organization took the name of 'The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage.' In the preamble of their constitution they point out that 'loosing the bonds of wickedness and setting the oppressed free, is evidently a duty incumbent on all professors of Christianity, but more especially at a time when justice, liberty, and the laws of the lane are

general topics among most ranks and stations of men.' The New York 'Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves' was organized in 1785, with John Jay as its first president. In 1788, a society similar to these two was founded in Delaware, and within four years there were other such societies in Rhode Island,

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Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, and local societies enough to make at least thirteen, mostly in slave-holding states .

. . . The Continental Congress of 1774 had been in session but a few days when they decreed an 'American Association,' or non-importation agreement, in which one section read: 'That we will neither import nor purchase any slave imported after the first day of December next, after which we will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves. Nor will we hire our vessels nor sell our commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it;' and the evidence to be that the terms of this agreement were enforced throughout the war with little evasion."

From: J. Franklin Jameson, The American Revolution Considered as a Social Movement, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1926, pp. 1-39.

B. African-American Role in the American Revolution

"Blacks also fought and died for the American cause. Although many states initially barred them from militia service, by war's end more than five thousand blacks had enlisted in the American armed forces. The largest contingents came from the northern states with substantial numbers of free blacks.

Blacks fought at Trenton, Brandywine, Saratoga, and other important battles. Some, including Prince Whipple (later immortalized in Emanuel Leutze's famous painting 'Washington Crossing the Delaware'), became military heroes. Others served as cooks, guides, spies, drivers, and roadbuilders.

African-Americans also served on the British side. In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation promising freedom to any enslaved black in Virginia who joined the British army. News of Dunmore's decree traveled swiftly. Virginia and Maryland tightened slave patrols, but within one month, three hundred slaves had joined what came to be called 'Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment.' In time, thousands of blacks fled plantations for British promises of emancipation. When one of James Madison's slaves was caught trying to escape to British lines, Madison refused to punish him for 'coveting that liberty' that white Americans proclaimed the 'rights worthy pursuit of every human being.' At war's end, the British kept their word, to some at least, and evacuated as many as fourteen thousand 'Black Loyalists' to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and England."

From: Thomas A. Bailey, David M. Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen, The American Pageant; A History of the Republic, Eleventh Edition, Boston:

Houghton Mifflin, 1998, p. 138.

5. Crosswalk

America: Pathways to the Present, Prentice Hall, 1995, pp. 96-125

The ideals of the American Revolution are found in enlightenment thought and colonial experiences.

The Americans, McDougal Littell, 1998, pp. 92-123

6. Sample Exam Questions

Thematic Essay

Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs addressing the-task below, and a conclusion.

Theme: Civic Values

Task:

From your study of United States history:

• Discuss two ideals of the American Revolution that are reflected in Enlightenment thought

• Describe two colonial experiences that influenced the ideals of the American Revolution

• Evaluate how Americans dealt with the issue of slavery and the ideals of the American Revolution

Some suggestions you might wish to consider are the French and Indian War, the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Committees of Correspondence, the Intolerable Acts, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Declaration of Independence.

You are not limited to these suggestions.

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7. Additional Activities

A. Prepare a chart comparing and contrasting the American Revolution to the French and Russian Revolutions by examining the causes and effects of each. Give an oral presentation on your findings. (Standard E2c)

B. Use the World Wide WeblInternet to research revolutionary leaders: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Write a report. (Standard E2a)

C. Research the historiography on the American Revolution and account for the varying points of view. Some historians you may wish to study include George Bancroft, George Beer, Charles Andrews, Lawrence Gipson, Carl Becker,1. Franklin Jameson, Bernard Bailyn, Gary Nash, and Edward Countryman. (Standard E2a)

D. Examine the American Revolution from the British point of view. Peter D. G. Thomas presents the British side in British Politics and the Stamp Act Crisis (1975), The Townshend Duties Crisis (1987) and Tea Party to Independence (1991). Compare and contrast the British point of view with the American point of view. Report your findings to the class. (Standard E3c)

E. Write a reflective essay explaining whether you agree or disagree with the following statement by Voltaire:

"A torch lighted in the forests of America

set all Europe in conflagration." (Standard E2f)

F. Take the position of either a loyalist or a patriot living in the colonies. Write a persuasive essay for or against revolting against Great Britain. (Standard E2c)

G. Research the influence of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence on colonial people in the 20th century, Especially examinethe nationalistic movement in Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh. Present the information in an oral report. (Standard E3c)

1400

1735

1754

1777

1787

1799 1827 1939

1999

2000

TOPIC 4: THE NEW YORK STATE CONSTITUTION

1. Suggested Aims

• Did The Great Law of Peace of the Six Nation Iroquois Confederation influence the development of the New York State Constitution?

• Was the Zenger Trial a landmark in the establishment of constitutional rights in New York?

• Was the Albany Plan of Union a significant step toward American nationhood?

• To what degree did the N ew York Constitution of 1777 provide a model for the federal Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

• How was slavery abolished in New York State?

• Does the Bill of Rights of the present constitution of New York provide adequate protection against government tyranny?

• Does the present state constitution provide the governor with adequate power to carry out his duties?

• How does the state legislature under the present constitution play an important role in the lives of the citizens of New York City?

• How can we secure our rights under the laws of New York State? Case Study: Complaint of the City of New York against the State of New York on the issue of inequitable funding of education for the students of the City of New York by the State of New York.

• What are some of the proposals that have been made for constitutional reform in New York State?

2. Timeline

• 1400- Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy compose their constitution. The Great Law of Peace.

• 1735- The Trial of John Peter Zenger occurs.

• 1754- The Albany Plan of Union is written.

• 1777 - The first New York State Constitution is adopted.

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• 1789- The U. S. Constitution is ratified.

• 1799- The first abolition law in New York is passed.

• 1827- Slavery is completely abolished in New York State.

• 1939- The present Constitution of New York State is adopted.

• 1999- New York City files suit to obtain its constitutional right to equitable state funding for education.

• 2000 Proposals are made for reform of The New York State Constitution.

3. KEY VOCABULARY WORDS

Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy, Great Law of Peace, clan, seditious, libel, abolition, manumission, reapportion, freehold, enfranchise, gradualism, polyglot, multifarious, heterogeneity, habeas corpus, abridge, commutation, equitable

4. STRATEGIES AND DOCUMENTS

A. Discuss with the class the rules of the game of baseball and the need ofa rulebook. Make an analogy with a constitution, which is a rulebook for government.

• Discuss the fact that in our federal system we have rulebooks or constitutions for both state and national governments. Explain that in this unit the class will study the Constitution of the State of New York, examining the origins or precursors of the first constitution of the State of New York (1777), the present constitution adopted in 1939, and the proposals to reform or change the present rules under which we govern ourselves in New York.

B. Using Documents 1-6:The Great Law of Peace, Peter Zenger and Freedom of the Press, the AJbany Plan of Union, the Constitution of 1777, Slavery and the Constitution in New York and Religious Freedom and Disestablishment in New York, assign each student a document. Have students summarize and explain how the event or document has influenced our present laws or system of government.

• Use the jigsaw model and assign a group that is composed of students who read different articles. After students have formulated their replies, they will produce an essay entitled "The Origin of Constitutional Government in New York State." Each group will report its findings to the class ..

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C. Using Documents 7-9 (Bill of Rights, Executive and Legislative Branches), students will simulate the roles of the three branches of the New York State Government. Three committees will be formed: 1. the Chief Executive will propose a law through his/her State of the State Address; 2. the legislative branch will consider the bill; 3. the court will examine the B ill of Rights to determine if, in case of a positional challenge, the bill conforms or meets the standards as set down by the Bill of Rights.

• After these simulations, students will compare and contrast the branches of the state government and its national government counterparts, and the national Bill of Rights and the state counterpart. Students will draw conclusions about the nature of federalism.

D. Read Document 11: Proposals for Reform. Have students develop a point counterpoint strategy for the six proposals for reform. Have one student develop arguments for the reform and another student arguments against. Then have the students argue before the class, with the the other members of the class as audience, that asks questions after the debate. Based on the arguments and discussion, have students vote on proposals and rewrite provisions of the state constitution based on their vote.

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Document 1: Great Law of Peace (What are the values and traditions of the founding constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy?)

What is the Great Law of Peace?

"The Great Law is the founding constitution of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. It is an oral tradition, codified in a series of wampum belts now held by the Onondaga Nation. It defines the functions of the Grand Council and how the native nations can resolve disputes between themselves and maintain peace.

'The Peace Maker travelled among the Iroquois for many years, spreading his message of peace, unity and the power of the good mind. Oral history says that it may have taken him forty some years to reach everyone. Born of a Huron woman who was still a virgin, the Peace Maker, grew rapidly and one day announced that he had to journey forth to deliver a message from the Creator. He selected a white stone canoe to carry him to the Iroquois as proof of the power of his message. But he was met with much skepticism, and the men that he came across refused to listen to him. After Jikohnsaseh rejuvenated his spirit, he continued and was able to persuade fifty leaders to receive his message. He gathered them together and recited the passages of the Great Law of Peace. He assigned duties to each of the leaders. To honor the role of Jikohnsaseh, he selected women as the 'Clan Mothers', to lead the family clans and select the male chiefs.

Women were given the right to the chiefs titles and the power to remove dissident chiefs ... Women are the connection to the earth and have the responsibility for the future of the nation. Men will want to fight. Women know the true price of war and must encourage the chiefs to seek a peaceful resolution.

The Peace Maker then established clans among the Haudenosaunee as a way to unite the Five Nations and as a form of social order. It is said that after he had assembled the leaders together around the Tree of Peace, he bestowed chieftainship and clan affiliation on the fifty men who stood in a circle. He would assign clans based upon the order of animals that he saw that day. Some say the he sent each chief out into the woods and would report back on the first animal that he encountered, and that animal became his clan. A clan is a group of families that share a common female ancestry. Members of one clan are considered relatives and intermarriage in the same clan is forbidden. Clans are named after animals that have special assistance to the peoplewater (turtle, eel, beaver); land (bear, deer, wolf); sky (snipe, heron, hawk). Clanship identity is very important to the Haudensaunee.

The Great Law is like a Great White Mat of Law upon which the chiefs sit as they deliberate on the affairs of the nations. Burning before the assembled chiefs is the Council fire, called 'the great light,' that never dies as long as the people believe in the Great Law. The kindling the council fire, considered sacred in that it purifies the words of those assembled, obligates the chiefs to speak the truth. '"

From: http://sixnations.buffnet.net/Great Law of Peacel

- --

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'But his Doctrine ('A lible (sic) is not lefs a Libel for being true') only holds true as to private and personal failings; and it is quite otherwise when the Crimes of Men come to Affect the Publick .... Every Crime against the publick, is a great crime ....

, ... The expofing therefore of Publick Wickedness, as it is a Duty which every Man owes to the Truth and his Country, can never be a Libel in the Nature of Things .... , ... it has been hitherto generally understood, that there was no other Libels but those against Magistrates and those against private Men. Now to me there seems to be Third set of Libels, full as Destructive as any of the former can probably be, I mean Libels against the People.

, ... I have indeed often wondered that the Inveighing against the Interest of the People, and calling their Liberty in Question ... has never been made an express Crime.

, ... I know not what Reason is if sapping and betraying the Liberties of a People be not Treason.

, ... almost all over the Earth, the People for one Injury they do their Governor,

Document 2: Peter Zenger and Freedom of the Press

In the latter part of 1733, John Peter Zenger began publishing a newspaper in New York to voice opposition to the onerous policies of newly-appointed colonial governor William Cosby. Upon his arrival in New York, Cosby plunged into a rancorous quarrel with the Council of the colony over his salary. Unable to control the state's Supreme Court, Cosby removed Chief Justice Lewis Morris, replacing him with James Delancey of the Royal Party.

Supported by members of the Popular Party, Zenger's New-York Weekly Journal continued to publish articles critical of the royal governor. Finally, Cosby issued a proclamation condemning the newpaper's 'divers scandalous, virulent, false and seditious reflections.' On Sunday, November 17, 1734 Zenger was arrested and charged with seditious libel. After more than eight months in prison, Zenger went to trial, defended by illustrious Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton. The case was now a cause celebre, with public interest at a fever-pitch. Rebuffed repeatedly by Chief Justice Delancey during the trial, Hamilton decided to plead his client's case directly to the jury. After the arguments for both sides were finished, the jury was retired, only to return shortly with a verdict of not guilty.

To better understand the significance of this historic case, it is important to examine an actual issue of the New-York Daily Journal prior to Zenger's arrest. Here we see a typical attack against the government in Zenger's original newspaper as it originally appeared more than 260 years ago. Page one of this issue dated February 25, 1733* carries an article by Cato, ** a pseudonym for one of Zenger's authors. This article gives its readers a preview of the same argument Attorney Hamilton would present 18 months later in the government's libel case against Zenger: that the truth is an absolute defense against libel.

In successfully defending Zenger in this landmark case, Hamilton established the precedent that a statement, even if defamatory, is not libelous if it can be proved, thus affirming freedom of the press in America. As Cato prophetically writes in this issue of the Journal:

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receive Ten Thousand from them. Nay, in some Countries it is made Death and Damnation, not to bear all the Oppression and Cruelties, which Men made Wanton by Power inflict upon those that gave it them.'"

*A1though this issue of Zenger's newspaper is dated 1733, the actual year was 1734. At the time both America and England used a calendar system wherein January, February and part of March retained the preceding year's date. This system was eliminated during the 1740s.

**Cato's letters were essays written by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. Their writings that were widely distributed throughout the American colonies contributed greatly to the spread in American of the concept of political liberty.

From: http://earlyamerica. com! earlyamericalbookmarks/zenger/index. html

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1. That the said general government be administered by a President-General to be appointed and supported by the crown; and a Grand Council to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the several Colonies met in their respective assemblies.

2. That within _ months after the passing such act, the House of Representatives that happen to be sitting within that time may and shall choose members for the Grand Council, in the following proportion,

Massachusetts Bay 7

New Hampshire 2

Connecticut 5

Rhode Island 4

Pennsylvania 6

Maryland 4

Virginia 7

North Carolina .4

Document 3: The Albany Plan of Union

' .. that ... one general govemment may be formed in America .... '

In 1754, after the French and Indian War broke out, the AJbany Congress was convened to unite the colonies against France and to enter into a treaty with the powerful Iroquois Confederation. At this meeting, Benjamin Franklin introduced his proposal for a self-governing federation within the British Empire. What Franklin sought to achieve was the creation of central governing agency which would handle common problems, leaving to the local governments the power to handle their individual affairs. Rejected by both Britain and the colonies, this foresighted solution to the problems of colonial empire anticipated by many years the British Commonwealth of Nations. A reading of the document also discloses its influence on the thinking of those who drafted the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States.

Ju{y 10, 1754

It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies, within and under which government each colony may keep its present constitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the said act, as hereafter follows:

New York. .4 South Carolina .4

New Jersey 3 Total Members .48

3. Who shall meet for the first time at the city of Philadelphia, being called by the PresidentGeneral as soon as conveniently may be after his appointment.

4. That there shall be a new election of the members of the Grand Council every three years ...

5. That after the first three years, when the proportion of money arising out of each Colony to the general treasury can be known, the number of members to be chosen for each colony shall be regulated by that proportion, yet ... the number to be chosen by anyone province [shall] be not more than seven, nor less than two.

6. That the Grand Council shall meet once in every year, and oftener if occasion require ... or as they shall be called to meet ... by the President-General on any emergency; he having first obtained in writing the consent of seven of the members to such call, and sent ... timely notice to the whole.

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7. That the Grand Council have power to choose their speaker; and shall neither be dissolved [declared out of existence], prorogued [closed for that session], nor continued ... [in session] longer than six weeks at one time, without their own consent or the special command of the crown.

9. That the agreement of the President-General be required from all laws of the Grand Council, and that it be his office and duty to cause them to be carried into execution.

10. That the President-General, with the advice of the Grand Council, hold or direct all Indian treaties, in which the general interest of the colonies may be concerned; and make peace or declare war with Indian nations.

11. That they make such laws as they judge necessary for regulating all Indian trade.

12. That they make all purchases from Indians, for the crown, oflands not now within the bounds of particular colonies ....

13. That they make new settlements on such purchases, by granting lands in the King's name, reserving a quitrent* to the crown for the use of the general treasury.

14. That they make laws for regulating the governing such new settlements, till the crown shall think fit to form them into particular governments.

15. That they raise and pay soldiers and build forts for the defense of any of the colonies, and equip vessels of force to guard the coasts and protect the trade on the ocean, lakes or great rivers; but they shall not impress [force military service] men in any colony without the consent of the legislature.

16. That for these purposes they have power to make laws ... and levy such general duties ... or taxes, as to them shall appear most equal and just (considering the ability and other circumstances of the inhabitants in the several colonies), and such as may be collected with the least inconvenience to the people; rather discouraging luxury than loading industry with unnecessary burdens.

17. That they may appoint a General Treasurer and Particular Treasurer in each government when necessary; ....

18. Yet no money ... [shall be issued] but by joint orders of the President -General and Grand Council; except where sums have been appropriated to particular purposes, and the PresidentGeneral ... [has been] previously empowered by an act to draw such sums.

19. That the general accounts shall be yearly settled and reported to the several assemblies [of the colonies].

20. That a quorum [number needed to be present to transact business legally] of the Grand Council, empowered to act with the President -General ... shall [consist] of twenty-five members; among whom there shall be one or more from a majority of the colonies.

21. That the laws made by them for the purposes aforesaid shall not be repugnant [in opposition to], but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of England, and shall be transmitted to the King in Council for approbation as soon as may be after their passing; and if not disapproved within three years after presentation ... [shall] remain in force.

22. That, in case of the death of the President-General, the Speaker of the Grand Council for the time being shall succeed, and be vested [endowed] with the same powers and authorities, to continue till the King's pleasure be known.

23. That all military commissioned officers, whether for land or sea service, to act under this general constitution, shall be nominated by the President-General; but the approbation of the Grand Council is to be obtained before they receive their commissions. And all civil officers

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are to be nominated by the Grand Council and to receive the President-General approbation before they officiate.

24. But, in case of vacancy by death or removal of any officer, civil or military, under this constitution, the Governor of the province in which such vacancy happens may appoint [a person to serve in that person's stead] till the pleasure of the President-General and Grand Council can be known.

25. That the particular military as well as civil establishments in each colony remain in its present state, the general constitution notwithstanding; and that on sudden emergencies any colony may defend itself and lay the accounts of expense ... arising [from such defense] before the President-General and General Council, who may allow and order payment of the same, as far as they judge such accounts just and reasonable.

*quitrent: a fixed annual payment by the owners ofland to the one who either gave them or sold them the land. The purpose of the quitrent was to show that complete ownership did not vest in the user of the land, but that there was a superior owner.

From: Isidore Starr et aI., Living American Documents, Orlando, Fl.: Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, 1971, pp. 30-33.

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Document 4: 1777: The Political Revolution & N.Y.'sFirst Constitution

"The constitution makers of 1776 and 1777 had to refer to basic principles partly because they lacked exact models to guide them. Republics had existed from time to time since antiquity, but in no case did the conditions completely match those in America. Written constitutions of the kinds Americans were beginning to envision were also rare. The closest thing to a working model was, ironically, the British government. Even though most Americans believed that English politics had become hopelessly corrupt, they also believed that England, with its entrenched traditions expressed in the common law, its commitment to the protection of basic rights and liberties, and its balanced institutions, had the best-constructed government in the world ...

Organizing the Legislature

Americans were convinced that the success of their new governments would depend upon the creation of strong legislatures. Republicanism, for most Americans, meant that the power to make laws resided in elected representatives of the people. Part of the controversy between England and the colonies in the 1760s and the early 1770s involved the American claim that Parliament was attempting to usurp the constitutional prerogatives of the colonial assemblies. As the new state governments began to take shape, it was clear that Americans considered their legislatures to be the very embodiment of the revolutionary changes occurring in American society ...

New York's state assembly was basically similar to the lower house in the other states.

Assemblymen were to be elected annually to a term of office adopted by every other state except South Carolina ...

The minimum number of assemblymen was set at seventy, creating a house twice the size of its colonial predecessor. The city and county of Albany had the largest delegation: ten, followed by the city and county of New York with nine. Only two representatives were allowed for the counties of Kings, Richmond, and Gloucester (now in Vermont). All others ranged somewhere in between.

An important innovation was the provision for proportional representation. It was generally agreed that one of the defects of the British government was the failure to reallocate parliamentary seats to reflect shifts in population. Some large metropolitan areas were without representation, while some depopulated areas still had seats in Parliament. The control of these so-called 'rotten boroughs' by the Crown or by wealthy members of the aristocracy was regarded by Americans as one of the most conspicuous examples of corruption within the British political system.

New York's constitution provided for a septennial census of' electors and inhabitants' in order to reapportion assembly delegations ...

Deciding who should be allowed to vote was a major concern in all the states. Under the

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From: William Polf, "1777: The Political Revolution and New York State" in New York and the Union, Stephen Schechter et aI, eds., Albany: New York State Commission on the Bicentennial, of the United States Constitution, 1990, pp. 114-142.

colonial system, members of the assemblies were elected by voters possessing a 'freehold' (basically, real property) worth L40 [L=British pounds]. Most of the state constitution framers accepted the maxim that voting was the privilege of those with a tangible stake in the community. Few Americans advocated universal adult male suffrage, and almost no one believed that women should be allowed to vote. Every state, except Vermont, imposed at least a nominal propertyholding requirement for the franchise, and only in New Jersey was the constitution phrased in a way that did not absolutely exclude women from voting ...

New York's constitution committee eliminated the colonial L 40 stipulation and proposed that all adult male freeholders who had paid taxes should be allowed to vote for assemblymen. This suggestion was substantially revised by the convention. Gouverneur Morris's motion that the franchise be restricted to those with freeholds worth at least L20 was adopted by the convention. Also approved was Robert R. Livingston's suggestion to enfranchise land-renting tenants who paid annual rents ofL2. All 'freemen' of the cities of Albany and New York as of October 14, 1775, were also given the vote. (Freemanship was the technical term for those who were legally permitted by a municipal corporation to vote and conduct business within its limits. By the time of the Revolution, it was possible for almost any resident who worked or engaged in trade in Albany or New York to qualify for freeman status.) If they could meet the property requirements, there was no prohibition against free blacks voting, but the constitution specifically restricted the franchise to adult males ...

New York, however, created one of the strongest executive branches of all the first state constitutions. Several measures adopted in other states to limit executive power were either rejected or ignored in New York. Most states kept the chief executive subservient by giving the legislature the power to elect him; New York's governor was chosen directly by the same electorate qualified to vote for senators. Extremely short terms of office, usually one year, were adopted for the chief executive in most states, and several of them included prohibitions against reelection or limited the number of terms one person could serve. New York established a threeyear term with no provision against reelection ...

Although New York's constitution did not grant the governor exclusive authority to veto laws or make appointments, it did give him a substantial role in both.

Bills passed by the legislature would go to a so-called 'council of revision,' consisting of the governor, the justices of the supreme court, and the chancellor (the highest justice of equity court system). The governor and any two of the others would have the authority to 'revise,' or veto, all bills and to return them, along with an explanation, to the legislature. Vetoed bills could be repassed over the veto by a two-thirds vote. Any bill not acted upon by the council within ten days would automatically become law ...

The governor would still have a substantial voice in vetoing bills, but he would have to do so in consultation with the state's highest judicial officials. Jay's proposal was adopted unanimously, and Livingston's passed by a vote of thirty-one to four. Not until Massachusetts finally adopted its constitution in 1780 did any chief executive have more authority in vetoing bills than that of New York."

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Document 5: Slavery Died a Slow Death

"In New York, the Revolutionary War Fails to Inspire A Strong Quest of Freedom For All.

On the Fourth of July, 1827, two centuries after it began, slavery ended in New York

State.

The end did not come overnight, with a great thundercap of insight that the owning of one person by another was morally wrong. The largest slave state in the North ended slavery only gradually-as did the other northern states-during a period of three decades, and only after a great debate.

Slavery was allowed to die a slow death in New York because such gradualism protected the economic interests of slaveowners, according to David N. Gellman, a lecturer in early American history at Northwestern University. Gellman, an expert on the abolition movement in New York State, was asked recently whether the policy of gradually freeing slaves had been a success ...

With the exception of the Quakers, antislavery sentiments in New York did not appear with any great force until after the Revolutionary War. Even then the 'all men are created equal' rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence, and the winning of the war itself did not lead to a quick decline in slavery. Slaveholders on Long Island and up the Hudson River Valley did not want to part with an important source of labor ...

Their first major victory [was] in 1799, when the legislature passed An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. It provided that all children born to New York slave mothers after July 4 of that year would not be slaves. However, these same children would be required to serve the mother's owner until the age of28 for males and age 25 for females ...

The law thus kept the new children from slavery and created them as a type of indentured servants. Slaveowners got to keep their laborers. The children had to be registered with the town clerk.

As the 19th century began, the system of slavery on Long Island and elsewhere in New York was in turmoil, because of abolitionist pressures and a growing antislavery attitude among nonslaveholders and the politicians who represented them. Many slaveowners began freeing their slaves: manumission in wills became common. But the selling of slaves continued, and the following advertised from the Suffolk Gazette, May 13, 1805, illustrates how little concern there was for separating mothers from their children:

'FOR SALE: A Negro woman, in every respect suitable for a farmer-she is 25 years old, and will be sold with or without a girl of four years old.'

Running away became common, indicating a gathering resistance to slavery. Runaways were usually male, usually young and they were often skilled in English. The following advertisement appeared on Sept. 26, 1793, in The Connecticut Gazette:

RAN-away from Nathan Pierson, on Long-Island, the 16th instant, a Negro man named TITE, about 5 feet high, thick set, about 20 years old, very likely; had on when he went away a light coloured homespun coating coat, spotted calico trousers, large smooth plated Buckles. He plays on the violin and fife. Whoever will take up said Negro and confine in the gaol in NewLondon, shall have TEN DOLLARS reward, and all necessary charges, paid by EBENEZER

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DOUGLAS, Gaoler.'

There was no turning back from the commitment made in 1 799. In 1817, the legislature passed the law that ended slavery in New York State, to take effect 10 years later, on July 4, 1827. A loophole in the law that allowed transients to bring slaves into New York for a ninemonth period, and part-time residents to bring their slaves into the state temporarily, was closed in 184l."

From: George De Wan, "Slavery Died a Slow Death in New York" in http://www.history.com/S/hsSl1a.htm.

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Document 6: Disestablishment and Religious Freedom in Revolutionary New York

"By the beginning of the Revolution, New Yorkers had a mixed heritage of religious liberty to contemplate. Since the 1650s, the colony had had both enormous diversity and toleration. The Dutch Reformed establishment had failed to preserve theological homogeneity in the colony while the establishment of the Church of England had only intensified opinion in favor of tolerance and against orthodoxy. The struggle over King's College in the 1750s underscored the hostility to an Anglican establishment in polyglot New York. Immediately before the Revolution, fear of the imminent appointment of an Anglican bishop for the colonies helped exacerbate tension between the colonies and Great Britain. However, in the provincial election of 1769, appeals to religious bigotry by the moderate Whigs backfired, and helped elect more radical Whigs to the colonial legislature. Thus, well before revolutionaries like Jefferson and Paine developed theories of religious liberty based on republican ideology, 'New Yorkers had learned in the crucible of day-to-day living in a multifarious society the value of a neutral state which permitted creeds to compete for the spiritual affection of the citizenry. '

Given this background, it is not surprising that New York State's first constitution guaranteed religious freedom. Nevertheless, the 1777 Constitution is significant for its remarkable degree of religious freedom. More than any other revolutionary state constitution, New York's sought to guarantee full religious freedom. In anticipation of the federal Bill of Rights, the New York Constitution recognized the importance of both the free exercise of religion and the separation of church and state.

The 1777 document did not create religious freedom with a few short clauses, as would the federal Constitution and Bill of Rights. Rather, New York's constitution dealt with religion in a variety of elaborate articles. Taken together they created the most tolerant constitutional order in the new nation. On the question of religious freedom, New York took the lead among the new states ...

New York was not unique in granting freedom of religious practice to all persons.

However, the state did set a standard with the detailed explanation it offered for toleration of religious observance. The 1777 Constitution declared:

'And whereas we are required, by the benevolent principles of rational liberty, not only to expel civil tyranny, but also to guard against that spiritual oppression and intolerance wherewith the bigotry and ambition of weak and wicked priests and princes have scourged mankind, this convention doth further, in the name and by the authority of the good people of this State, ordain, determine, and declare, that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever hereafter be allowed, within this State, to all mankind; provided, that the liberty of conscience, hereby granted, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State ... '

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Conclusions

Disestablishment

Given the religious heterogeneity of the new state, it is perhaps not surprising that Revolutionary New York not only disestablished the Anglican Church, but prohibited any future establishment of any church. Surprisingly, no other state adopted a similar clause in the first constitutions adopted in the Revolutionary era. New York had the only state constitution to disestablish unequivocally a previously established church, prohibit any future establishment, and end state support for specific churches. Even Virginia, famous for adopting the nation's first bill of rights, did not disestablish the Anglican Church until 1786, ten years after that state's first constitution. During the Revolution, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut failed to disestablish their churches. States which did not have an established church before the Revolution, of course, did not establish them afterwards.

On the question of establishment, the New York Constitution might be contrasted with South Carolina's. The Palmetto State's constitution guaranteed that all 'religious societies' which 'acknowledge that there is one God and a future state of rewards and punishments' would be 'freely tolerated' in their public worship. However, in the next sentence the Constitution also declared: 'The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be the established church of this State.' Catholics and Jews were apparently free to live and worship in South Carolina, but they might be denied certain privileges and rights ...

Stephen Botein has argued that in the following period 'there was near consensus in America for all religions, and against assistance to religious organizations if such assistance discriminated against any Protestant.' This statement is only partially true. There was complete consensus on toleration for mainstream Protestants, with less agreement on the rights of Quakers, Mennonites, Unitarians, as well as Catholics, Jews, and other non-Protestants. In the age of a political revolution, we cannot discount the religiously based political discrimination found in every state constitution but Virginia's and New York's, nor can we ignore the persistence of established churches, in more than half the new states, including Virginia.

The New York Constitution of 1777 pointed the way for the rest of the nation.

When delegates from twelve of the new states met in Philadelphia in 1787, they dealt with religion in only one clause for the national constitution: they borrowed from New York's Constitution by prohibiting any religious test for public office. When the Bill of Rights was later added to the federal Constitution, it incorporated the concept of separation of church and state which had first appeared in New York's Constitution of 1777."

From: Paul Finkelman, "The Soul and the State" in New York and the Union, Stephen Schechter et al., eds., Albany: New York State Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, 1990, pp. 78-106.

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Document 7: New York Constitution

Bill of Rights

"Section 1. No member of this state shall be disfranchised or deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers.

Section 2. Trial by jury in all cases in which it has heretofore been guaranteed by constitutional provision shall remain inviolate forever; but a jury trial may be waived by the ....

Section 3. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this state to all mankind; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state.

Section 4. The privilege of a writ or order of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires it.

Section 5. Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor shall cruel and unusual punishments be inflicted, nor shall witnesses be unreasonably detained.

Section 6. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of militia when in actual service, and the land, air and naval forces in time of war, or which this state may keep with the consent of Congress in time of peace, and in cases of petit larceny under the regulation of the legislature), unless on indictment of a grand jury.

Section 7. (a) Private property shall not be take for public use without just compensation.

Section 8. Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.

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Section 9. No law shall be passed abridging the rights of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government, or any department thereof.

Section 11. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, creed or religion, be subjected to any discrimination in his civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state.

Section 12. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Section 17. Labor of human beings is not a commodity nor an article of commerce and shall never be so considered or construed.

No laborer, workman or mechanic, in the employ of a contractor or subcontractor engaged in the performance of any public work, shall be permitted to work more than eight hours in any day or more than five days in any week, except in cases of extraordinary emergency; nor shall he be paid less than the rate of wages prevailing in the same trade or occupation in the locality within the state where such public work is to be situated, erected or used.

Employees shall have the right to organize ,0 bargain collectively

through representatives of their own choosing."

From: http://assembly.state.ny.us/c91-binlconst.?art=3

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Document 8: New York State Constitution: The Executive

Executive

"Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in the governor, who shall hold his office for four years; the lieutenant-governor shall be chosen at the same time, and for the same term. The governor and lieutenant-governor shall be chosen at the general election held in the year nineteen hundred thirty-eight, and each fourth year thereafter. They shall be chosen jointly, by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both offices, and the legislature by law shall provide for making such choice in such manner. The respective persons having the highest number of votes cast jointly for them for governor and lieutenant-governor respectively shall be elected.

Section 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenantgovernor, except a citizen of the United States, of the age of not less than thirty years, and who shall have been five years next preceding his election a resident of this state.

Section 3. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of the state. He shall have power to convene the legislature, or the senate only, on extraordinary occasions. At extraordinary sessions convened pursuant to the provisions of this section no subject shall be acted upon, except such as the governor may recommend for consideration. He shall communicate by message to the legislature at every session the condition of the state, and recommend such matters to it as he shall judge expedient. He shall expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon by the legislature, and shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. He shall receive for his services an annual salary to be fixed by joint resolution of the senate and assembly, and there shall be provided for his use a suitable and furnished executive residence,

Section 4. The governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment. , ,

Section 5. In case of the removal of the governor from office or of his death or resignation, the lieutenant-governor shall become governor for the remainder of the term.

In case the governor-elect shall decline to serve or shall die, the lieutenantgovernor-elect shall become governor for the full term.

In case the governor is impeached, is absent from the state or is otherwise unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the lieutenant-governor shall act as governor until the inability shall cease or until the term of the governor shall expire ...

Section 7. Every bill which shall have passed the senate and assembly shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor; ifhe approve, he shall sign it; but ifnot,

he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections at large on the journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such

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Section 8. No rule or regulation made by any state department, board, bureau, officer, authority or commission, except such as relates to the organization or internal management of a state department, board, bureau, authority or commission shall be effective until it is filed in the office of the department of state. The legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of such rules and regulations by appropriate laws."

reconsideration, two-thirds of the members elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of the members elected to that house, it shall become a law notwithstanding the objections of the governor. In all such cases, the votes in both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not become a law without the approval of the governor. No bill shall become a law after the final adjournment of the legislature, unless approved by the governor within thirty days after such adjournment. If any bill presented to the governor contain several items of appropriation of money, he may object to one or more of such items while approving of the other portion of the bill. In such case, he shall append to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the items to which he objects; and the appropriation so objected to shall not take effect. If the legislature be in session, he shall transmit to the house in which the bill originated a copy of such statement, and the items objected to shall be separately reconsidered. If on reconsideration one or more of such items be approved by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, the same shall be part of the law, notwithstanding the objections of the governor. All the provisions of this section, in relation to bills not approved by the governor, shall apply in cases in which he shall withhold his approval from any item or items contained in a bill appropriating money.

From: http://assembly.state.ny.us.c91_hinlconst?art=6

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Document 9: New York State Constitution: The Assembly

Legislature

"Section 1. The legislative power of this state shall be vested in the senate and assembly.

Section 2. The senate shall consist of fifty members, except as hereinafter provided. The senators elected in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five shall hold their offices for three years, and their successors shall be chosen for two years. The assembly shall consist of one hundred and fifty members. The assemblymen elected in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight, and their successors, shall be chosen for two years ...

No county shall have four or more senators unless it shall have a full ratio for each senator. No county shall have more than one-third of all the senators; and no two counties or the territory thereof as now organized, which are adjoining counties, or which are separated only by public waters, shall have more than one-half of all the senators.

The ratio for apportioning senators shall always be obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, by fifty, and the senate shall always be composed of fifty members, except that if any county having three or more senators at the time of any apportionment shall be entitled on such ratio to an additional senator or senators, such additional senator or senators shall be given to such county in addition to the fifty senators, and the whole number of senators shall be increased to that extent ....

The senate districts, including the present ones, as existing immediately before the enactment of a law readjusting or altering the senate districts, shall continue to be the senate districts of the state until the expirations of the terms of the senators then in office, except for the purpose of an election of senators for full terms beginning at such expirations, and for the formation of assembly districts.

Section 5. The members of the assembly shall be chosen by single districts and shall be apportioned by the legislature at each regular session at which the senate districts are readjusted or altered, and by the same law, among the several counties of the state, as nearly as may be according to the number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens. Every county heretofore established and separately organized, except the county of Hamilton, shall be entitled to one member of assembly, and no county shall hereafter be erected unless its population shall entitle it to a member ...

Section 7. No person shall serve as a member of the legislature unless he or she is a citizen of the United States and has be a resident of New York for five years, and except as hereinafter otherwise prescribed, of the assembly or senate district for the twelve months immediately preceding his or her election ...

Section 12. Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature, and all bills passed by one house may be amended by the other ...

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Section 14. No bill shall be passed or become a law unless it shall have been printed and upon the desks of the members, in its final form, at least three calendar legislative days prior to its final passage, unless the governor, or the acting governor, shall have certified, under his hand and the seal of the state, the facts which in his opinion necessitate an immediate vote thereon, in which case it must nevertheless be upon the desks of the members in final form, not necessarily printed, before its final passage; nor shall any bill be passed or become a law, except by the legislature; and upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereof shall be allowed, and the question upon its final passage shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the ayes and nays entered on the journal. ..

Section 18. The members of the legislature shall be empowered, upon the presentation to the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly of a petition signed by twothirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature, to convene the legislature on extraordinary occasions to act upon the subjects enumerated in such petition ...

Section 25. Notwithstanding any other provision of this constitution, the legislature, in order to ensure continuity of state and local governmental operations in periods of emergency caused by enemy attack or by disasters (natural or otherwise), shall have the power and the immediate duty (1) to provide for prompt and temporary succession to the powers and duties of public offices, of whatever nature and whether filled by election or appointment, the incumbents of which may become unavailable for carrying on the powers and duties of such offices, and (2) to adopt such other measures as may be necessary and proper for ensuring the continuity of governmental operations.

Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit in any way the power of the state to deal with emergencies arising from any cause."

From: http://assembly.state.ny/uslc91_binlconst?art=5

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Document 10: Agenda for Constitutional Reform

"Executive Summary

I. Individual Rights and Liberties

A. Article I, Section 19-The Constitution should be amended to include an explicit right of privacy, guaranteeing to each citizen non-interference with private, personal behavior.

B. Article I, Section II-The Constitution should be amended to guarantee that each citizen is free from discrimination based on gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, national originiethnicity, or martial status.

C. Article I, Section 20-The Constitution should be amended to include a Bill of Rights for children which would guarantee the children of New York the following:

1. That the best interest of the child will be the primary consideration in all

actions concerning them;

2. That the state shall protect the child from discrimination;

3. That the state shall ensure the child's well-being and safety;

4. That the state shall ensure that institutions responsible for the care of children conform to health and safety standards;

5. That the state shall recognize the right of a child to express hislher opinion freely in all matters concerning himlher;

6. That the state shall take appropriate measures to protect the child from all forms of physical and mental abuse.

D. Article VI, Section 32-The Constitution should be amended to remove religion as a factor in determining suitability for adoption.

II. The Rights of Working People

A. Article I, Section 17-The Constitution should be amended to further ensure that wage rates on government funded projects are consistent with private sector wage rates.

B. Article I, Section 17-The Constitution should be amended to index the statutory minimum wage to the rate of inflation.

C. Article I, Section 17-The Constitution should be amended to guarantee to all public and private workers a safe and sanitary workplace.

VII. Education

A. Article XI, Section I-The Constitution should be amended to guarantee to each citizen the right to a basic and adequate education.

B. Article XI, Section 2-The Constitution should be amended to guarantee the status and integrity of the state and city university systems."

From: "Agenda for Constitutional Reform," New York Law Journal, 1997, vol. 22, pp. 7-9 in http://www.nylj.com.llinks/ con_ brodsky. html

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The constitutions of The State of New York have had a profound effect on the constitutions of the other sates and on the federal Constitution

5. Crosswalk

Boyer, Paul The American Nation, Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 79, 127

Bailey, Thomas et. al. The American Pageant, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 38-39,154

6. Thematic Essay

Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs explaining your position, and a conclusion.

THEME: New York Constitution

TASK

• Discuss two laws or legal precedents that influenced the present Constitution of the State Of New York.

• Explain two ways in which the Constitution of New York protects your rights as a citizen and one way you would change the state constitution to make it more responsive to your needs.

You may use any example from your study of United States history and government. Some suggestions you might wish to consider include the Great Law of Peace, the trial of Peter Zenger, the Albany Plan of Union, the American Revolution, slavery in New York State, disestablishment in New York State, the New York Bill of Rights and separation of power in New York State.

You are not limited to these suggestions.

7. Additional Strategies and Projects

• Hold a state constitutional convention. Using the documents and exercises that students have completed, have students propose changes to the Constitution, with groups forming subcommittees for each of the branches of government

• Invite a state assembly person, state senator or city council person to attend your mock constitutional convention to make suggestions for reform

• Organize a class day trip to Albany to see the senate or assembly in session and to visit the Governor's Office.

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Topic 5: The Articles of Confederation

1. Suggested Aims:

• Why was there a "Critical Period"?

• How limited should the powers of the national government be?

• What were the major strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

• How important were the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

2. Time Line:

1781

1782

1784 1785 1786 1787

1790

1788

1783

1789

• 1781: Articles of Confederation confirmed by all states.

• 1781: British surrender at Yorktown.

• 1783: Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War.

• 1785: Land Ordinance of 1785 is passed.

• 1786: "Shays' Rebellion" takes place in Massachusetts.

• 1786: Annapolis Convention meets to discuss possibly changing the Articles of

Confederation. It decides to hold a "Constitutional Convention" the following year.

• 1787: Constitutional Convention takes place in Philadelphia.

• 1787: Final version of Northwest Ordinance is passed.

• 1788: U.S. Constitution is ratified.

3. Key Vocabulary Words:

confederation, legislative branch, executive branch, unicameral, bicameral,

Critical Period, elite, Albany Plan of Union, Haudenosaunee (or League of the Iroquois), federalism, amend, ratify

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4. Strategies and Documents:

• Distribute Documents 1-8. Inform students that they relate to the Articles of Confederation.

1. Have students look at the list of grievances against the king found in the Declaration of Independence (Document 1). Students divide grievances (using a semantic map) into categories (economic, political, military). Students work in groups or as a class to devise a form of government that would eliminate the grievances.

2. Have students imagine that they come from a state that has already ratified the Articles of Confederation. Ask them to view Documents 2 and 5. Next, they must write a letter to Maryland, who refused to ratify the Articles until Virginia and other states cede their western land claims. They must then convince Maryland to immediately ratify the Articles. Students could exchange letters or they could take the role of a Marylander explaining why Maryland is refusing to ratify the Articles until Virginia cedes its land.

3. Have students read Documents 2, 7, and 8. They should then break into groups. Each group must decide whether the Articles of Confederation should be discarded and a new government should be established. Each group must make a poster, broadside (newsposter), or fight song to support its opinion.

4. Divide students into pairs (or larger groups) and have each group make a chart. Ask the students to read Documents 1-6. One side of the chart should indicate the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation; the other side of the chart should indicate the strengths of the Articles. Have the team write a paragraph for each item on the chart explaining the reasons for its placement on either the weakness or strength column. Also, ask students to make a decision about whether Documents 7 and 8 belong on the strength or weakness column of the chart.

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Document 1: The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

On July 2 and July 3, J 776 the Continental Congress considered the Declaration of Independence. which. with the exception of a few amendments by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, was the work of Thomas Jefferson. The preamble is the part that is most quoted as a powerful assertion of man 's natural rights of revolution The Declaration of Independence also contains a long list qf grievances against George III and "others" (the ministry and Parliament).

" ... The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation ...

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people ...

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands ...

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our

legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power ... (He has quartered) large bodies of armed troops among us ....

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States ... and that all political connections between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do ... "

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Document 2: The Articles of Confederation

After the Second Continental Congress had declared independence ill July of 1776, they set to work on creating a new government. John Dickinson drafted a set of rules and Congress debated them for the next year, while simultaneously fighting the war with Britain. Congress approved a final draft in November of 1777 and sent it to the states for ratification. After much debate, 12 states agreed to ratify the document by 1779. Maryland refused to ratify until the states with western land claims agreed to cede those claims to the central government. Virginia eventually agreed, and the Articles of Confederation became the law of the land on March 1, 1781. Below you will find excerpts of the Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation

"ARTICLE II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled.

ARTICLE V .... Delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each state shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each state, to recall its delegates, or nay of them, at any time within the year, and to send other in their stead ...

In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote ...

ARTICLE III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatsoever.

ARTICLE VI. No state, without the Consent of the United States in Congress assembled, shall send an embassy to receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with any King, prince or state ...

ARTICLE VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states in proportion to the value of aU land within each state ...

The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled.

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ARTICLE IX. The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states-fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the united statesregulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the states, provide that the legislative right of any state within its own limits be not infringed or violated ... "

From: Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the American Republic 1763-89, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977, pp. 100-111, 163-170.

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Document 3: Land Ordinance of 1785

Congress appointed a committee headed by Thomas Jefferson to work out a plan for the administration of the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Territory consisted of those lands ceded by the thirteen original states that lay west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River, smith of British Canada (and the Great Lakes), and east of Spanish Louisiana (the Mississippi River). The Land Ordinance of May 20, 1785 was written to specify how the Northwest Territory was to be divided

"Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, that the territory ceded by individual states to the United States, which has been purchased of the Indian inhabitants, shall be disposed of in the following manner:

... The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall proceed to divide the said territory into townships of six miles square, by lines running due north and south, and others crossing these at right angles, as near as may be ...

The first line, running north and south as aforesaid, shall begin on the river Ohio, at a point that shall be found to be due north from the western termination of a line, which has been run as the southern boundary of the state of Pennsylvania; and the first line running east and west, shall begin at the same point and shall extend throughout the whole territory ... The geographer shall designate the townships, or fractional parts of townships, by numbers progressively from south to north; always beginning each range with number one; and the ranges shall be distinguished by their progressive numbers to the westward ....

The plots of the townships, respectively, shall be marked by subdivisions into lots of one mile square, or 640 acres, in the same direction as the external lines, and numbered from 1 to 35; always beginning the succeeding range of the lots with the number next to that with which the preceding one concluded ...

There shall be reserved for the United States out of every township, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11,26,29, and out of every fractional part ofa township, so many lots of the same numbers as shall be found thereon, for future sale. There shall be reserved the lot N 16, of every township, for the maintenance of public schools, within the said township; also one third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines, to be sold, or otherwise disposed of as Congress shall hereafter direct ...

"

From: Jack Greene, ed., Colonies to Nation, 1763-1789, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1975, pp. 466-469.

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Document 4: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

The Northwest Ordinance of J 78 7 was a revision of part of Jefferson's original proposal.

This law provided for establishment of a temporary government and specified the procedures for transforming each territory into a state. The Northwest Ordinance also dealt with the issues of education, slavery, freedom of religion, and therefore provided for the extension of republican institutions and is considered to be the best manifestation of the principals of the American Revolution.

"Be it ordained ... , That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term for three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress ...

So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their countries or townships, to represent them in the general assembly; Provided, That for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one

representative ... Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative, unless he ... hold in his own right, in fee-simple, two hundred acres ofland ...

Article III. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress ...

Article V. ... And whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to government, so to be formed, shall be republican ....

Article VI. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory .... Provided always, That any person escaping from the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in anyone of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforementioned."

From: Jack Greene, ed., Colonies to Nation. 1763-1789, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1975, pp. 469-474.

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Document 5: Map of Land Claims

One issue that delayed ratification 0/ the Articles of Confederation was the western land claims of some states. Some states, referring back to their original royal charters, laid claim to land asfar west as the Mississippi River, some even to the Pacific Ocean. Other states (Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) however, had fixed boundaries and were concerned with being overwhelmed by their larger neighbors. A guarantee was made that the land would be ceded, and Maryland ratified the Articles of Confederation. The following maps show the claims made by the original states and the land they eventually ceded.

WESTERN LAND CLAIMS BY STATES

WESTERN LAND CLAIMS CEDED

~

>0O )(iiol!'>Or.r.

From: Corinne Hekker, New York and the Nation, New York: Amsco School Publications, 1996, p.200.

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-

Document 6: The Land Ordinance of 1785: A Diagram

Public lands in the new territories were divided into townships, with each township divided into 36 sections. Different sections were set aside for specific uses. Congress auctioned off the remaining sections at no less than a dollar an acre. Most of the land was bought by speculators, who in tum subdivided the land into smaller lots and sold those to farmers.

The Ordinance of 1785

Public lands were divided into townships

1

\ \ \

/ \

/ \

/

oE <' 6 miles ---~~

/' '

1·~ Each township was . t divided into

12'1 36 sections

1

13"~

6 5 4 3 2
7 8 9 10 11
1~·· 17 .,5.' 14
19 20> 21 22 23' 24f- Reserved ! to support

2~ schools

<D

130 29,. 2&, 27. 2&·

31 32 ~ 34 'M, 3&i

/ ."

/ -,

/ )

t half section I (320 acres)

Jt'

·e

Each section could be divided into smaller lots

halt quarter

(80 acres»

quarter'

1 section (160 acres)

+oE--1 mile--+

From: AMERICA: The Glorious Republic, Boston: Houghton Mifllin, 1990, p. 165.

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A) jefferson-In December of 1783, Thomas jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the United States ambassador to France during much of the Critical Period, wrote the following in a letter:

Document 7: The "Founding Fathers" on the Articles of Confederation

"The constant session of Congress cannot be necessary in time of peace ... (the delegates should) separate and return to our respective states, leaving only a Committee of the states ... (and thus) destroy the strange idea of their being a permanent body, which has unaccountably taken possession of the heads of their constituents, and occasion jealousies injurious to the public good."

From: Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic. 1776-1787, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1969, p. 539.

B) Washington-In june of 1783, George Washington took the opportunity offered by the disbanding of his army to send a circular letter to the states. In this letter he insists ...

"That, unless the States will suffer Congress to exercise those prerogatives they are undoubtedly invested with by the constitution (Articles of Confederation), everything must rapidly tend to anarchy and confusion. That it is indispensable to the happiness of the individual States, that there should be lodged somewhere a supreme power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the confederated republic, without which the Union cannot be oflong duration. There must be a faithful and pointed compliance, on the part of every State, with the late proposals and demands of Congress, or the most fatal consequences will ensue."

From: Jack Greene, ed., Colonies to Nation. 1763-1789, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1975, pp. 436-439.

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C) Hamilton-After many attempts to amend the Articles of Confederationfailed, a convention was held at Annapolis, Maryland in September 1786. Delegates from only five states attended, but they adopted all address by Alexander Hamilton of New York callingfor all the states to send delegates to a new convention in Philadelphia the following May. A portion of Hamilton's address follows:

"That there are important defects in the system of the Federal Government is acknowledged by the Acts of all those States, which have concurred in the present Meeting; That the defects, upon a closer examination, may be found greater and more numerous, than even these acts imply, is at least so probable, from the embarrassments which characterise the present State of our national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion .... A Convention of Deputies from the different States, for the special and sole purpose of entering into this investigation, and digesting a plan for supplying such defects as may be discovered to exist [and] ... to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union ... "

From: Jack Greene, ed., Colonies to Nation. 1763-1789, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975, pp. 509-511.

D) Wilson-In the summer of 1787, Pennsylvanian James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence made the following statement ...

"Among the first sentiments expressed in the first Congress one was that Virginia is no more, that Massachusetts is no more, that Pennsylvania is no more. We are now one nation of brethren. We must bury all local interests and distinctions. This language continued for some time. The tables at length began to tum. No sooner were the State Governments formed than their jealously and ambition began to display themselves. Each endeavored to cut a slice from the common loaf, to add to its own morsel, till at length the confederation became frittered down to the impotent condition in which it now stands."

From: Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the American Republic] 763-89, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977, pp. 125-126.

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Document 8: Secondary Sources Evaluate the Critical Period

The following are excerpts of books and articles written about the Articles of Confederation and the Critical Period.

* * * * *

A) " ... Congress had steadily declined in power and in respectability; it was much weaker at the end of the war than at the beginning; and there was reason to fear that as soon as the common pressure was removed, the need for concerted action would quite cease to be felt, and the scarcely formed Union would break into pieces ... There was an intensely powerful sentiment in favour of local self-government .... There was much reason to fear that the release from the common adhesion to Great Britain would end in setting up thirteen little republics, ripe for endless squabbling, like the republics of ancient Greece and medievalltaly, and ready to become the prey of England and Spain, even as Greece became the prey of Macedonia."

From: John Fiske, The Critical Period of American History, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifllin ,1888, 1916, pp. 55-57.

B) "The nation's first written constitution-the Articles of Confederation ... provided a toothless central government. Disorder erupted, especially in Massachusetts, but they were exaggerated by the wealthier groups [federalists] in the hope of substituting a stronger central

government. .. [The Articles] were for those days a model of what a loose confederation ought to be. Thomas Jefferson hailed the new structure as the best government 'existing or that ever did exist' . .. As the first written constitution of the Republic, the Articles kept alive the flickering ideal of union and held the states together. .. The anemic Articles represented what the states regarded as an alarming surrender of their power. Without this intermediary jump, they probably would never have consented to the breath-taking leap from the old Continental Congress to the present Constitution of the United States."

* * * * *

From: Thomas A. Bailey, The American Pageant, Boston: D.C. Heath, 1961, pp.121, 132-133.

C) "In retrospect it is possible to see that the diplomatic failures of the Confederation period were the results of forces that lay beyond the control of the United States in its infant condition. Though independent, its three million people scarcely constituted a world

power ... and could not command respect in Europe .... They [the leaders of the government] struggled to operate the government they had created and repeatedly found themselves blocked by a lack ofpower ... Once the war ceased and united action became less urgent, rapidly ... [and] the state governments grew contemptuous of its [Congress'] authority. They Congress became increasingly timid about asserting itself, and its strength ebbed violated the Articles of Confederation by ignoring the nation's treaties with foreign countries, by waging war with the Indians, by building navies of their own. They sent men with less vision and less

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ability to represent them and at times failed to send any, so that Congress could scarcely muster a quorum to do business."

From: Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic 1763-89 Revised Edition, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1956, 1977, pp. 122-124.

5. Crosswalk

AMERICA: Pathways to the Present, Prentice Hall: 1995, pp.126-I35

Who Built America?, American Social History Productions, Inc.: Pantheon Books, 1989, pp.156- 170

New York and the Nation, Amsco School Publications: 1996, pp. 198-227 AMERICA: The Glorious Republic, Houghton Miftlin: 1990, pp. 158-173 American Voices, Scott Foresman: 1992, pp. 69-71

6. Sample Exam Questions: Document Based Question

This task is based on the accompanying 6 documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purpose of this task. This task is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents and to take into account both the source of each document and the author's point of view.

Directions: Read the documents in Part A and answer the question after each document. Then read the directions for Part B and write your essay.

Historical Context: The period from the British surrender at Yorktown through 1789 has often been called the Critical Period of American history. The new nation's government, the Articles of Confederation, purposefully gave little power to the central government. Despite its many frustrations and shortcomings, the Articles of Confederation was able to claim a long list of accomplishments. As the 1780's progressed, however, a growing number of people sought to strengthen the central government, and their wishes were realized in the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in May, 1787.

Task: "The Articles of Confederation was a successful government for the new nation. It successfully steered America through its 'Critical Period'''. Write an essay in which you

• Discuss a success of the Articles of Confederation

• Discuss a failure of the Articles of Confederation

• Evaluate the above statement

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Part A Short Answer

Directions:

• Analyze the documents and answer the questions that follow each document in the space provided.

Document 2:

1. How is Congress to raise money?

2. What evidence is there that the states retain a great deal of power under this form of government?

Document 4:

3. How will the new states that are created be treated by the U. S. Government?

Document 5:

4. Name two states that ceded land to the central government.

Document 7B:

5. What is Washington's complaint to the states?

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Document 7D:

6. How does Wilson view the present government that has "become frittered down to the impotent condition in which it now stands?"

Document sc

7. According to Morgan, how do the states treat the government after the American Revolution is over?

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PartB Essay

Directions:

Using information from the documents provided, and your knowledge of United States history, write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Historical Context: The period from the British surrender at Yorktown through 1789 has often been called the "Critical Period" of American history. The new nation's government, the Articles of Confederation, purposefully gave little power to the central government. Despite its many frustrations and shortcomings, the Articles of Confederation was able to claim a long list of accomplishments. As the 1780's progressed, however, a growing number of people sought to strengthen the central government, and their wishes were realized in the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in May 1787.

Task: "The Articles of Confederation was a successful government for the new nation. It successfully steered America through its 'Critical Period'''. Write an essay in which you

• Discuss a success of the Articles of Confederation

• Discuss a failure of the Articles of Confederation

• Evaluate the above statement

Guidelines:

Be sure to:

• Address all aspects of the Task by accurately analyzing and interpreting at least four

documents.

• Incorporate information from the documents in the body of the essay.

• Incorporate relevant outside information throughout the essay.

• Richly support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details.

• Write a well-developed essay that consistently demonstrates a logical and clear plan or organization.

• Introduce the theme by establishing a framework that is beyond a simple restatement of the Task or Historical Context and conclude the essay with a summation of the theme.

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Additional Strategies and Projects:

1. Have students examine the Articles of Confederation. Compare the powers listed and restricted from the government to the grievances listed against the King in the Declaration of Independence. (Standard E6a)

2. Divide the class into groups. Each group makes ~map of North America in 1783, indicating the boundaries of the United States, each of the 13 states, western land claims (including areas of dispute), and land controlled by foreign countries (including areas of dispute). A key should be made to indicate the various areas. A report of their research should be presented. (Standard E3d)

3. Students create a graphic organizer that shows the various steps that territories in the Northwest had to go through to become a state. (A series offootprints) They will write a narrative procedure of the steps. (Standard E2d)

4. Students create a collage or puzzle showing all the components that led up to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. They could also create a visual that shows the steps that led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution. They will make oral presentations. (Standard E3c)

5. Students create a newspaper of the Critical Period. Articles could cover the issues of Shays' Rebellion, difficulty of Congress to collect taxes, immigration to the West, economic difficulties of the new nation, Mount Vernon and Annapolis Conventions, and news from France and England. (Standard E2a)

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Topic 6: The Constitutional Convention - 1787

1. Suggested Aims:

• How critical was "The Critical Period?"

• How did the authors of the Constitution remedy the weaknesses of the Articles of

Confederation?

• What were the important compromises in drafting the Constitution?

• Why were the powers of the national government purposely limited by the Constitution?

• What kinds of people were the delegates? Why weren't women or African-Americans

included?

• Upon which principles of government did the framers agree and disagree?

• How did the compromises deal with slavery issues?

• How was the national government under the Constitution different from that under the Articles?

2. Time Line

1781

1783

1786

1787

1788

1781: Articles of Confederation confirmed by all states 1783: Treaty of Paris ends Revolutionary War.

1786: Shays' Rebellion occurs.

1786: Annapolis Convention discusses changing the Articles of Confederation. 1787: Constitutional Convention takes place in Philadelphia.

1788: Constitution is ratified

4. Strategies and Documents

3. Key Vocabulary Words

Constitution, compromise, tyranny, federalism, reserved powers, supremacy clause, executive branch, legislative branch, judicial branch, separation of powers, checks and balances, veto, impeachment, bicameral, Critical Period, three-fifths compromise

Cooperative learning:

1. Have students divide into groups offive. Each student should read the document ofhislher number. Groups having the same number should convene to discuss the content of their document, and to fill in a "KWL" graphic organizer. (What do I KNOW? What do I WANT to know? And then at the conclusion, What more do I want to LEARN?) Students should then return to their original groups, and each should "teach" hislher document to the rest of the group.

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2. Compromises - Each group takes one of the compromises made at the Convention, e.g., Three-fifths Compromise, Slave Trade Compromise, Commerce Compromise. Each group should fill in a "tree", giving main idea, different views and compromise, e.g.,

Problem

Opinion 1

Opinion 2

Compromise.

Each group then presents its "tree" to the other groups in order to explain the compromises. The other groups take notes to understand the other compromises. (Standard E2b)

3. Each group takes one of the document questions, and after reading the document and the notes, answers its question. Each group then explains its question to the others in the class.

4. Question: Is compromise necessary for the effective functioning of our government? Groups use their notes and their knowledge of social studies to debate this question. Each group is given a point of view and asked to write two reasons to support its point of view and two reasons against its point of view. Then groups are asked to debate the question, also using information from present-day government. (Standard E3b)

5. Students will role-playa time when there will soon be a vote on slavery. Groups prepare a broadside (wall newspaper) using some words from one of the documents. This broadside should be written to try to make the men at the Convention vote in a particular way on slavery. (Standard E3c)

6. Using their knowledge of social studies, groups will discuss why women were not involved in the Convention. Ideas can be compiled into a "K W L" chart for reference to later eras of social studies.

7. Using evidence from at least six of the documents and the students' knowledge of social studies, students write an essay on the topic "Compromise was necessary for the ratification of the Constitution." Students could then assess their own essay using the generic rubric supplied. (Standard E2f)

8. Students could take the role of one of the points of view, using the documents and their textbooks. They could then participate in a "fishbowl" exercise. In this exercise, each group represents a point of view, and prepares ideas. One member of each group is placed in the middle (or at the front of a class) debating the compromises. Other group members are not allowed to speak, but may pass notes giving help. At the teachers' nod, the students in the fishbowl exchange places with someone else in their group. (Standard E3b)

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Document 1: Charles Pinckney on equality

"The people of the U.S. may be divided into three classes - Professional men who must from their particular pursuits always have a considerable weight in the government while it remains popular - Commercial men, who mayor may not have weight as a wise or injudicious commercial policy is pursued ... The third is the landed interest, the owners and cultivators of the soil, who are and ought ever to be the governing spring in the system.

These three classes, however distinct in their pursuits, are individually equal in the political

scale, and may be easily proved to have but one interest. The merchant depends on the planter. Both must in private as well as public affairs be connected with the professional men; who in their turn must in some measure depend on them. Hence it is clear ... that after all there is one, but one great and equal body of citizens composing the inhabitants of this Country among whom there are no distinctions of rank, and very few or none of fortune. If

(Mr. Charles Pinckney)

From: Jack P. Greene, ed, Colonies to Nation, New York: Penguin Books, 1975, pp. 532-533.

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Document 2: Benjamin Franklin Urging Delegates to Sign the Constitution

"I agree to this constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe further that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it ... .I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an Assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it

does .... Thus I consent to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best ... Much of the strength and efficiency of any government in procuring and securing happiness to the people depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the Government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors. I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution ... On the whole ... I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the convention who may still have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion ... , put his name on this instrument. ...

Whilst the last members were signing it, Doctor Franklin look(ed) towards the President's Chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted. He observed to a few members near him, that the Painters had found it difficult to distinguish a rising from a setting sun .... and that he had often in the course of the session ... had not known whether it was rising or setting. 'But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun. '"

(Benjamin Franklin)

From: Jack P. Greene, ed., Colonies to Nation, New York: Penguin Books, 1975, pp. 546-547.

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Document 3: Patrick Henry on the Drawbacks of the Constitution

"This constitution is said to have beautiful features; but when I come to examine these features, they appear to me horribly frightful. Among other deformities ... it squints towards monarchy ...

If your American chief be a man of ambition and abilities, how easy it is for him to render himself absolute! The army is in his hands ... it will be attached to him, and it will ... seize the

first auspicious moment to accomplish his design ... If we make a king, we may prescribe the rules by which he shall rule his people, and interpose such checks as shall prevent him from infringing them; but the President, in the field, at the head of his army, can prescribe the terms on which he shall remain master ... "

(Patrick Henry)

Your President may easily become king. Your Senate is so imperfectly constructed that your dearest rights may be sacrificed by what may be a small minority; and a very small minority may continue forever unchangeably this government ... Where are your checks in this government? It . is on a supposition that your American governors shall be honest, that all the good qualities of

this government are founded, but its defective and imperfect construction puts it in their power to perpetrate the worst of mischiefs should they be bad men ...

From: Irwin Unger and Robert B. Tomes, American Issues, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1999, pp. 114=115.

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Document 4: A Case Against the Constitution

"We (fought) with Great Britain, some said, for a three-penny duty on tea, but it was not that - it was because they claimed a right to 'tax us and bind us in all cases whatsoever.' And does not this constitution do the same? Does it not take away all we have, all our property? Does it not lay all taxes duties, imposts and excises? And what more have we to give? They tell us Congress (will be able to) collect all the money they want by impost (tax on imports). I say there has always been a difficulty about impost. Whenever the ( state legislature) was going to lay an impost, they would tell us it was more than trade could bear, and that it hurt the fair trader, and encouraged smuggling, and there will always be the same objection - they won't be able to raise money enough by impost, and then they will lay it on the land, and take all we have got. These lawyers, and men of learning, and moneyed men, that talk so finely and floss over matters so smoothly, to make us, poor illiterate people, swallow down the pill, expect to get into Congress themselves, they expect to be the managers of this constitution, and get all the power and all the money into their own hands, and then they will swallow up all us little folks ... just as the whale swallowed up Jonah. This is what I am afraid of"

(Amos Singletary)

From: Eyewitnesses and Others, Vol. 1, New York: Holt Reinhart and Winston, Inc, 1991, p.143.

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