Day 11
Learning Targets: Students will be able to...
- Explain how societal needs affect the constitutional allocation of power between the national and state governments.
- Articulate a defensible claim/thesis.
- Explain how the appropriate balance of power between national and state governments has been interpreted differently over time.
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Opener: Where does this excerpt come from? What do the bolded words mean?
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Activity #1: Federalist #10 ASAP+
Federalist Paper 10 - James Madison
Written by James Madison, this essay defended the form of republican government proposed by the Constitution. Critics of the Constitution argued that the proposed federal government was too large and would be unresponsive to the people.
In response, Madison explored majority rule versus minority rights in this essay. He countered that it was exactly the great number of factions and diversity that would avoid tyranny. Groups would be forced to negotiate and compromise among themselves, arriving at solutions that would respect the rights of minorities. Further, he argued that the large size of the country would actually make it more difficult for factions to gain control over others.
Among the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction… By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community… The causes of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects… If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote… A pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction… The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States.
1. What did Madison mean by factions? Are factions inevitable? What would we call a faction today?
2. Explain how Madison believed a large republic would protect its citizens from factions better than a small democracy.
3. Are Madison’s views on our federal government controlling factions true today? Why or why not.
Entire text of Fed 10 here:
Activity #2 - U-Debate
· Below, there are a series of statements that represent the types of issues that we will explore in our study of government and politics. After reading each statement you should decide whether or not you agree or disagree. After you have decided whether or not you agree, you will move (when told to do so) according to a U-shaped classroom continuum.
· The more that you agree with that statement, the further you should sit on the left side of the classroom (near the bookshelf). The more you disagree, the further right (toward the teacher's desk). If you are undecided, you should sit in the middle, toward the back of the room. The center of the classroom is for those students who are "lost in the sauce" and are still working out what the statement means.
* As other students express their thoughts, you are encouraged to move along the u-continuum if your viewpoint changes during the debate. Remember, to win people to your side you have to be convincing and avoid personal attacks, rude comments, or any other behaviors that push people away.
- In Brutus#1, Yates is correct in claiming that the Supremacy Clause, Commerce Clause, and Necessary and Proper Clause, has created an expensive, bloated, and overpowering national government.
- In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson claims that “governments long standing should not be changed for light or transient causes”.
- Many of the national conflicts that we see today, because of the differing lifestyles and political beliefs in different states, would NOT exist if we had listened to the Anti-Federalists and remained under the Articles of Confederation.
Close - Homework #2
Unit 1 Review Packet Distribution
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Opener: Where does this excerpt come from? What do the bolded words mean?
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Activity #1: Federalist #10 ASAP+
Federalist Paper 10 - James Madison
Written by James Madison, this essay defended the form of republican government proposed by the Constitution. Critics of the Constitution argued that the proposed federal government was too large and would be unresponsive to the people.In response, Madison explored majority rule versus minority rights in this essay. He countered that it was exactly the great number of factions and diversity that would avoid tyranny. Groups would be forced to negotiate and compromise among themselves, arriving at solutions that would respect the rights of minorities. Further, he argued that the large size of the country would actually make it more difficult for factions to gain control over others.
Among the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction… By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community… The causes of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects… If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote… A pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction… The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States.
1. What did Madison mean by factions? Are factions inevitable? What would we call a faction today?
2. Explain how Madison believed a large republic would protect its citizens from factions better than a small democracy.
3. Are Madison’s views on our federal government controlling factions true today? Why or why not.
Entire text of Fed 10 here:
Activity #2 - U-Debate
· Below, there are a series of statements that represent the types of issues that we will explore in our study of government and politics. After reading each statement you should decide whether or not you agree or disagree. After you have decided whether or not you agree, you will move (when told to do so) according to a U-shaped classroom continuum.
· The more that you agree with that statement, the further you should sit on the left side of the classroom (near the bookshelf). The more you disagree, the further right (toward the teacher's desk). If you are undecided, you should sit in the middle, toward the back of the room. The center of the classroom is for those students who are "lost in the sauce" and are still working out what the statement means.
Close - Homework #2
Unit 1 Review Packet Distribution
Unit 1 Review Packet Distribution
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