11.2 - Constitutional Foundations

Eleventh Grade - Eleventh Social Studies - 11.2 - Constitutional Foundations

From EngageNY

Growing political and economic tensions led the American colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain. Once independent, the new nation confronted the challenge of creating a stable federal republic.

11.2a Following the French and Indian War, the British government attempted to gain greater political and economic control over the colonies. Colonists resisted these efforts, leading to increasing tensions between the colonists and the British government.

• Students will examine British efforts to gain greater political and economic control, such as the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, the Tea Act, the Boston Massacre, and the Coercive Acts, and colonial reactions to these efforts.

11.2b Failed attempts to mitigate the conflicts between the British government and the colonists led the colonists to declare independence, which they eventually won through the Revolutionary War, which affected individuals in different ways.

• Students will examine the purpose of and the ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence and consider its long term impacts.
• Students will examine the impacts of the Revolutionary War on workers, African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

11.2c Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to a convention whose purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation but instead resulted in the writing of a new Constitution. The ratification debate over the proposed Constitution led the Federalists to agree to add a bill of rights to the Constitution.

• Students will examine the weaknesses and successes of government under the Articles of Confederation.
• Students will explore the development of the Constitution, including the major debates and their resolutions, which included compromises over representation, taxation, and slavery.
• Students will examine the structure, power, and function of the federal government as created by the Constitution, including key constitutional principles such as the division of power between federal and state government, the separation of powers at the federal level, the creation of checks and balances, the sovereignty of the people, and judicial independence.
• Students will examine the key points of debate expressed in the Federalist Papers and the Antifederalist Papers, focusing on the protection of individual rights and the proper size for a republic.
• Students will examine the rights and protections provided by the Bill of Rights and to whom they initially applied.

11.2d Under the new Constitution, the young nation sought to achieve national security and political stability, as the three branches of government established their relationships with each other and the states.

• Students will identify presidential actions and precedents established by George Washington, including those articulated in his Farewell Address.
• Students will examine Hamilton’s economic plan, the debate surrounding the plan, and its impacts on the development of political parties.
• Students will examine the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power established in the presidential election of 1800 and compare it to the presidential election of 2000, focusing on the roles of the Electoral College and Congress in 1800 and the Electoral College and the Supreme Court in 2000.
• Students will examine Supreme Court cases, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden, and analyze how these decisions strengthened the powers of the federal government.