Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

Happy Constitution Day, September 17, 2014!

On September 17, 1787, the Founders shared the Constitution with the American public. Over the next year, Americans debated whether to approve the new Constitution. Federalists were in favor of ratification, and the anti-Federalists wanted to see it rejected.

Your prompt: Compare and contrast the views of Anti-Federalist Melancton Smith and Federalist Alexander Hamilton in a well written paragraph.

Task: Make sure your paragraph has the following elements:

• Explaining how each felt about representation in the new Constitution
• Explaining what kind of government each wanted to see
• From the document text, infer what kinds of people  supported the Federalists and anti-Federalists -- explain what led you to that inference
• Use brief quotations from the texts to support your ideas -- make sure you explain any quotes that you use

Declaration of Independence

Our students have been analyzing the Declaration of Independence, and have been looking at the work of two historians, Bernard Bailyn and Howard Zinn, who answered the question, "Why did the Founders write the Declaration of Independence?"

Now, the students will explain which historian makes a better case. In a well written paragraph,  the students will respond to this prompt:

• Contrast Bernard Bailyn and Howard Zinn's ideas about the Declaration of Independence
• Explain the main ideas of Bailyn and Zinn. Use short quotes from each historian to support your writing
• Find one example from the text of the Declaration that supports Bailyn, and 1 that supports  Zinn. Use short quotes from the text, and explain how each supports the historian
• In a short conclusion, explain which historian is correct, and why