Colonies of America Lesson 2

Mrs. Smith Compromises (Early Colonies)
(Lesson 2)

I. Pre Instructional Phase
1. NYS Standards:
SS Standards 1, 2,3& 5- Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States.
- use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
- use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live- national and global- including the distribution of people, places and environments over the Earth’s surface.
- use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, fights and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
ELA Standards 1, 3- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for:
- information and understanding
- critical analysis and evaluation
2. Lesson Objectives: (LWDAT= Learner Will Demonstate Ability To)
Cognitive:
a) Given the information provided about problems with the Articles of the Confederation, LWDAT critically analyze and describe why that government failed and the new Constitution has lasted until present day
b) Given the information about the different compromises, LWDAT analyze what makes a good government and what make a weak government.



Affective:
a) LWDAT listen and respect his or her peers and teachers while working on notes together
3. Content:
Concept- Students will be learning about the early government and the difference between the Article of the Confederates and the present day Constitution. Before working in groups we will discuss why having a weak central government is a bad idea. We will also figure out why the current government has been able to work so well
Key Vocabulary-
Treaty of Paris- in 1783, this formally ended the Revolutionary War for Independence with Great Britain
Northwest Ordinance- in 1787, it allowed for the formation of not less than three and no more than five states; forbidding slavery in all of these states (Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin)
Shay’s Rebellion- in 1787, farmers revolted in protested of losing their farms because of non-payment of their debt-the Articles of the Confederation were too weak to do anything to help, so the Constitutional Convention was being hastened
The Constitutional Convention- in 1787, created to form a strong, national government. Representatives from each state attended according to the population of the state, with slaves counting as 3/5ths a person
Virginia Plan- plan to have a government where the House of Representatives were elected by popular vote and a Senate elected by the House. This would have given the more populous states control of the national legislature
The New Jersey Plan- provide for a single legislature where all states were to equal representation
The Great Compromise- was finally decided that the states will be equally represented in the senate and are represented in the House of Representatives in proportion to their populations
3/5ths Clause- Southern black slaves were counted as 35ths a citizen for purposes of proportional representation
Task Analysis
- key vocabulary in the students’ notebooks
- discuss difference between weak central gov. and a strong one; why US Constitution has worked so well
- take notes on the compromises
4. Instructional Aides/ Resources
- whiteboard markers
- notebooks
5. Student Modifications:
- positive reinforcement for students that have classroom disturbance problem
- start homework in class
II. Interactive Phase
6A. Set/ Focusing Event:
***Write the vocabulary on the board
“Good morning class, today we will have a more traditional class today because we are working on learning about the difference between the first government that the colonies put together under the Articles of the Confederation and the government created under the rules of the Constitution. We will be looking specifically at the compromises and tomorrow we will learn a little about the different founders and I will have a slide for you to watch.
“The first thing that we are going to do today is go over our six vocabulary words” ***Write and explain the vocabulary words
Bridge:
“Now I am handing out a partial outline for your notes. While I am talking, you will see that I pause or say a specific word or name twice that is another way of me saying hint, hint this word should be written in the blank in your notes.
6B Implementation:
“After the colonies declared themselves independent on July 4th, 1776, there were other foreign powers that thought the English would easily crush the rebellion. However, the colonists proved them wrong and were able to keep on holding their own land and winning a few battles. Finally, the French saw how resilient the colonists were to stay independent from the English and offered their help. After the French became involved on the colonists’ side, the English realized that this was a war that would eventually cost them all of their resources and they probably would not be able to win.
“The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 and mostly benefited the British and Americans more than any other country that had territory in the Americas. Britain officially recognized American independence and the United States was given the territory between the Appalachians and the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes.

Formative Check:
”What country helped the colonists beat Great Britain in the war for independence? Why do you think the French waited to help the colonists? Why wouldn’t they help them from the beginning? Do you know of any countries that are part of another country and could fight for its independence if the country wanted to? Why doesn’t that country fight to be independent?
Bridge:
“ Now, that we have talked about the end of the war, we are going to talk about how the colonists decided to set up their government.
Implementation:
” The first type of government that the colonists created was based on the Articles of the Confederation. This government was democratic in some sense, but there was a fear that giving direct power to the uneducated masses was a bad thing to do. Therefore, the masses had a say by which person they chose to represent them through voting. However, the real power rested in the elected representative. The people of the new nation also worried about a central government that had too much power, and due to this fear, there was a very weak central government. The individual states were trusted to protect the people and had the most powers.
“The Articles really set up an alliance between the thirteen states instead of a central government. The states still considered themselves separate and sovereign states in which the Articles only served as a treaty among the different states. The central government was given the power to declare war, make peace, sign treaties, borrow money, create a postal service, and deal with Native Americans. While the states had the power to coin money (so there was no national currency like today), to give money to the national government if so choosing but was not forced to by a tax, etc. Basically every state was on its own.
“Under the Articles of the Confederation there were some accomplishments which include the most important accomplishment of successfully defeating the British in the American Revolution. The government also was able to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which we talked about earlier, that created the beginning territory of the United States. Lastly, the government passed both the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 before the government changed. These laws set the pattern that was followed for a new state to join the United States, and abolished slavery in the Northwest Territory. However, soon many politicians noticed that the government needed to be changed because the national government was too weak to last.”

Formative Check:
***Answer these: What are some of the powers that the national government has? What are some of the powers that the state has? Which has the greater amount of power, the national or state government?
Bridge:
“What we are going to look at next is a political cartoon and I want you to really think hard about the meaning of this cartoon. This is important because on your regents they are going to give you a DBQ and you will have to analyze cartoons and documents. So, I want you to get use to seeing them regularly.

Formative Check:
"Can you tell me what the cartoonist is trying to say? What is the medicine?
Bridge:
” Now we are going to talk about the Constitutional Convention and the different compromises that were looked at before deciding on what type of Constitution would fit the United States the best.
Implementation:
“There were fifty-five delegates that were sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that represented all the states, except Rhode Island, for the Constitutional Convention. The men met at the Pennsylvania State House, which is now called Independence Hall, in May of 1787 in order to create a stronger central government. The delegates were all types of different men, including: lawyers, planters, and merchants.
“There were two major issues that were being considered besides reshaping the government at the Convention. First, there were many small farmers and workers in the country and a minority of wealthy, prominent men. However, the majority were being ruled by the minority, as seen by Shay’s Rebellion that we talked about earlier, and the government needed to find a way to protect the majority. Also, there was a concern about how to distribute the power between the state and national government.
Formative Check:
"Do you make them equal partners, or which one deserves more power? Why?
Bridge:
“First, the representatives debated between two different plans for representation in the new national government.
Implementation:
“The Virginia Plan allowed the government to be run by two houses that were represented in two different ways. The House of Representatives were going to be elected by popular vote, and then the House representatives would elect the people for the Senate. This type of representation would have given all the power of who was elected into the national government to states that had a bigger population. This is because the national legislature would have been elected according to Proportional representation, which means representation according to the proportion of a state’s population.
“The other plan was known as the New Jersey Plan and was supported by the states that had smaller populations because this plan had only one body of legislature and all the states had equal representation in the government.
“The Great Compromise was then brought to the delegates’ attention. This compromise basically combined the two plans by creating a two house government. In the House of Representatives the states would be represented according to their populations, so the states with more people would have more representatives. The states with less people would have fewer representatives. However, in the Senate that states were going to be equally represented.
“However, this caused a small dilemma because the representatives didn’t know how to count slaves. In that time period, they considered slaves not to be people. So the states with not a lot of slaves like New York, didn’t want slaves to be counted in a state’s population; however, states like Virginia did want them to be counted in order to get more representative. This is how the 3/5ths Clause came to be. This compromise allowed slave to count as 3/5ths a person for purposes of representation.

Formative Check:
"Can someone tell me something about The Virginia Plan? Why would a small state support the New Jersey Plan instead? What is good about the Great Compromise?

Closure:
“Before we end today, we are going to look at a chart that compares the Articles of the Confederation to how the Constitution fixed the problems.” ***Talk about chart briefly
“I am handing out a worksheet that I want you to read quickly an answer the four questions at the end article.

Extending Activity:
“For homework, if you haven’t finished article please finish it for homework, if you have please hand in your answers.













Name: Date:
9th US History R Partial Outline

Article of Confederation and Constitution Compromises
After the colonies declared themselves independent on ___________, there were other foreign powers that thought the English would easily crush the rebellion. However, the colonists proved them wrong and were able to keep on holding their own land and winning a few battles. Finally, the _________saw how resilient the colonists were to stay independent from the English and offered their help. After the French became involved on the colonists’ side, the English realized that this was a war that would eventually cost them all of their resources and they probably would not be able to win.
___________________was signed in 1783 and mostly benefited the British and Americans more than any other country that had territory in the Americas. Britain officially recognized American independence and the United States was given the territory between the Appalachians and the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes.
The first type of government that the colonists created was based on the__________________________________. The masses had a say by which person they chose to represent them through_________. However, the real power rested in the elected representative. The people of the new nation also worried about a central government that had too much power, and due to this fear, there was a very weak central government. The individual states were trusted to protect the people and had the most powers.
The states still considered themselves _____________and sovereign states in which the Articles only served as a treaty among the different states. The central government was given the power to declare war, make peace, sign treaties, borrow money, create a postal service, and deal with Native Americans. While the states had the power to coin money (so there was no national currency like today), to give money to the national government if so choosing but was not forced to by a tax, etc.
Under the Articles of the Confederation there were some accomplishments which include the most important accomplishment of successfully defeating the _________in the American Revolution. The government also was able to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which we talked about earlier, that created the beginning territory of the United States. Lastly, the government passed both the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 before the government changed. These laws set the pattern that was followed for a new state to join the United States, and _______________________________in the Northwest Territory. However, soon many politicians noticed that the government needed to be changed because the national government was too weak to last.
There were fifty-five delegates that were sent to________________, Pennsylvania that represented all the states, except Rhode Island, for the Constitutional Convention. The men met in Independence Hall, in May of 1787. The delegates were all types of different men, including: ______________________________________________.
There were two major issues that were being considered besides reshaping the government at the Convention. First, there were many small farmers and workers in the country and a minority of wealthy, prominent men. However, the ___________was being ruled by the minority and the government needed to find a way to protect the majority. Also, there was a concern about how to distribute the power between the state and national government.
The Virginia Plan allowed the government to be run by two houses that were represented in two different ways. The House of Representatives were going to be elected by _________vote, and then the House representatives would elect the people for the Senate. This type of representation would have given all the power of who was elected into the national government to states that had a bigger population. The other plan was known as the New Jersey Plan which had only one body of legislature and all the states had ____representation in the government.
“The Great Compromise combined the two plans by creating a two house government. In the ___________________the states would be represented according to their populations, so the states with more people would have more representatives. The states with less people would have fewer representatives. However, in the Senate that ________were going to be equally represented. The 3/5ths Clause allowed slave to count as ______a person for purposes of representation.

How were the Weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation Were Corrected by the Constitution?

List four problems with the Articles of the Confederation that were corrected by the Constitution and how this correction helped the government run more smoothly and last (without being overthrown like many other countries governments have).