"We, the people..."

Your next reading takes you into the Constitutional Convention, convened for the express purpose of revising the weak Articles of Confederation. What happened, of course, was something much more than that. Here are some questions for your consideration from pages 170-174:

1. What was the Virginia Plan?
2. What was the New Jersey Plan?
3. What was the Great Compromise?
4. How did the common law legal tradition influence the length of the Constitution? How is this different from other constitutions?
5. How did the institution of slavery impact the making of the Constitution?
6. In what ways is the Constitution essentially a conservative document (as in, not radical), and in what ways was it innovative? How did it attempt to resolve the tensions left over from the Revolution? To reconcile with the Spirit of '76?
7. What was the main point of disagreement between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?

America's First Constitution

Remember that we didn't finish our discussion about the radicalism of the American Revolution. Keep thinking about it! Here are some questions from the reading, 162-165 and 167-170:

1. So, you're at this party and you find yourself in a discussion about the Articles of Confederation. What the heck is that?
2. What was the argument over Western lands about? How did this delay ratification of the Articles?
3. What were the biggest problems with the Articles of Confederation? In what way was the Articles government not up to the challenges facing the new nation?
4. Define: Shay's Rebellion
5. What was the defining issue that "touched off the chain reaction that led to a constitutional convention?" Can you elaborate? (168-169.)
6. Who was the chairman of the Constitutional Convention?
7. Describe the delegates at the convention. What were they like?