Jefferson's Presidency

Hello there people... over the next few days, post three comments regarding your impressions of Jefferson's presidency. Was he a hypocrite? What consequences resulted from some of his decisions? Your first response will be about your reaction to the prompt, and the remaining two in response to your classmates. Spread out your comments so that you are able to adequately discuss this prompt as a class. We will discuss this on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday.

Adam's Presidency

Answer the following discussion questions from pages 274-280:

1. How did the Election of 1796 evoke the political climate of the United States?

2. In what ways did the election affect the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson?

3. Create your own response to the XYZ Affair, namely diplomatically, militarily, etc. Defend your stance.

4. How did the Alien and Sedition Acts contribute to the undermining of Federalist power in the United States?

5. Agree/disagree: the Sedition Acts were constitutional.

6. Agree/disagree: the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions created the possibility for further action by state governments to selectively enforce federal law.

7. Argue for or against: John Adams would have been re-elected in 1800 had he not gone against the militant stance of his Federalist party.


8. How were the Jeffersonians able to overcome such an overwhelming Federalist majority and seize the presidency in 1800?

Blog assignment

Post two comments regarding how you would deal with the French Revolution if you were in George Washington's position. The first comment should be your idea, and the second comment should be a reaction to your classmates. I apologize for the late posting...

Washington's Presidency

After reading pages 258-274, answer the following questions regarding the reading. These questions will be discussed in class on Thursday. In addition to answering the questions, feel free to post any observations that you made while reading this section.

1. How did Hamilton's economic plans (not including the national bank) reflect his assertion that the Constitution was not 'high toned enough.'?

2. Create a chart that summarizes the strengths and criticisms of Hamilton's plan

3. Despite its passage in Congress, why did the debate over assumption and funding not cease?

4. How did the Whiskey Rebellion relate to the growth of the national government?

5. Why did the French Revolution present a serious test for the United States?

6. How did the French Revolution affect ordinary people in the United States?

7. Overall, evaluate the political climate that formed during Washington's presidency.

Ratification

Re-read pages 246 to 252 in your textbook and answer the following questions by Wednesday's class. When you are done answering the questions, post two comments that simply offer some sort of commentary on the ratification process. One comment must be in response to another students' comment.



1. Agree/disagree: the Anti-Federalist's concerns over the lack of a Bill of Rights was legitimate.



2. What conclusions can be drawn from the chart on p. 250 and the map on p. 251 in regards to how economics and geography affected the ratification process?

3. Why would geography be key in whether or not a state ratified the Constitution?

4. Argue for or against: Ratification would have been made easier if the Constitutional Convention met without such a shroud of secrecy.

Constitution Part II

Assignment: Read Article II of the Constitution and apply questions 1, 2, and 4 from your last assignment to Article II. Answer these questions using your notes, background knowledge, and the document itself in your response. Additionally, I wanted to provide you with an additional opportunity to discuss the material we went over in class today, so for the next two nights (Tuesday and Wednesday), the blog will be open for your comments. For the sake of focus, please refrain from writing responses containing more than 150 words. The more, the merrier!!

One more thing...

I apologize for neglecting to put this in the first post... refer to the Constitution itself, your notes, and whatever personal insights you can when answering the questions. It will allow for a more productive discussion time and more reasoned answers. In other words, it will control the "passionate underpinnings" of your nature:)

Constitution

Assignment: Read the Preamble and Article I of the Constitution (Appendix A-3)and answer the following guide questions:

1. How does this section address the flaws that existed in the Articles of Confederation?

2. How does the Preamble introduce the purpose of the Constitution? How does it reflect its flexible nature (applicable to any time period)?

3. How does Section 9 address our individual civil liberties?

4. How does Article I in its entirety address the problems inherent in most governments (the ones talked about in class)?

5. Agree/disagree: Article I protects state power while strengthening the powers of the national government.

6. Agree/disagree: the wording of Article I leaves little room for interpretation of the powers of Congress.

Simply answer the questions as best you can as you read. You do not have to post any comments. This assignment is merely to ensure your understanding of the Constitution, and to prepare you for tomorrow's class. If we do not get to answer a question in class tomorrow, then we will continue on Thursday.

Constitutional Convention II

Post two comments in response to the following question:

How did the factions that James Madison refer to in Federalist No. 1o apply to how both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists planned to deal with the problems of government we discussed in class today?

Comment 1 should be your answer...

Comment 2 should be a response to another person (if no one posted before you, wait to send your second comment)

Have fun!! Remember to check your reading from Monday night, 241-250. There will be questions about small items but also about all encompassing issues addressed in the pages.

Constitutional Convention

Hello Class!

Here is your assignment for tomorrow:

read pages 241-250

Do the following:

1. Create some sort of graphic organizer that contains those people that aligned with the Federalist viewpoint and the Anti-Federalist viewpoint

2. Figure out who was missing from the Convention.

3. What were the key points to the Federalist viewpoint? Flaws?

4. What were the key points to the Anti-Federalist viewpoint? Flaws?

5. How did this tension between Feds and Anti-Feds affect the convention proceedings?

Okay guys this is Stefanie my thing isn't working so I'm posting on Alicja's name..

Ritu I think you put it perfectly and factions are always going to exist no matter what we do. Which leads me to you Alex, I don't think the realistic approach to factions is to destroy our government.

Frankly, I do not think we can ever get rid of them but I also agree with Amy that we shouldn't. According to Madison factions have the ability to break apart our country. Factions may be risky, but Amy's right, they have done some good. The multiple factions today help give our country diversity and have made us the strongest country in the world. Like we are doing in this blog, we are building off of one another and stating our differences of opinions. It's a good thing to have an open mind to others as long as you do not become too powerful, and that was Madison's fear. We could not evolve and progress as a human race without challenging each other and learning and developing from conflict.

Madison discusses the two methods of curing the mischiefs of factions; by removing its causes or controlling its effects. The methods of removing the causes would be to destroy the liberty essential to its existence or to give every citizen the same opinions. Both are obviously impracticable and unwise, even Madison saw that. The effects of factions can obviously not be stopped because as long as man has reason, different opinions will be formed. Okay, so stop there, enough said. We can't stop factions, I think that's pretty obvious to see. Madison didn't like them but he knew that they would be hard to get rid of. And today I think they have just strengthened with the Democrats and Republicans. But I don't think they're bad because there are so many with equal power so one can not rise highly above another. IF one does, then it could be bad news and the realities of Madison's nightmares. But I think that chance is slim and Madison was kind of dramatic.

Federalist 10 and 51

Hello there, for your reading you will write a one page response to the following questions:

1. What did Madison mean by 'factions'? In what ways are factions present today?

2. In Federalist 51, what did Madison present as the most efficient way of governing the nation? How did his way address his thesis in No. 10?


Additionally, you will be required to write at least three solid comments on the blog over the course of the next week, either stating some observations you made while writing your response, reading the documents, or responding to a classmate's comment. Of course appropriate grammar is expected and respect your fellow classmates! Have fun...

Welcome!

Hello there!! You have stumbled across a blog created exclusively for your class. Throughout the year, this blog will provide a forum for extending our discussions beyond the classroom as well as stimulating new ones. So pull up a chair, turn on your brain, and let's get smarter about history!