Reference no: EM131149586

Write at least 400 words with a clear argument and detailed historical evidence taken from the information and sources uploaded. ONLY TAKE INFORMATION FROM THE FILES UPLOADED. do not plagirise, do not quote from teh sources, all must be put i your own words. all answers,events,key terms need dates! And make sure to define the key term in essay questions that i will put in "".

Topic: The Early Republic (1788-1800)

The focus of this topic is the US Constitution. Its ratification in 1788 marks the start of what historians call "the Early Republic", a period that lasted until the end of the century. The Constitution may be found at the back of Out of Many (pp. A-5 to A-13) or via the link in the Topic 7 folder on D2L. Read the entire Constitution: the original document and the subsequent 27 amendments. The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are called the Bill of Rights; they were ratified as a group in 1791. Subsequent amendments were added at later dates.

One of the things you will learn about for this topic is how an amendment gets added to the Constitution.

One of the ways involves Congress passing an amendment and then sending that amendment out to the states. An amendment only becomes part of the Constitution if and when ¾ of all states approve of it. If the amendment reaches the ¾ threshold, the amendment it is said to have been ratified. In other words, Congress passing an amendment and that amendment being ratified (= becoming part of the US Constitution) are not the same thing, so be careful with your wording when discussing amendments.

To give a bit more context for understanding the bumps and snags the country encountered as Americans debated what, precisely, the young country should be like, I have given you two more clips from Hamilton (required viewing) and an optional article in the tumultuous election of 1800. If you read the latter you may use it in your post.

Understanding the Constitution, the issues that confronted the Founding Fathers when writing the Constitution, and how the Constitution has been interpreted over the years are all crucial to understanding early American history. It is therefore very important that, as a class, you do your part to ensure that each of the focus questions is answered at least once. So if there are unanswered focus questions when you finish the reading, choose one of those to answer. Also, remember that all graded posts need to be at least 300 words long.

Key Terms

Focus Questions

Tying the Readings Together (Draw on Out of Many and, as appropriate, the US Constitution and/or Hamilton.)

1. In what ways does the US Constitution differ from its predecessor, the Articles of Confederation?

2. What is the Bill of Rights? For whom was it written?

3. Choose one of the first ten amendments and explain why the founding fathers thought it was necessary for inclusion in the US Constitution and why you think the amendment is either still relevant today or no longer relevant and should be changed.

4. What were the Alien and Sedition Acts? What part of the Constitution do they violate?

5. Apart from Amendments 13-15, where does slavery figure into the US Constitution?

a. Hint: the Constitution, as it stood in 1800, did not mention slavery by name, although it is referred to using other wording. In your answer, consider why the word "slavery" was not used.

6. One of the main goals of the Constitutional Convention was to create a document in which powers were balanced among different levels of government, regions of the country, and branches within government. Give examples of how, in the Constitution, the powers of the following were checked by or balanced with each other: (Choose at least two categories to discuss. This question is a very important one.)

a. the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government
b. large and small states
c. the federal government and state governments
d. the people and the federal government
e. different regions of the country (especially: the northern states and the southern states)

7. Compare Articles I, II and III. Which of the branches of the federal government do you think the founding fathers envisioned as being the most powerful? Which do you think is the most powerful today? Why?

a. Hint: For the first part of question consider which of the first three articles is the longest and most detailed.

8. How did Alexander Hamilton attempt to put the young United States on sound financial footing? What challenges did he face?

9. Why was the election of 1800 so contentious? (Hint: Explain the process outlined in the Constitution for choosing a president. What problems did this method create during the elections of 1796 and 1800 and how did the Twelfth Amendment attempt to fix those problems?)

Out of Many, Ch. 8

10. What were the major issues that were debated at the Constitutional Convention and in the state ratifying conventions?

11. What foreign threats did the young United States face during the presidencies of George Washington and John Adams? (Choose a couple of specific examples to discuss.)

Hamilton: Round II: See Questions 8 and 9 in the "Tying the Readings Together" section.

12. In what important respects do the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution differ? How does each reflect the specific times in which they were written?