| Additional Class Topics
College Division image; link to college web site
College Division image; link to college web site
For LayoutFor Layout
For Layout
For LayoutFor Layout|For LayoutFor Layout|For LayoutContact Us
For Layout
For Layout
For Layout
For Layout
For Layout
> Instructor Resources > Additional Class Topics
Instructor Resources

Support student learning and save time with these password-protected materials. To request a password, please complete and submit the request form. After your request has been reviewed and authorized, you will receive a response from our Faculty Services team within 48 hours.

Some content requires software plugins. Visit our Plugin Help Center for help with downloading plugins.

Additional Class Topics

For Further Interest: Additional Class Topics
Chapter 9: The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776 - 1790

  • Discuss the question of how revolutionary the Revolution was, measured by the social changes it caused. One issue might be why Americans have tended to think of the Revolution more in terms of liberty and political ideas than in terms of social change.

  • Compare the difficulties of establishing a stable government in post-Revolutionary America with similar situations in other new nations of the modern world.

  • Consider how America and American government would be different if the Articles of Confederation had remained the national government. One focus might be the extent to which the concept of the United States government is identified with the government of the Constitution.

  • Define sovereignty. In order for a national government to be sovereign, what must it be able to do? To what extent was the national government under the Articles of Confederation sovereign? How much did the national government's level of sovereignty increase or decrease under the new federal Constitution? Examine the level of sovereignty in state governments under both Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

  • Discuss the reverence accorded the Constitution and the Founding Fathers in relation to the actual historical events of 1787. Examine particular provisions of the Constitution, and discuss whether they might have meant something different in the eighteenth century than they do today.

  • Examine the treatment of race and slavery in the Constitutional Convention (including how and why it was mostly but not completely avoided in the actual text). Consider the question of whether directly addressing the slavery question would have made the creation of a federal union impossibleand perhaps even led to the creation of a separate pro-slavery confederation in 1787.
For Layout