Secrets of the Constitution

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: How do people form a new government?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• compromises (p. 19)
• apportion (p. 19)
• stalemates (p. 19)
• representation (p. 20)
• iconic (p. 20)
• impartial (p. 20)

3. Engage
Explain that the Constitution established the framework for the U.S. government and is the foundation of all U.S. laws. Then ask: When did the 13 Colonies declare independence from Great Britain? (1776) When was the Constitution written? (1787) Why do you think there was an 11-year gap between the two events?

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the Constitution. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions:

• Why did the Framers write the Constitution? What did the Constitution establish? (They wrote the Constitution after realizing that they could more easily solve the problems the young nation faced, such as a lack of unity, by scrapping the Articles of Confederation—the original constitution for the U.S.—and writing a new one. The document they wrote established the law of the land and created a federal government that divided power among executive, legislative, and judicial branches.)  

• What were some points of contention at the Constitutional Convention? How were they resolved? (The Framers argued over how to apportion members of Congress to states because of differing sizes. They decided each state would elect two senators but that a state’s House membership would be based on population. They also argued over whether enslaved people should be counted when determining a state’s representation in Congress. They decided to count enslaved people as three-fifths of a person.)

• What is judicial review? How did the Supreme Court gain this power? (Judicial review is the power the Supreme Court has to strike down any law or executive action that a majority of justices say is unconstitutional. It gained this power in 1803, when the Court ruled in Marbury v. Madison that Congress had acted unconstitutionally, setting the precedent that the Court had final say on such matters.)

• Why was revising the opening phrase of the Constitution to “We the people” significant? Jeffrey Rosen says, “The most important idea of the Constitution is in those first three words.” Do you agree? Explain. (Changing the phrase to “We the people” signaled that the people have the power, not the states, a king or queen, or a governmental leader. Opinions will vary.)

5. Use the Primary Sources

Project or distribute (or assign in Google Classroom) the PDF Amending the Constitution, which features the Bill of Rights—the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Discuss what makes the Bill of Rights a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the Bill of Rights and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• What ideas are conveyed about the Bill of Rights and the new nation through the repetition of the phrase “the people”? (The repetition of the phrase “the people” conveys the idea that the Bill of Rights was written to protect the rights of the people. The repetition also suggests that protecting the rights of the people is crucial to the success of a democratic and free nation.)

• Individually and together, what do Amendments V through VIII protect the people from? (Individually, the Amendments protect the people from unfair trials, long waits for trials, cruel and unusual punishments, and excessive bail. Together, they protect the people from a corrupt judicial system at the hands of a tyrannical government.)

• What is the purpose of Amendments IX and X? (The purpose of these two Amendments is to ensure that the federal government does not assume power over rights or topics not specifically addressed in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. These Amendments are another way of limiting the power of the federal government and ensuring that the rights of the people are protected and that the power of the government lies with the people.) 

• Based on the Bill of Rights, what concerns did some people have about the Constitution? (Based on the Bill of Rights, some people were concerned that the Constitution did not protect the rights of individuals and, therefore, the federal government might become tyrannical and no different from a monarchy, similar to what the new nation had just freed itself from. Specifically, some people feared the new government might limit freedom of speech, ban certain religions, search the property of citizens for no reason, unfairly jail citizens, and engage in other abuses.)

• Based on the Upfront article and the Bill of Rights, how important do you think the Bill of Rights is in the durability of the Constitution and the success of the U.S. as a democratic nation? (Students’ responses will vary but should be supported with text evidence.)

6. Writing Prompt
Based on the article and other research, what do you think the Framers of the Constitution would think of the federal government as it exists today? Explain in a brief essay.

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Come up with a new amendment to the Constitution and debate it as a class.

9. Multimedia Presentations
Assign each of seven groups one article in the Constitution (archives.gov). Have each group create and present a multimedia presentation that explains the main points of their assigned article and how those aspects of the Constitution have shaped U.S. history and relate to life today.