Unit 1: Historical Documents and Review

Declaration of Independence

100

The three unalienable rights

What are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

500

Explain the unalienable rights found in the Declaration of Independence as they apply to individual rights, marginalized groups, and the changing role of government.

The Declaration's unalienable rights (Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness) are inherent human rights, forming the bedrock for individual rights (freedom from oppression) but originally excluded many, creating a legacy of struggle for marginalized groups (slaves, women, minorities) to claim these universal ideals through movements like Civil Rights, pushing the government's role to evolve from merely protecting property to ensuring equal opportunity and justice for all, fulfilling the promise that rights are for everyone, not just the privileged few.

Northwest Ordinance

200

Name a weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

What is: - no executive branch - cannot levy (raise) taxes - hard to amend and pass laws - cannot raise an army - no judicial branch - ineffective currency (money) system - too much power given to the states

500

• Explain the precedents for governing the United States that were established by the Northwest Ordinance.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established crucial precedents for U.S. governance, including federal control over westward expansion, an orderly path for territories to become equal states (three-stage process), a "territorial bill of rights" (religious freedom, jury trial, due process), prohibition of slavery (setting a free/slave boundary), promotion of public education, and respect for Native American lands (though often ignored), creating a blueprint for democratic growth and federal power.

US Constitution

100

What are the first ten amendments called

What is the bill of rights

200

How many amendments are there

What is 27

500

• Explain how the US Constitution establishes a limited government that protects the rights of the people.

The U.S. Constitution creates a limited government that protects rights through Separation of Powers, dividing authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches; Checks and Balances, allowing each branch to limit the others; Federalism, sharing power between national and state governments; Enumerated Powers, granting only specific powers to the federal government; and the Bill of Rights, explicitly protecting fundamental freedoms from government infringement. 

Federalists vs Anti-Federalists to the Bill of Rights

400

Who said it? Federalist or Anti-Federalist, "I had rather be a free citizen of the small republic of Massachusetts than an oppressed subject of the great American empire.

What is an Anti-Federalist?

500

• Compare the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists

• Explain how the Federalists and Anti-Federalists debates led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights

Federalists supported a strong central government under the Constitution, while Anti-Federalists feared it, demanding states' rights and individual protections; their intense debate over ratification, especially the Anti-Federalists' insistence on safeguarding liberties from potential federal tyranny, directly led Federalists to compromise by promising a Bill of Rights, ultimately securing ratification and ensuring amendments guaranteeing fundamental freedoms like speech, religion, and due process were added to the Constitution.