Unit 2: Development of Constitutional Government
Unit Overview: Development of Constitutional Government
This unit covers the French and Indian War through the signing and ratification of the US Constitution. Some important themes covered in this unit:
Causes and effects of the French and Indian War
Deteriorating relationship between Britain and the Colonies
The Continental Congress and the American Revolution
The Constitutional Convention and the development of a national government.
Unit Essay: Checks and Balances
You must write an essay on the following topic in order to complete this project:
Checks and Balances
The United States as we know it was born on March 4th, 1789 after the US Constitution had been ratified, or voted in by all thirteen colonies. It had taken months to draft the constitution and the battle over whether to ratify or not had been fierce, but in 1789, a kind of miracle had happened: a confederation of fiercely independent colonies had by their own will abandoned their individual sovereignty and elected to become members of a single and unified nation. The colonies had done this only because the US constitution creatively allowed individual states to share power with the national government, and this national government was designed to limit itself through a system of checks and balances on its power. In a five paragraph essay of 600 or more words, describe the responsibilities of the three branches of US government and explain how each branch checks and balances the other branches.
Helpful links for this essay:
Federal Government of the United States
Separation of Powers under the US Constitution
US History Foundations to Present Unit 2 Key Terms
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 2 Key Terms:
Navigation Acts
Proclamation of 1763
Common Sense
Articles of Confederation
Albany Congress
Stamp Act
Olive Branch Petition
Northwest Ordinance
King George's War
Sons of Liberty
Battle of Trenton
Constitutional Convention
French and Indian War
Boston Massacre
Battle of Yorktown
Federalists/Anti-Federalists
Treaty of Paris (1763)
Continental Congress
Treaty of Paris (1783)
"Great Compromise"
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)
