Wow! You guys have worked very hard this semester! We have covered a lot of material and you have had great attitudes. Thank you for all of your hard work.
For this week's blog, please reflect on what we have studied since August. In the comments section, discuss the one topic or lesson that has impacted you the most and why. Please give this some real thought and reflection.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
The U.S. Constitution: Our Second Attempt At Creating A Government
As you are going to learn this week, the U.S. Constitution was not the original set of laws for America. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress wrote, and the states approved, the adoption of the Articles of Confederation & Perpetual Union. The AOC would serve as our official governing document from 1781-1787 when they were replaced by the Constitution.
The AOC attempted to create a government where the people (states, voters etc.) retained most of the power within the government. We had just rebelled from a system of government where one man (King George III) and one governing body (Parliament) had full access to all political power, leaving "the people' often helpless. Naturally, in creating our new government we were going to spread the power around rather than centralize it in the federal government (Congress, President, Supreme Court etc.) This sounds good in theory, but an essentially powerless central government can get nothing accomplished which causes lots of problems for the states. Soon the leaders of America were rethinking the effectiveness of the AOC and chose to write a new document where power was more evenly distributed.
This decision to change, but eventually do away with, the AOC came in the summer of 1787. Men from all over the country convened in Philadelphia (just like they had done in the 1st and 2nd Continental Congresses) to author a new governing document. What emerged from those months of meetings and debates is our Constitution. Adopted in 1787, the Constitution has withstood over forty different presidents, multiple wars (including the Civil War) and various other crises. If you think about it, it is fairly remarkable that the AOC last about ten years and the Constitution has lasted 226 years. That was quite an improvement!
For this week's blog, visit this website and watch the videos on The President, The Legislative Branch & The Judicial Branch. Each video is approximately 20 minutes in length, so you'll need to plan your time accordingly. In the comments section, you will write three paragraphs. Each paragraph should be 100 words long and summarize what you learned from each video. This week's blog will be worth triple the points (150 instead of 50).
The AOC attempted to create a government where the people (states, voters etc.) retained most of the power within the government. We had just rebelled from a system of government where one man (King George III) and one governing body (Parliament) had full access to all political power, leaving "the people' often helpless. Naturally, in creating our new government we were going to spread the power around rather than centralize it in the federal government (Congress, President, Supreme Court etc.) This sounds good in theory, but an essentially powerless central government can get nothing accomplished which causes lots of problems for the states. Soon the leaders of America were rethinking the effectiveness of the AOC and chose to write a new document where power was more evenly distributed.
This decision to change, but eventually do away with, the AOC came in the summer of 1787. Men from all over the country convened in Philadelphia (just like they had done in the 1st and 2nd Continental Congresses) to author a new governing document. What emerged from those months of meetings and debates is our Constitution. Adopted in 1787, the Constitution has withstood over forty different presidents, multiple wars (including the Civil War) and various other crises. If you think about it, it is fairly remarkable that the AOC last about ten years and the Constitution has lasted 226 years. That was quite an improvement!
For this week's blog, visit this website and watch the videos on The President, The Legislative Branch & The Judicial Branch. Each video is approximately 20 minutes in length, so you'll need to plan your time accordingly. In the comments section, you will write three paragraphs. Each paragraph should be 100 words long and summarize what you learned from each video. This week's blog will be worth triple the points (150 instead of 50).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)