Constitutional+Ratification+Debate



Debate Question: Should the Constitution of the United States be ratified, or should the U.S. continue under its present government, the Articles of Confederation?


 * Time Frame**: October, 1787
 * Place**: Philadelphia, PA
 * Debate Moderator**: George Washington
 * Scenario**: Although in reality the Constitution had to be ratified by each state in special ratifying conventions called expressly for that purpose, this is a hypothetical debate in which Federalist and Anti-Federalist leaders from many states have assembled to discuss their beliefs and air their grievances.

Students will be assigned a historical character for this AP US History debate. Using at least one primary source and a minimum of two secondary sources (no tradiitional encyclopedias, internet encyclopedias, or your textbook; and atleast one print source must be used), students should: In order to do a thorough job, you will be given 1 period to do research and 1 period for the debate. Any work not completed in the library will need to be completed at home.
 * Content Information**
 * 1) Identify their character as Federalist or Anti-Federalist.
 * 2) Identify the state which their character represents - with particular attention to the state's geography, economy, population, and social structure.
 * 3) Identify the character's occupation and socio-economic background.
 * 4) Discover whether the character was a member of the Constitiutional Convention and what his role was at the convention. If the person was not a member of the Convention, find out why.
 * 5) Discover whether the character was a member of the state's ratifying convention and how he voted.
 * 6) Become totally familiar with the character's arguments for and against ratification. Also, be sure to identify who their friends and foes were.

//The Annals of America The American Pageant The Dictionary of American Biography The Creation of the Constitution: Opposing Viewpoints//
 * Useful sources include, but are not limited to:**

A bibliography with a minimum of 3 sources (one of which must be a primary source *star the primary source), must be part of your character's resume. The bibliography must follow the MLA format which you have been given. As always, works cited in bibliographies are placed in alphabetical order according to the author's last name or the title of the book if there is no author. Book and magazine titles must be underlined or italicized. Of your three sources, one must be a print resource - book, magazine, etc. When alphabetizing a bibliography, the words "The," "A," or "An" are ignored at the beginning and the next word is used to determine the alphabetical order. **You may use your textbook, but you may not cite your text as a source. No traditional encyclopedias may be cited as sources.**

Students may use note cards only - no papers or books. You may not read directly from the note cards unless you are quoting something brief and specific. You must speak during the debate as if you are the actual persons you are portraying. You will each be given a name tag and a list of debate participants and must refer to other students by the name that is on the name tag. Before each student speaks, he/she should stand, introduce himself/herself, and deliver a little background information about the character he/she is portraying. Any student can begin the debate. When the first student finished, the next student (preferably from the opposition) should either address what has been said, or express another concern. Students should also take notes during the debate. The debate/dscussion will be monitored so that everyone has at least one opportunity to speak and so that no one person monopolizes the discussion. Students who do not participate in the debate will receive a grade of 0.
 * Procedure**

Resume A resume must be created on wikispaces and should be completed on the day of the debate. Each character should have three (3) references that reflect your character's ideas and section of the country. These references should be chosen from among the list of debate participants. Shold you use someone outside the list, please see me before you submit your resume.

A debriefing session will take place on the day following the debate. In the debriefing session, students will need to identify the areas of concern that came to light during ratification debate. They will also discuss the merits of the Federalists and Anti-Federalist arguments as well as reasons why the Federalists were finally successful.
 * = **Student** ||= **Character** ||
 * = Hannah B. ||= Richard Henry Lee ||
 * = John V. ||= John Adams ||
 * = Emily W. ||= George Mason ||
 * = Steve T. ||= Robert Yates (Brutus) ||
 * = Tom D. ||= Thomas Jefferson ||
 * = Katelynn Z. ||= Mercy Otis Warren ||
 * = Kurt R. ||= James Wilson ||
 * = Matt G. ||= John Dickinson ||
 * = Sammi S. ||= George Clinton (Cato) ||
 * = Shannon B. ||= Melancton Smith ||
 * = Prateek D. ||= Z ||
 * = Matt V. ||= Alexander Hamilton ||
 * = Allison P. ||= Ben Franklin ||
 * = Amanda L. ||= James Madison ||
 * Debriefing Session**