U. S. History
Historical Essay #1: Confederation and Constitution (due Week 4)
As depression struck the new nation in the mid-1780s, new questions arose about the nature of American democracy. Many conservatives believed that the answer lay in a stronger national government. Most radicals believed it was up to the states to relieve the financial burden of the people. These sentiments fostered a movement for a new constitution. Political differences soon stimulated the creation of political parties.
Compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation with the new Constitution of 1787. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles vis-à-vis the Constitution? Give specific instances that demonstrate the weakness of the Articles (such as the Western problem).
Then analyze the drafting of the Constitution, using specific details to show how the various states (slave vs. free, east vs. west) compromised in order to effectively draft a constitution. Pay particular attention to Roger Sherman’s plan, the Great Compromise, which broke a stalemate that could have been fatal to the development of the new Constitution.
Finally, compare and contrast the debate over ratification between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Make sure you cite specific examples from the Federalist Papers to support the Federalist position and contrast it with leading proponents of the opposition (such as John Hancock). Analyze how the debate over a bill of rights illustrates the differences between the two parties. Evaluate the relative success of the Bill of Rights in achieving an effective balance between national and states’ interests.
This paper must be four to five double-spaced pages in length (not including the References page) and utilize no less than four academic quality sources. PLEASE NOTE: While the textbook and weekly Lessons are academic resources they are not to be used as a source for this essay. Unacceptable internet resources include but are not limited to: Wikipedia, online general reference encyclopedias such as Encyclopedia Britannica, online dictionaries, and general informational search sites such as infosearch.com, infoplease.com, about.com, answers.com, etc. Submit this assignment in a Word document.
Margins should be no more than one inch (right and left) and the essay should be composed in an appropriate font and size. Sources must be documented and cited using APA format. (See the APA Handbook in Doc Sharing for more information.) Note that entire websites or their organization (history.com, State Department, History.com staff) cannot be cited as sources. You must specify which pages or articles contain the information used in your paper and list them in alphabetical order by author’s last name or title of article if the author isn’t listed.
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
