Exploration

1. The Library of Congress’s Thomas website contains links to historical documents associated with the history of the U.S. Constitution. Go to (http://thomas.loc.gov/) and select the link to "historical documents" in the left-hand column. Then select the link to the "Constitution" on the top button-bar. Then select the link to "ABOUT the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Other Amendments". Read the document entitled "About the Constitution of the United States" and answer the following questions:

1. How many delegates met to amend the Articles of Confederation in the summer of 1787? Where was the convention convened?
2. On what date was it submitted to the 13 states for ratification?
3. What date was set for when the new Constitution would take effect?
4. On what date did formal adoption occur?
5. The principle of separation of power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches was devised in order to allay what fear?
6. The organization of the Federal government is laid out in the first _________ articles of the Constitution. Briefly describe each of these articles.
7. What is the "elastic clause" of the Constitution?
8. How many amendments have been added to the Constitution since 1789? The first ______ amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted as a unit in _______.
9. The 14th amendment, which was ratified in _______, placed several significant limitations on the powers of the states. List two of these limitations, and give an example of a case in which the Supreme Court applied the amendment.

2. Select the "back" button on your browser to return to the "historical documents" section of the Thomas website, select the link to the "Federalist Papers" on the top button bar, and then select the link to "browse A list of titles of the 85 Federalist Papers". Scroll down to document number 85 and select the link to it. These concluding remarks to the Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton in order to persuade people (especially New Yorkers) to favor adoption of the new Constitution. Read the document and answer the following questions:

1. Describe the four so-called defects to the constitution that were listed in the second paragraph by Hamilton.
2. List at least five additional securities to republican government that Hamilton postulated the new constitution would provide.
3. Briefly describe Hamilton’s argument that even though the new constitution was imperfect, it should still be adopted.
4. Hamilton argued that it would be far easier to obtain subsequent than previous amendments to the constitution. Explain what he meant. Do you agree?

3. The First Amendment

As you can see from its text above, the first amendment is very broad in scope and contains some of the Constitution’s most important protections. Because its coverage is so broad, this activity will focus on one area protected by the first amendment, religious liberty.

Go to (http://w3.trib.com/FACT/) and you will find the First Amendment Cyber-Tribune (FACT) website. FACT is a website run by a journalist and hosted by the Casper, Wyoming, Star-Tribune. Scroll down the main page and select the box with the link labeled "Religious liberty". Then select the first link to "Overview of U.S. Supreme Court decisions impacting religion." Read the document on Freedom of Religion and answer the following questions:

• Which part of the first amendment contains the so-called "establishment clause?"
• What does the language of the establishment clause mean?
• List at least three establishment clause cases that have been decided by the Supreme Court. Briefly describe the holding in each case.
• Which part of the first amendment contains the so-called "free exercise clause?"
• What does the language of the free exercise clause mean?
• List at least three establishment clause cases that have been decided by the Supreme Court. Briefly describe the holding in each case.

Use the cases in this document to answer the following yes or no questions:

• Can states legally supplement the salaries of private religious school teachers?
• Can public school teachers provide supplemental, remedial instruction to disadvantaged students in religious schools?
• Do prayers in state legislatures violate the Establishment Clause?
• Does a nativity scene displayed inside a government building violate the Establishment Clause?

Click the back button on your browser to return to the religious liberty page. Select either the American Indian, Baptist, B’nai Brith, or Catholic Church’s link to religious liberty. Briefly summarize the position for the link you choose.

4. Unratified Amendments

• URL: http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amendnotrat.html
• Goal: To examine those amendments that were submitted to the states but were not ratified.

While 27 amendments have been added to the U.S. Constitution, there have also been six other amendments that have been approved by Congress but not ratified by the requisite number of states.

• Go directly to the above-mentioned URL and read the material on each of those amendments. Now, respond to the following tasks and/or questions:
• First, summarize the content of each non-ratified amendment.
• Second, explain the significance of Coleman v. Miller vis-à-vis the ratification process.
• Third, which of the six amendments in question was actually signed by the president?
• Fourth, can you suggest any reasons why these amendments were not ratified?
• Fifth, why do you think the proposed ERA amendment was given additional ratification time?