Summary
In collaborative groups, students will work to understand and create point-of-view statements, such as tweets for a mock Twitter debate, for both Federalists' and Anti-Federalists' viewpoints on ratifying the U.S. Constitution. Then, students will identify important issues currently being debated on social media or in other public forums and compare these debates to the Constitution ratification debate of the late 1700s. Students will discuss how these debates influence government structure and policy.
Essential Question(s)
How did the debate of ideas between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists influence the ratification of the U.S. Constitution?
Snapshot
Engage
Students listen to the song "Non-Stop" from the musical Hamilton and consider why Hamilton would describe the U.S. Constitution as his "client" in need of defending.
Explore
Working in collaborative groups, students read the "Debate Over Ratification" article. Each group creates 3–5 statements from the Federalist and Anti-Federalist points of view regarding ratification of the Constitution.
Explain
Using a Card Sort strategy, student groups sort a series of statements into "Federalist" and "Anti-Federalist" categories, examining the evidence each statement gives for supporting or opposing ratification of the Constitution.
Extend
Students create tweets to represent Federalist and Anti-Federalist views on ratifying the Constitution. Then, the class discusses how the Federalist and Anti-Federalist debate over ratification shaped the structure of the Constitution.
Evaluate
The class discusses important issues currently debated on Twitter or in other public forums in the same way ratification of the Constitution was debated in the late 1700s. The discussion also covers how these debates influence government structure and policy. The two-sentence point-of-view summaries and tweets serve as lesson evaluations.
Materials
Ratification of the Constitution Debate lesson slides (attached)
"Non-Stop" song audio (linked below)
"Non-Stop" lyrics (attached)
The Debate Over Ratification handout (attached)
Card Sort Activity student handout (attached)
Card Sort Activity teacher answer key (attached)
Twitter Debate handout (attached)
Tweet Up handout (attached)
Internet-connected device with sound and video
Engage
25 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Begin by introducing students to the essential questions on slide 3: How do citizens, both individually and collectively, influence government structure and policy? How did the debate of ideas between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists influence the ratification of the United States Constitution?
Next, pass out a copy of the attached "Non-Stop" lyrics from the musical Hamilton to each student. Explain to students that the lyric sheet contains only a short portion of the song. Direct students to their lyric sheet when that part of the song is playing. Ask students to consider the question on slide 4, also printed at the top of the lyric sheet, as the song plays: In the song, why does Hamilton describe the U.S. Constitution as his "client" that needs defending? Ask students to underline statements or phrases that might answer the question as they listen. Play the song by clicking on the link on slide 5, by clicking the video embedded below, or by clicking the link here. The full URL of the linked source is also listed in the Resources below.
After the song is over, move to slide 6 and give students 1–2 minutes to discuss the question using an Elbow Partner strategy. Ask students to share their responses. Based on those responses, facilitate a short class discussion and connect students' prior knowledge of the Constitutional Convention to the debate over ratification of the Constitution.
Explore
20 Minute(s)
Moving to slide 7, transition by explaining to the class that, once the Constitution was made public, two major groups developed—the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. These groups influenced the public debate over whether or not the Constitution should be ratified, and as a result, helped to determine the ultimate structure of our current government.
Now, sort the class into groups of 3–4 students. Hand out the attached Debate Over Ratification article, one per student. Moving to slide 8, ask students to work collaboratively with their group to explore different viewpoints of Federalists and Anti-Federalists as they read. Have students use a modified form of the Categorical Highlighting strategy wherein they underline Federalist viewpoints and circle Anti-Federalist viewpoints.
After the class has finished reading, move to slide 9. Ask each group to reference the information they highlighted to create a point-of-view statement, or summary statement, for the Federalist viewpoints and the Anti-Federalist viewpoints regarding ratifying the Constitution. These statements should be 3–5 sentences in length, written on a sheet of notebook paper with all group names listed.
Call on each group to share their point-of-view statements. As others read, have students correct any misinformation they might have in their own statements.
Explain
15 Minute(s)
Move to slide 10. Using the Card Sort strategy, pass out the prepared Card Sort Activity to each group. Ask students to work together and apply their knowledge of Federalist and Anti-Federalist perspectives on ratification to complete the activity. Each card contains a statement made by Federalists or Anti-Federalists, for or against ratification. Ask students to sort the cards into "Federalist" or "Anti-Federalist" viewpoint categories based on what they know. After all groups have finished the activity, call on each to explain why a given statement supports the Federalist or Anti-Federalist point of view.
Extend
20 Minute(s)
Move to slide 11 and give each group a copy of the attached Twitter Debate handout. Ask students to read the mock Twitter exchange between Alexander Hamilton (representing the Federalist side) and George Mason (representing the Anti-Federalist side) as they debate over ratifying the Constitution. Have students use the Tweet Up strategy and the attached Tweet Up handout to create one new tweet for Alexander Hamilton and one for George Mason that accurately represent each view on ratifying the Constitution.
Once students have created their tweets, ask two students from each group to represent the two opposing viewpoints. Have students who represent the Federalist viewpoint to line up on one side of the room, and students who represent the Anti-Federalist viewpoint to line up on the opposite side. Ask students to share aloud their tweets one at a time, alternating viewpoints to mimic a debate—first a Federalist tweet, then an Anti-Federalist tweet.
After sharing their tweets, move to slide 12. Give each group 2–3 minutes to discuss how the arguments of both Federalists and Anti-Federalists influenced the structure and functioning of our government. As you call on different groups to share answers with the class, type their responses into slide 13 or write their responses on the board. Move to slide 14 for more examples that may be discussed as a class if they have not already been mentioned.
Evaluate
10 Minute(s)
Move to slide 15 and ask the class to brainstorm issues debated on Twitter or in other public forums today, similar to the way ratification of the Constitution was debated in the late 1700s. With the class, make a list of these current issues by typing student responses into slide 16 or by writing the responses on the board. Discuss how each issue influences or is influenced by government structure and policy and, by extension, our daily lives.
Evaluations for this lesson may include the point-of-view summaries completed by each group in the Explore portion of the lesson, Tweet Ups completed by each group or individual student in the Extend, and class responses collected in the Extend and Evaluate sections.
Resources
Center for civic education. (n.d.) What was the anti-federalist position in the debate for ratification of the constitution? Primary sources. Retrieved from: http://www.civiced.org/resourcecenter/lesson.php?lesson=13§ion=sources
Hamilton: Non-Stop. (2017, May 9). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YHVPNOHySk&feature=youtu.be.
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card sort. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506976b
K20 Center. (n.d.). Categorical highlighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/fc74060730ea745c8c4f356aa204c85d
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/ccc07ea2d6099763c2dbc9d05b00c4b4
K20 Center. (n.d.). Tweet up. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f505fb94