Sept. 22-The Road to the Constitution

We started to class today by reviewing the Declaration of Independence.  We then explored the contrasting views of our founding fathers discussed in Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and David McCullough's Bold Men in Ruffled Shirts (Both readings are in the coursepack).  We then watched a section of the film Liberty and took notes about the context surrounding the years leading to the Constitutional Convention.  To watch it online go to this LINK. Start when it introduces Alexander Hamilton (about 7 minutes in) and end when the delegates meet in Philadelphia and Patrick Henry says "I smell a rat".(about 21 minutes in).  Use this NOTETAKING GUIDE as you watch.  Finally, we began to consider the debates that existed about the Constitution which we will continue to look at tomorrow.  Make sure that you check the assignment sheet for tonight's homework.