How much class time?
Suggestions for class activities
Links to other resources
 

How much class time will this project require?

This project is designed to allow considerable flexibility for teachers.  Your classes' participation can range from just a couple of periods to several days. No class activity need by done on a particular day, although there are two deadlines.

There are 3 minimal requirements for participation:

1. Submission from your classes of one or more amendment recommendations and selection by your classes of one or more delegates to attend the Constitutional Amendment Convention at the University of Hartford by April 20. (Please note you can do this any time before April 20 - it need not be done on April 20.)
2. Sending one or more delegates to the Convention on May 1.
3. Holding a vote in your classes on ratification of the amendments proposed at Hartford by May 26. (Please note as for submitting recommendations, ratification may be done at any time up until May 26.)

1. Formulation of recommendations for amendments by individual classes
2. An amendment proposal convention held at the University of Hartford
3. Ratification of amendments by individual classes

The Background and Suggested Activities page is geared primarily to provide fuel for thinking about how the Constitution might be changed. The Background material deals with how the Constitutional amendment process works and the history of past amendments. The Suggested Activities raise questions about particular amendment ideas for consideration. 

In the background area, especially recommend review of 
What kinds of problems need to be addressed by changing the Constitution? A discussion of what kinds of issues are of sufficient importance to change the text of the Constitution is important before students turn to explore their own ideas for changes. Without guidance in these matters, college students at the University of Hartford have the unfortunate tendency to believe that an eighteen-year-old drinking-age ought to be enshrined into the Constitution, and I expect that high school and middle school students have similar predilections. Students should be made aware of the histories of the Thirteenth Amendment (which ended slavery) and Eighteenth Amendment (which instituted Prohibition). Both of these amendments could have been instituted simply by passing laws, but only the Thirteenth Amendment has stood the test of time. 

Additional suggestions:

Reviewing the Constitution
Divide the class into eight groups. Assign each group to review one of the following portions of the Constitution as homework. In class, have each group discuss whether it might need revision. Have each group report its recommendations to the class. 

Article I, Sections 1-6

Article I, Sections 7-10

Article II

Article III

Articles IV-VII

Amendments I-XII

Amendments XIII-XIX

Amendments XX-XVII

Selecting Recommendations to Submit for Consideration of the Convention
Classes may submit as many amendment recommendations as they wish. Each class may determine for itself what voting method to employ to select which amendments are recommended. Indeed, selecting which amendments recommendations to submit to the convention can offer an opportunity to review different kinds of decision rules. You can present the decision rules first and have the class decide which rule to employ to make their decisions about amendments. 

Decision rules

Rule	Explanation	Examples
Autocratic	One person, either the teacher or an autocrat selected by the class, decides which recommendations to submit.	The powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces
Plurality	Whichever proposal receives the greatest number of votes wins (even if it does not receive more than half the votes).	Most elections in the United States - (Especially noteworthy are the gubernatorial elections in Connecticut in 1994 and Minnesota in 1998 in which the winning candidate in a crowded field won with less than a majority of the vote)
Majority	Any proposal which wins support of more than half of the voters.	A candidate for the Presidency must win a majority of the electoral college; a bill must be passed by a majority of both houses of Congress to become a law
Extraordinary majority	A proposal must win a predetermined proportion of the votes which is larger than half. Typical requirements are three-fifths, two-thirds, and three-quarters.	Three-fifths of the Senate must vote to end a filibuster; two-thirds of both houses must vote to override a veto or propose a Constitutional amendment; three-fourths of the state legislatures must vote to ratify a proposed amendment
Consensus	Everyone must agree.	A jury

You can further note that as we move from the bottom of the chart to the top of the chart, the efficiency of decision making tends to increase. However, as we move from the top of the chart to the bottom, the perception of democratic legitimacy increases. 

Step 2: Selecting and charging delegates to the convention at Hartford

The selection of delegates can be done by any method you see fit. You can select the students you think will best represent that class yourself or you can make it a democratic decision. You might also introduce another election decision rule - the one viewed as the most democratic by the Ancient Greeks - selection by lot. 

The class may, but is not required, to charge the delegates to the convention. In the week prior to the convention, the complete agenda for the convention will be posted on the Convention Information page. The class may review these amendments and give specific charges to delegates concerning what amendments to support. 

Step 3: Ratifying proposed amendments

Ratification usually only requires the support of a simple majority of each house of a state legislature (but it does require approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures). 
 

The New Federalist Papers
You can make it a class assignment for students to write essays to convince their classmates - and fellow-students around the state - to support or oppose particular amendment proposals passed at the convention. Any essay submitted in plain text format to constcon99@aol.com will be posted on the New Federalist Papers page. I also intend to post links to the original Federalist Papers and Antifederalist writings on this page. 

General Resources:

The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net
A great resource with comprehensive information on the Constitution

The Constitution Society

Constitution Society Home Page
The Constitution Society is a private non-profit organization dedicated to research and public education on the
principles of constitutional republican government.

Debates in the Federal Convention
The notes of James Madison from the Philadelphia summer of 1787

The Federalist Papers & Anti-Federalist Papers
During the period from the drafting and proposal of the federal Constitution in September, 1787, to its ratification in 1789 there was an intense debate on ratification. The principal arguments in favor of it were stated in the series written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay called the Federalist Papers, although they were not as widely read as numerous independent local speeches and articles. The arguments against ratification appeared in various forms, by various authors, most of whom used a pseudonym. Collectively, these writings have become known as the Anti-Federalist Papers.
 

The Library of Congress

The Annotated Constitution of the United States of America
The Constitution annotated with Supreme Court decisions. Prepared by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress.

Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention
The Continental Congress Broadside Collection (253 titles) and the Constitutional Convention Broadside
Collection (21 titles) contain 274 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Most Broadsides are one page in length, others range from 1 to 28 pages.

Other Social Studies and Civics Resources

Center for Civic Education

Amnesty International USA  Educators' Network
Includes resources and sample lessons

 Schoolhouse The Encarta Lesson Collection
[Suggested search terms: Constitution, Rights, Equal, Democracy]

 United Nations CyberSchoolBus Human Rights module

 Partners in Human Rights Education, University of Minnesota Law School
Lesson plans, human rights documents, and links