pc1 war adams

7/31/2019 PC1 War Adams

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Presidents and the Constitution:Commander in Chief

The curriculum, Presidentsand the Constitution, was

made possible bygenerous grants from theNational Endowment for

the Humanities through itsWe the People program, as

well as from Dr. JohnTempleton.


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Presidents and the Constitution

Each unit includesScholarly essay

Primary source activity focusing onArticle II

Lessons to show how three different

presidents understood and exercisedtheir constitutional powers

Volume I Units

WarSlavery

Chief Diplomat

Federal Power

Electing the President


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Back of the book resources

Answer KeyAppendix A: The Declaration

of IndependenceAppendix B: The ConstitutionAppendix C: The Bill of RightsResourcesSpecial Thanks

Image CreditsNational Standards


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Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts &Literacy in History/Social Studies

8. Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminalU.S. texts, including the application ofconstitutional principles and use of legal

reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majorityopinions and dissents) and the premises,purposes, and arguments in works of publicadvocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidentialaddresses).


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What argument was NOT made in support of the Alienand Sedition Acts?

1. Personal attacks against public officials are athreat to public order.

2. Punishment of seditious speech did not violatefreedom of the press, which merely prohibited

prior restraint of speech.

3. In time of crisis, it is necessary to take strictmeasures to defend the stability of government.

4. These acts are constitutional because they apply toboth political parties equally.

5. Not sure


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War and the Constitution

Constitutional ConnectionActivity, p. 34

Students analyze excerpts of

the Constitution to reviewthe Presidents authorityas Commander in Chief.

Please skim this activitynowhow would it workfor your students?


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War and Civil Libertyessay by ProfessorRobert M.S. McDonald,

Ph.D.Dr. McDonald is

Associate Professor of

History at the UnitedStates MilitaryAcademy.

War and the Constitution


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Commander in Chief:War and the Constitution


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Commander in Chief:War and the Constitution

Mini-Documentary


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John Adams and the Alien andSedition Acts, p. 40Read Handout A: John Adams and the Alien

and Sedition Acts (p. 42-43) and answer thequestions.

1. Why did President Adams want to quietsupport for the French in the United States?2. What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?3. What were arguments for and against the

constitutionality of these acts?

4. Do you believe the Alien and Sedition Actswere constitutional? Why or why not?5. Do you think that the threat of war justifies

limits on civil liberties? If not, why? If so,what kinds of limits would be

constitutional?

John AdamsbyJohn Trumbull,

1793


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A. Dinner Party! Use the 6Dinner Party Guestscards to become familiarwith your identity.

B. Form groups based oncard coloreach groupshould be made up of sixdifferent individuals.

C. Introduce yourselves,remain standing andmingle as though at adinner party.

John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts


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A. Using Handout C: Dinner Party

Conversation(and your ownpaper), sit down and writedown five questions (onequestion each for the otherpeople at the table). Use not only

the information on your dinnerparty card, but also your ownknowledge as well asinformation from Handout A.

B. Proceed with the conversation,asking questions of each otherand responding.

C. What was the most importantquestion you received, and what

was your response?



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A. To wrap up dinner, prepare to make a

toast (or a roast) to President JohnAdams. Use irony or humor! Toasts should include mentions of Adams

accomplishments and the guests opinionsabout them. A guest who supported the

Alien and Sedition Acts might say: To mygood friend John, who kept us out of war,and kept us civilized.

Roasts: To His Majesty Adams, who couldwait barely a year in office before

trampling upon our most sacred rights.



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Homework, p. 41Have students write two or threeparagraphs in response to the following prompt:

Why does history seem to blame the Presidentwho is not a lawmakerfor bad laws?

ExtensionsWhile the Virginia and KentuckyResolutions condemned the Alien and Sedition Acts,ten of the fourteen states responded to thoseresolutions by issuing proclamations thatcondemned state interference with federal law,and, in some cases asserting the constitutionality

of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Have students readthe Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions as well as theresponses of Rhode Island and New Hampshire inresponse to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.How do the arguments compare and contrast? Thedocuments can be found atwww.ArticleII.org/War/Units.


1799 SeditionIndictment ofMeyer andFahnstock,publishers of aGerman-

languagenewspaper
http://www.articleii.org/War/Unitshttp://www.articleii.org/War/Unitshttp://www.articleii.org/War/Units


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The Issues EndureHave students write a two tothree page essay in response to the followingprompt: One historian describes a rampant fear of the

enemy within during the time the Alien andSedition Acts were passed. Has thisdescription applied at other times in U.S.history? Does it apply today? Explain.



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What argument was NOT made in support of the Alienand Sedition Acts?

1. Personal attacks against public officials are athreat to public order.

2. Punishment of seditious speech did not violatefreedom of the press, which merely prohibited

prior restraint of speech.

3. In time of crisis, it is necessary to take strictmeasures to defend the stability of government.

4. These acts are constitutional because they apply toboth political parties equally.

5. Not sure


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in your classroom

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our curriculum

pc1 war adams

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