CQ: Did the compromises in the Constitution pave the way for later conflict?

OR

Should principles give way to compromise?

• Without compromises, the Constitution would not have been ratified by the states and the nation of the United States would not exist.

• The Constitution did not pave the way for later conflict because future legislation could have resolved the various issues, particularly slavery.

• The Three-Fifths Compromise gave Southern states more political power to protect slavery, which increased tensions between free and slave states and eventually led to conflict during the Civil War.

• The Great Compromise created a two-house Congress to balance large and small states. While it solved one debate, it didn’t address the bigger divide over slavery, which stayed unresolved and caused arguments as new states joined the Union.

• The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise allowed Congress to regulate trade but delayed any ban on the slave trade for 20 years. This protected slavery for decades, helping it expand and creating deep divisions that would later lead to war.

• By making compromises instead of fully solving the issue of slavery, the Constitution left big problems unsettled. These compromises created deep, political disagreements between the North and the South that grew over time and led to the Civil War.

Supporting Qs:

1. What are the major compromises in the Constitution?

2. What are the biggest sources of conflict in drafting the Constitution?

3. What principles gave way to compromise in creating the Constitution?

Formative Performance Tasks:

1. Define “principle” and “compromise”.

2. List the major compromises made at the Constitutional Convention and the views (or principles) of the different advocates.

3. Write one paragraph explaining why compromise was needed to create the Constitution.

4. Develop a claim supported by evidence about the reasons compromises were made during the Constitutional Convention.

Staging task:

Examine 2 political cartoon(s) about the Constitutional Convention (try to find an older one and a more modern one).

Extension task:

Hold a paideia seminar based on one of the sources or related texts.

Taking informed action:

Create a podcast debating whether principles should make way for compromise today.

The Federal Government pays the price for natural disasters because Congress allocates money for federal bureaucracies like FEMA or The Red Cross to help people after a disaster.  The President declares a national emergency and frees up funding to help rebuild from the effects of a disaster.

The State Government pays the price for a national disaster because the Governor can call up the National Guard to help save people’s lives.  The State allocates money to keep roads, bridges, and schools safe.  

The Local Government pays the price because local firefighters, police officers, and EMTs go out to help people in the community. Local governments with the help of the mayor can create warning systems and safe spaces like schools or malls for people to seek safe shelter.

People pay the price because they are trying to keep their families safe and must make decisions quickly.  People also pay taxes to support all levels of government in hopes that their safety is maintained.  People must build or purchase homes in communities that can support their needs.

-Yes, WV statehood was inevitable because of the longstanding moral, ethical, and legal tensions that were amplified by the Civil War

-No, WV statehood was not inevitable because the creation of a separate state was directly related to the outbreak of the Civil War.

-While tensions that led to WV statehood were prevalent over time, the Civil War rapidly escalated the tensions which led to WV separating from Virginia.

Supporting Questions:

-What were the ethical, legal, and moral tensions that led to the creation of West Virginia?

-How did these tensions unfold and intensify during the Civil War?

-In what ways did ethical, legal, and moral debates shape the decision to create West Virginia?

Sources

1. Lincoln’s Proclamation Admitting West Virginia (December 31, 1862)

2. Population of Virginia Map (1860)

3. The Wheeling Conventions Proceedings (May–June 1861)

4. Letters and speeches from Francis Pierpont (Governor of Restored Government of Virginia)

5. "West Virginia and the Civil War: Mountaineers Are Always Free" by Mark A. Snell

6. Waitman T. Willey letters.

7. Votes to secede

8. Virginia Ordinance of Secession

Staging the Compelling Question

Display the Motto: “Montani Semper Liberi” – “Mountaineers Are Always Free”

Think-Pair-Share Prompt:

"What does ‘always free’ mean to you? Is it personal freedom, a political stance, a cultural identity, or something else?"

Mini Debate: “If your state’s motto is about always being free, would it ever be justified to break away from your government to protect that freedom?”

Extension: Write an alternative history where West Virginia does not form their own state. What would have happened with the ethical, legal, and moral tensions?

Taking Informed Action:

Compelling Question: Should the President’s power have limits?

• The President’s power should not have limits because he was chosen by the people. 

• The President’s power should not have limits because Congress’s inability to legislate and govern requires the President to be able to take action.

• The President’s power should have limits because the Founding Fathers did not intent the President to be a king and put those limits in the Constitution.

• The President’s power should have limits because the power of the purse and the power to legislate are reserved for Congress in the Constitution.

• The President’s power should have limits because he is not the only elected representative of the people. (Congress better represents the people because of their direct election by a majority (or at least a plurality), unlike the President.)

• The President’s power should have limits because he is not above the law.

Supporting Questions with formative assessment

1. How does the Constitution place limits on the executive branch and the powers of the President to address the debate over the issue at the Constitutional Convention?

• Create 3-column chart–columns 1 & 2 listing on the two-sides of the debate over executive power and column 3 how addressed in the Constitution (including where in the Constitution).

2. How have major disagreements over the powers of the President arisen and been resolved?

• Examples: Second National Bank (Jackson), Spending–Impoundment Act (Nixon), Vietnam War–War Powers Act (LBJ)

• Write a paragraph on one example of a dispute over presidential power, explaining the dispute, how it arose, how it was resolved, and why the outcome comported with the Founder’s vision.

3. Do limits on Presidential power promote or impede our democracy?

• Develop a claim on one appropriate boundary for presidential power in our democracy supported by evidence.

Staging the Compelling Question

• Combined with a rehash of the basics on the checks and balances between the three branches in the Constitution, use a handful of quotes from the current President and past Presidents (e.g., Jackson) where they have rejected a perceived check on their power to spark a discussion.

  • Trump tweets

  • Obama/Biden statements when taking action due to legislative gridlock

  • Jackson’s response in the Bank War

• Look for opposing sound bites

• Explore whether they think it matters and why? How do they see the issue possibly impacting them (e.g., in DC: employment, funding for education and other services (especially in a majority minority city)) – be ready with modern examples to share, if needed

Self-interest is described by Adam Smith as the fundamental motivator for economic behavior, where each person looking to maximize their own benefit in turn creates a positive good for society. Marx was opposed to this idea, and argued capitalism based on self-interest leads to negative effects for society. This inquiry gives students a chance to explore where the line of self-interest needs to be checked by regulation.

Argument stems:

1. Self-interest is selfish because it can lead to inequality and environmental destruction.

2. Self-interest is not selfish because it leads to economic growth, innovation, and efficiency.

3. Self-interest can lead to selfish economic behavior, but can be regulated through competition and government action.

Supporting Qs:

1. How does self-interest drive economic decision-making?

2. In what ways can self-interest lead to positive outcomes for society?

3. How does competition limit self-interest?

4. What are the potential downsides of unchecked self-interest in an economy?

Sources: Excerpts from Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" on self interest and competition

Excerpts from Marx "Das Kapital"

Excerpts from Hayek's "Road to Serfdom"

"I, Pencil" video by Milton Friedman

Data on economic growth, income inequality in capitalist economies

• Some people did not fight against slavery because they had an economic and/or political interest in maintaining the system.

• Some people did not fight against slavery because it was too risky for them to do so.

• Some people did not fight against slavery because they lacked the power or organization to do so.

• Some people did not fight against slavery because they did not want to push back against prevailing social/cultural norms.

• A society is “thriving” because it can adapt to its environment and solve problems using innovation.

• A society is “thriving” because it has systems for cooperation, leadership, and decision-making.

• A society is “thriving” because it passes down traditions, beliefs, and values that guide its people.

-Yes, taxes are fair because the government uses tax revenue to fund resources, roads, schools etc.

-No the government should not be able to take money from one person and use to it give something someone else. Private businesses should build roads, schools and provide services to people, not the government.

Supporting Questions:

Disciplinary Logic:

How were Reagan’s economic policies different from policies associated with t? (History)

What is deficit spending?  How did Reagan’s policies impact deficit spending? (Economics)

How did the “Reagan Revolution” impact political alignment in the United States? (Civics)

Sources:

1981 Inaugural Address:  https://newsela.com/view/cks6j18dq00023h60otn0j9xe/?levelId=cks6j190800ud09l4dq7i1bz8

“What is Reaganomics?”  https://newsela.com/view/ck9noolsi07hv0iqj4j5jr6do/?levelId=ck7ecxhtz13bs14p74zzxdv4q

Advising the President:  

https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/2020-06/atp_rr.pdf

Reagan Economic Data (DIG)

https://inquirygroup.org/system/files/download-pdf/Reaganomics%20Student%20Materials_1.pdf

Economic indicators per president

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/lbj-biden-how-economy-performed-under-each-president

1.  Complete a chart listing policies of the New Deal, The Great Society and Reaganomics:  Similarities and Differences

2. Write a paragraph that summarizes the pros and cons of deficit spending

-Justinian was a feminist because he listened to wife Thedora and enacted policies favorable to them.

-Justinian was not a feminist because, while he did enact policies more favorable to women, overall women remained secondary citizens without many of the rights of Byzantine men.

Supporting questions:

• What actions are representative of a feminist?

• What policies did Thoedora encourage Justinian to enact that benefitted Byzantine women?

• What policies did Justinian enact, or already existed, that limited the rights of women?

Sources:

• Secondary source(s) summarizing various policies.

• Mosaic image(s) of Justinian and Theodora

• Relevant primary sources

• Possibly other graphs/charts/images

Formative Performance Tasks:

• Define “feminist”.

• Summarize policies benefitting Byzantine women.

• T-chart comparing and contrasting the two.

• Annotate a source identifying if points are “pro” women or “anti” women.

Is the pen mightier than the sword?

Argument Stems:

-The sword is mightier than the pen because people can be coerced and controlled through force and intimidation.

-The pen is mightier than the sword because non-violent civil resistance is far more effective than violent protest at creating broad-based and lasting change.

Supporting Questions:

-What is non-violent protest?

-Why did the Civil Rights Movement decide to pursue a policy of non-violence to achieve their goals?

-To what extent was the Civil Rights Movement’s non-violent protest strategy successful in achieving its goals?

Formative Taks:

Students will review Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence, MLK’s 6 principles of non-violent protest and a Video of Non-Violent Protest and create an image depicting non-violent protest.

Students will compare and contrast the Ballot or the Bullet speech by Malcom X with the Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.

CQ: What is the best step people can take to reduce their impact on the environment?

Argument Stems:

1. The best step people can take to reduce their impact on the environment is to eat less beef...

2. The best step people can take to reduce their impact on the environment is to shop locally...

3. The best step people can take to reduce their impact on the environment is to try to use alternative proteins such as crickets...

(yes, it's too many supporting questions)

1. What led to the KKK’s return in the 1910s and 1920s?

2. How did Wilson’s words and actions reflect his beliefs on race?

3. How did The Birth of a Nation influence public attitudes and the Klan’s resurgence?

4. What were the cultural and political forces outside of Wilson’s presidency that fueled the KKK’s growth?

5. How do symbols and silence from powerful figures affect social movements?

Possible Artuments

Yes, lots of power: Presidents have power to shape social movements, not only through laws and policies but through the messages they send, or don’t send, even indirectly.

No. While presidents may influence public discourse, social movements like the resurgence of the KKK grow primarily due to broader social, cultural, and economic forces, not individual leaders.

Varies: The president can have as much or as little power in shaping social movements as the other issues may be more pressing the president needs to address at any given time during the administration.

Unpack your compelling question by writing  3-4  content-focused Supporting Questions.

1. What led to the KKK’s return in the 1910s and 1920s?

Concept Map Showing Causes

•  KKK pamphlets/recruitment material

•  Excerpts from 1920s newspaper coverage

•  Secondary source overview: Rise of the Second Klan

2. How did Wilson’s words and actions reflect his beliefs on race?

Source analysis and claim-evidence reasoning

•  Excerpt from Wilson’s History of the American People

•  Primary documents: Wilson's policy memos on segregation in federal offices

•  Du Bois’s response in The Crisis

3. How did The Birth of a Nation influence public attitudes and the Klan’s resurgence?

Media analysis and silent conversation (gallery walk with quotes/images)

•  Poster and quotes from the film

•  NAACP protest materials

•  Newspaper review of the film

•  Report of White House screening

4. What were the cultural and political forces outside of Wilson’s presidency that fueled the KKK’s growth?

Visual timeline creation:

• Wilson’s actions and rhetoric

• Broader cultural shifts (immigration, WWI, women’s rights,, labor movements)

• KKK recruitment and political involvement

• Widespread racism and nativism during and after WWI

• Progressive Era reforms (e.g., eugenics, women’s suffrage, segregation) in federal policies and normalized them under a banner of "science" and "order."

• Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and demographic shifts, which heightened anxieties among white Protestants.

5. How do symbols and silence from powerful figures affect social movements? (or could be a compelling)

List Sources that would provide your students access to information related to the content of your supporting questions..

• Excerpt from The Birth of a Nation (with strong pre-teaching context and media literacy scaffolding)

• Wilson’s writings or policies on race (e.g., History of the American People and segregation memos)

• KKK recruitment materials from the 1920s

• W.E.B. Du Bois’s critiques of Wilson

• NAACP responses to the Klan and Wilson

• Newspaper clippings or cartoons from the time

• Progressive Era reforms (e.g., eugenics, segregation) in federal policies and normalized them under a banner of "science" and "order."

• Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and demographic shifts, which heightened anxieties among white Protestants.

NO Angel Island and Ellis Island are not analogous: because people who passed through each had profoundly different experiences, the islands hold very different memories for those who passed through and the nation, Ellis Island moved people through faster, received many more people, and operated for longer while Angel island operated for less time, was built with the purpose of excluding Chinese, and had high rates of detainment and detention. Additionally, Angel Island is undervalued nationally and not as well known. Although Both islands are important for historical memory but Angel island struggles with funding and therefore to continue to educate and inform

CQ: Does "Equal" really mean "All"?

Equality does mean all because as American society has grown its laws and societal norms have evolved to include the rights of  multiple different groups of people such as gender groups and ethnic groups.

The term equal, as posed in the Declaration of Independence, did not and consistently throughout history has not included all individuals, because even in today’s society we still experience social conflict with the social rights of different people groups.

Although in theory the ideas of equality should mean all, the limits of legislation and societal norms of acceptance have continuously hindered the experience of equality in action for many people groups.

Supporting Questions and Performance Tasks

List the Formative Performance Tasks students might complete (using the sources you identified) to demonstrate their knowledge of the related content and to practice with inquiry related skills. 

• What are Civil Rights?

  • I am Poem of the Civil Rights

• How did African Americans obtain Civil Rights?

  • Annotated Info map of major steps (events, legislation, cases, etc) to Civil Rights

• How have civil rights been obtained by the LGBTQ community?

  • T-Chart comparison of rights of LGTQ+ individuals  and Heterosexual individuals

• What political and social changes have immigrants to the US experienced in the 21st c?

  • Create an annotated timeline that illustrates the change over time of the immigrant experience throughout the 21st century.

To what degree is urban renewal beneficial?

Who benefits from urban renewal?

How do we balance urban renewal with justice?

Benefit

local government, taxes/infrastructure/ec growth

Developers, investors

Middle and upper income residents

Some other

Harms

Lower income residents and communities of color

Small businesses

Homeless and vulnerable populations

Supporting questions:

What are the goals of urban renewal?

Who does it benefit?

Who does it harm?

What is just in relation to urban renewal?

8.5 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic. 

3. Outline the major treaties with American Indian nations during the administrations of the first four  presidents and the varying outcomes of those treaties.

Angle: Treaty of Hopewell 1785--United States President Washington & Cherokee Nation

(CQ) Do promises between nations matter?

1. Promises between nations matter because they reflect your commitment to another person or group.

2. Promises between nations matter because they hold involved parties accountable.

3. Promises between nations don’t matter because needs change and may conflict with promise.

(SQ1) What is a treaty?

(SQ2) How did nations view treaties during the early republic?

(SQ3) What was the outcome of this treaty for the US and the Cherokee nation?

Sources are for supporting question #1 “What is a treaty?”

1. Why Treaties Matter (5:20) NPR Video

2. Ep. 1 Treaty Promises: Treaty Making (0:00-3:27) David Suzuki Foundation Canadian Environmental Non-Profit Video Series (Great details, but maybe too much detail)

3. Let’s Talk Treaties (3:29) Video from National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) (This may be more age appropriate)

4. Reading excerpt from “Treaty Making and Treaty Breaking on the Northern Plains” by Salish Nation educator, Julie Cajune from NMAI  (Also look at Anton Treuer book to see if he defines treaty and use it for excerpt)

This task is for supporting question #1 “What is a treaty?” 

1. Complete a concept map for the word treaty

2. Complete a T-chart (fact & source) with evidence from the sources to show what they say about what a treaty is

3. Create a definition of the word treaty using evidence from the sources

yes- Upper Canada, a major region in Quebec included modern day Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. Green Bay, Wisconsin was settled in 1634 by Jean Nicolet.

yes- the fur trade from Upper Canada- Quebec created the wealth for the first millionaire in the US- John Astor. And many other individuals

Yes- today there is a strong metis community in what was once Upper community who are descendants of French and local native tribe members

Yes- the major trade route for the fur trade went from Montreal to Michilmac Island to Green Bay, Wisconsin to Mississippi River

Yes- Benjamin Franklin approached Quebec and asked them to join in the American Revolution

No- the local habitants of Quebec did not think of themselves as part of American colonies.

D2.Civ.6.K-2. Describe how communities work to accomplish common tasks, establish responsibilities, and fulfill roles of authority.

OA15

Identify the work that institutions such as the school, the municipality, the hospital, the post office, Carabineros de Chile, and the people who work in them do for the benefit of the community.

Content:

Communities work towards common tasks, fulfill roles of authority and responsibilities. The common tasks I want to use as an angle would be: survive, find happiness, connect,  live in a safe, clean community, build a better world). There are systems and public works created to do common tasks and fill roles.

Content Angle: Coexistence depends on roles, fulfilling those roles, and doing work beyond selfish needs, but work for the benefit of the community. Public works (police, fire department, roads and bridges, trash collectors, parks maintenance, farmers, teachers) . In Chile this is one critical difference to other countries...fire fighters are volunteers. They are not paid. There is no reward for their work in monetary terms. This can be leveraged for a 'Take Action' piece at the end and key inquiry piece.

Compelling Question(s):

-What motivates us to fill roles in our community?

SQ #1:What are community roles in our class and in our city? (review from K1 and K2)

Source A: Infograph of classroom roles including: teacher, assistant teacher, student (jobs), room mother, literacy coaches, Changemaker coordinator.

Source B: Chart of Lo Barnechea Public Works Representative: Mayor, trash collector, road workers, police, fire-fighter, parks manager, doctor,

SQ #2: How do we fulfill roles?

Source A: Teacher duties from handbook simplified to grade 1 

Source B: Teacher resume to show skills, knowledge, training, experience

Source C: Ideal fire-fighter posters

SQ #3: What are types of motivation?

Source A: Marshmallow Experiment Video (positive motivation)

Source B: Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation short stories

Source C: Counselor Interview with SEL components

SQ #4: What motivates Chilean police and Chilean fire-fighters to fill their roles?

Source A: Bar Graph of Lo Barnechea job salaries with the 0 for fire-fighters

Source B; Interview of Chilean  fire-fighter

Source C: Interview of police officer

Task #1: Draw 3 roles from our classroom and 3 roles from our city (classroom is smaller paper than city)

Task #2: Draw the responsible student

Task #3: T-chart differences in motivational reasons  of characters in read alouds

Task #4: Outline of argument for video

Describe a staging task for your inquiry.

Watch or read episode of ‘Paw Patrol’ and teacher creates anchor chart roles and responsibilities of:

Mayor Goodway, Ryder (Pubic Works Manager), Chase, Ruble, Skye, Marhall, Everest, etc

-Cities community members that fill roles

Take Action: Advocate for unpaid Chilean fire-fighters in video campaign, write a song in Spanish class.

1. To what extent are flat maps accurate representations of the real world?

2. What’s up with Ms. Inge’s map?  (referring to the giant south-up orientation map at the front of my classroom)

List/describe the Content Topic/Angle for this inquiry.

    Map projections:   All flat-map projections are wrong.  

   It’s impossible to accurately represent an oblate spheroid on a 2-D surface.  Furthermore, students are accustomed to “Normal” map projections like the Mercator or Winkel Triple in which North America and Europe are at the top of the map and the focus is on the Atlantic Ocean and North America and Europe.  But does that reflect reality?  There are trade-offs/sacrifices made in all map projections (size, shape, angles, direction)

Furthermore, there’s no up or down in space.  North is not up and South is not down. 

List the Argument Stems (possible arguments your students might develop) here.

• Why is it important to study map projections when everyone uses Google Maps or Waze these days?

•  What role have different map projections played in telling the story of…(the Colombian Exchange, The European Age of Exploration, Zheng He’s explorations, The Silk Road, The “New World” civilizations, United Nations and its logo, NATO, EU…etc.)

Supporting Questions:

1. What are map projections?

2. What are some examples of different map projections?

3.  Why are there so many map projections? (Quick answer:  All 2-D maps are wrong because it’s impossible to represent the oblate spherical earth on a flat surface.  No matter what projection is chosen, distortions, or losses, will occur.  Furthermore, map projections represent a variety of perspectives and purposes.  Map makers have to make a conscious decision about the design of their maps, which might include political ideology, history, tradition, the mapmaker’s location and experience, the purpose of the map, and the technological, financial and knowledge constraints. But is this question an open-ended question and not in the spirit of close-ended supporting questions???)

4. What are some of the trade-offs/sacrifices of map projections? (Quick answer:  Distortions in size, shape, distance, angles. What’s more, a map maker has to make a decision about what’s on top, what’s on bottom, and what’s at the center.  Such decisions may convey a particular message to the user and may facilitate or hinder use in the real world.  But is this question an open-ended question and not in the spirit of close-ended supporting questions???)

Are We All Immigrants? (Why/Why Not?)

(One portion of Unit)

-Students may reflect on/reiterate what immigration means and who are considered immigrants based off what we know or have already learned.

-Students may form individual ideas then discuss with peers/classroom debate (yes on one side; no on the other. Let’s discuss!

-(will also talk abt what is considered the Americas later. Why/How was America formed? Can people claim land? How do we discover land? Who were the explorers? From Where did they come? What does Native or Indigenous mean? Etc.)

-YES: even though we may have been born in the Americas, the Native/Indigenous Americans were here before the explorers came. We are all on their land and were brought over via various means/reasons. My parents and I moved here from another country and gained citizenship, but we are still considered immigrants. (May break down definition of immigration and why the laws are in place and why/why not someone with legal citizenship may still be considered an immigrant through society’s eyes)

-NO: There are laws in place after government was established in America (may break down specifically the U.S.A. vs the Americas as a whole.) If I was born here, I am a native of this land. If my parents moved here and gained citizenship, we are not immigrants. I am an American and take pride in my country.

-How is the relevant: many of the students I teach are greatly impacted with real world situations regarding immigration in one way or the other.

Topic - Physical Regions of Texas. Here students must understand "physical" - landforms, climate, and vegetation. This simple and somewhat blah topic is foundational to understanding nuances of Texas history - colonization, economic development, American Indians, etc.

CQ: Are physical regions important to understanding the development of Texas?

OR

How do physical regions in Texas effect me?