Answer each question below carefully. The objective of this assignment is to assess whether or not you understood the major themes and concepts for the chapter on the “Constitution”. Use your own words in responding to these short essay questions. (10 points total) You must submit your responses in word document format using the “Browse My Computer” button on the assignment submission page, which can be found by clicking the title of this assignment above. Responses should be limited to two or three single-spaced pages. In your answers, please number each response accordingly. Use ‘12’ inch size Times New Roman font; with one inch margins throughout.
1. Which do you see as the most important influence on the Founders: ideas, experience or economic interest? Discuss with examples.
2. Describe the concepts of federalism and checks and balances, and provide one example to illustrate each.
3. In what ways did the Civil War and the Great Depression change the Constitution?
4. James Madison wrote: “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the chief difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” What did Madison mean by this and why is this? How did the Founders address this problem in the Constitution?
5. As a delegate at the Constitutional Convention, which compromise would you have been least likely to support, and which would you have been least likely to oppose? Explain your answers.
6. Describe three fundamental compromises made at the Constitutional Convention. What were the issues and who were the opposing sides?
7. The Constitution has been called both an enduring document and an ambiguous one. Identify features in the Constitution that support this statement. In addition, discuss the future of the Constitution as a governing document given the growth of ethnic and racial diversity in the U.S Click here to view a video on submitting an assignment.
Required Materials
| Title | Understanding American Government 13th Edition |
| Author | Welch, Susan |
| ISBN | 0495910503 or 978-0495910503 |
| Publisher | Thompson Wadsworth |
| Publication | 2011 |