Liberty versus Order

This week we watched the final episode of “Liberty,” which focused on how the nation would be governed. England saw the effort of the former colonists to establish a democracy as an “experiment” that was bound to fail. Under the Articles of Confederation, our country was a weak alliance of states. Taxes could not be collected at the federal level and outbreaks such as Shay’s Rebellion where difficult to quell.

Finally, in 1787 a strong group of Federalists arrived in Philadelphia with the idea of rewriting the Articles, but it soon became apparent that a whole new government was required. James Madison, a 37 year old delegate from Virginia, came to the convention with the idea of a bicameral legislature. This kicked off the first major debate of the convention as to how the legislative branch should be organized. You have a graphic organizer that will help you sort through the big state and small state proposals as well as the final compromise, sometimes know as the Great Compromise or the Connecticut Compromise. Remember to use the back side of the organizer to list other compromises the delegates had to make in order to reach a final document. We should pause and think about the role of compromise not only in government but also in our own lives. Is the ability to compromise an important skill to learn or is compromise seen as a weakness? What issues or ideas can be compromised and are there other issues or ideas that can’t be compromised?

Next week we will start our reenactment of the Constitutional Convention. Be prepared with your name cards, introductions and your best acting skills. Let’s put ourselves back in 1787 and try to imagine what the opportunities and challenges must have been to this small group of men who were writing rules for a new nation based on liberty. How could they balance liberty with order? How strong should the federal government be? As one of the historians on “Liberty” said, “This issue is still being debated today.”

Current Events

History was made on January 4, 2007, with the swearing in of the 110th Congress. It is the first time the House has selected a woman, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), as Speaker. In addition, the membership of Congress has become even more diverse with election of the first two Buddhist members and the first Muslim.

Your next current event must focus on the Legislative branch. There are ample stories in the news that talk about the actions of the House and the Senate. Let’s use the stories of today to help us understand the decisions made by those who drafter our Constitution.

Reflection and Evaluation

Many of you mentioned that you had difficulty managing your time when you worked on projects. I thought you might find it useful to read over some tips from the College Board. If you know you have issues with time management you are half way to solving your problem. When you have a multi-step project, you may want to break your task into small tasks and then set up a timetable. The biggest mistake you can make is putting off the tasks, because as time gets short you will be more likely to cut corners and the quality of your work will suffer.

Another Perspective

The Oscar nominations are about to be announced and one of the leading contenders for Best Picture is “Letters from Iwo Jima.” As you may recall, in an earlier blog I wrote about Clint Eastwood’s movie “Flags of Our Fathers,” which is based on the best selling book describing the lives of the young men who raised the flag after the World War II battle of Iwo Jima. Now Eastwood has directed a movie telling the story of the battle from the Japanese perspective. Hats off to thinking and acting like a historian, Clint!