 Imagine that Mr. Peterson and the rest of the VPs have been abusing their position of authority.  They’re charging you a ridiculous amount for lunch, forcing you to go to Saturday school, and searching your lockers and book bags on the slightest suspicion you have illegal goods.

 You and your classmates decide to overthrow Mr. Peterson and are successful.  Now you all are in charge and feel that you need to make serious changes to the rules to make sure that school runs smoothly.

 In groups of 2-3, make a list of ten rules that your group feels are necessary to create a well-run school.  Consider among other things how you will handle: › Attendance and grades › Amount of class time › Who is in charge (Remember, the last guy was too powerful). › How you will keep students safe (rules, consequences).  You have 15 minutes to generate the list.

 Now join up with another group.  With your list of 20, condense your group’s list with the other group’s to create a final list of 10.  You have ten minutes to combine your lists.

 How did it feel to have to make rules for 1,200 students to follow?  Was it easy or hard to combine your lists?  What if we tried to take the class’s combined lists and tried to condense them into one master list?

 Has enough power to do its job.  Doesn’t give anyone too much power.  Considers the needs of all states.  Lets people have a say.  Protects individual rights.

In 1777, the Americans wrote their first plan of government called the Articles of Confederation. But the AOC were too weak. Why were the AOC weak?

Problems: Congress had no ways to enforce its laws. Congress had no power to collect taxes to pay for the military. Laws needed to be approved by 9 of 13 states. Representatives had to agree how to cast a single vote. The Articles could only be changed if ALL the states agreed.

 People felt that the Articles were just not working.  Congress was too weak.  States were too different to have a consensus.

 3 separate branches of gov’t: executive, judicial, and legislative.  Connecticut Plan: 2 house legislature. › One house based on population › One house set at 2 representatives per state  Checks and balances: prevent one branch from being too strong. Montesquieu: separate branches of government and checks and balances General Enlightenment: representative government.

 People don’t think the Constitution does enough to protect people’s rights.  As a result, the founders added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.

 1 st Amendment: freedom of religion  4 th Amendment: protection from illegal searches  5 th Amendment: trial by jury  8 th Amendment: cruel and unusual punishment. John Locke: life, liberty, property. Voltaire: separation of church and state.