1. Connections Constitution – Articles of Confederation
Description: Students take two or more terms and express the historical connection between the terms in a topic sentence
The student supports the topic sentence with specific evidence in the form of a paragraph.
Connections function as “mini-essays.”

2. Connections Connection A Description: Connection B Description:
Connecting Sentence:
Explain the Relationship:

3. Articles of Confederation
Connection - Example
Constitution
Three branches:
Legislative, Executive, Judicial
Federalism
Supremacy clause
Checks and Balances
Power to tax
Power to enforce laws
Articles of Confederation
One branch: Legislative
Federalism
States could ignore national government
No power to tax
No power to enforce laws

4. Connecting Sentence
The Constitution repaired many of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

5. Relationship
Because the authors of the Articles of Confederation feared a strong national government that would treat the states as Great Britain had, they created a loose confederation with a weak national government and strong states. Under the Articles of Confederation the national government was unable to effectively raise taxes or enforce laws. The Constitution addressed these weaknesses by first dividing power between three separate branches of government, thus setting up a system of checks and balances. The Constitution gave the national government the power to tax and enforce laws. Finally, the Constitution included the Supremacy clause which made it clear that national law was superior to each individual state’s law.  

6. Why Connections?
Connections help students recognize continuities and contingencies in history.
Practical applications:
Recognizing the continuities of history will help students “chunk” large amounts of information into manageable sections. Essays require students to make comparisons across time periods. Connections help students recognize historical links, practice writing topic sentences, and apply specific evidence to support a thesis.