About Us
Congress: The Context
SUBJECTS
Civics, American Government, U.S. History
GRADE LEVEL
9-12
OBJECTIVES
In Federalist No. 51 Madison wrote, "In a Republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconvenience is to divide the legislature into different branches." The Framers of the Constitution took great care in organizing the legislative branch of the United States government into a bicameral system to avoid overpowering the other two branches. There are distinct differences between congressional power and organization of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
In this lesson, students will discuss among their group why the Framers chose to organize the legislative branch of the U.S. government in the manner that they did. They will read, highlight, and annotate selections from Federalist No. 57 and Federalist No. 62. Using a copy of Article 1 of the Constitution, students will identify ideas from the Federalist papers.
They will Investigate the arguments made by the Anti–Federalist about congressional power and organization of the legislative branch at the time the Constitution was written. They will examine and record current criticisms of Congress and discuss the differences between the House and Senate as set forth in Federalist No. 57 and Federalist No. 62.
Students will create a PowerPoint presentation with 10–15 slides on the information explored.
Finally, students will determine whether the criticisms of Congress reveal the true nature of American democracy today and help to serve the public good better than Madison's original vision through a PowerPoint presentation.
LESSON PLAN
Class 1
Read, highlight, and annotate the selections from Federalist No. 57 and Federalist No. 62. Answer the following questions:
How does Publius describe the legislative role of Congress?
On a copy of Article 1 of the Constitution, identify each time ideas are found from the Federalist papers by writing Federalist No. 57 or Federalist No. 62 in the margins.
Class 2
In small groups, go over the differences between the House and the Senate as set forth in Federalist No. 57 and Federalist No. 62. Discuss where the ideas found in the Federalist papers are present in Article 1 of the Constitution.
The groups will either:
A. Investigate the arguments and concerns made by the Anti–Federalists about the power and organization of the legislative branch at the time the Constitution was written; or
B. Research current criticisms of Congress and determine whether these criticisms reveal the true nature of American democracy today and help to serve the public good better than Madison's original vision.
Questions to consider:
1. Is the legislative process designed by the Framers too complicated to work properly today?
2. Do you think the complexities help or harm the legislative process? Why or why not?Class 3
Create a PowerPoint presentation with 10 –15 slides on the information explored.
Class 4
Oral presentation of PowerPoint.
RESOURCES
EVALUATION ASSESSMENT
See attached rubric
CREDIT
Ellen Fox
Ridgefield High School
Ridgefield, CT
