Preamble


 * Group 1: Establishing Justice **

Print out the abstract for // Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections // from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource. Students should read the facts of the case and the question presented and respond to the following: Share the actual outcome (conclusion) of the case.
 * 1) For a case to arrive at the Supreme Court, it must be difficult to decide. What good points are there on both sides of the case // Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections? // It costs money to hold an election. The tax being charged at Virginia polling places was used by counties for expenses such as conducting voting and by the state to support public education. The maximum tax was only $1.50. Shouldn't anyone be happy to pay such a small amount for the privilege of voting and to help pay for the voting process? Would it be fair to ask people who do not vote to pay for voting through some other tax, such as a tax on items you buy at the store (a sales tax)? On the other hand, if you have no money at all, is that a good reason to keep you from voting?
 * 2) What do you think the court decided?
 * 3) Another word for justice is fairness. What happens in our country to make sure that things are fair? What does establishing justice mean?

** Group 2: Ensuring Domestic Tranquility **

Print out //Burson v. Freeman// — Abstract from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource.

Students should read the facts of the case and respond to the following: Share the actual outcome (conclusion) of the case.
 * 1) For a case to arrive at the Supreme Court, it must be difficult to decide. What good points are there on both sides of this case? Shouldn't voters be able to walk to the polling place in peace and quiet (such peace and quite could be considered one kind of domestic tranquility) without someone trying to get them to vote for their candidate? On the other hand, don't we have the right to talk to people about candidates we want elected? What do you think the court decided?
 * 2) What does it mean to "insure domestic tranquility"? How did the case // Burson v. Freeman // ensure domestic tranquility"? What other examples of domestic tranquility can you list?

** Group 3: Providing for the Common Defense **

Print out the last page of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's request to the Congress that the United States declare war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor from the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Digital Classroom, and the Uncle Sam Recruiting Poster , available via a link from the EDSITEment resourceAmerican Memory. Students should review the documents and respond to the following:
 * 1) Why did the President have to ask Congress to declare war? Why didn't he declare war himself? Why does it make sense to require the President to ask Congress? How does that help provide for the "common" defense?
 * 2) What is the point of the Uncle Sam poster?
 * 3) How does our government today "provide for the common defense"?
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What does "provide for the common defense" mean?

** Group 4: Promoting the General Welfare **

In 1906, no one was required to inspect meat that was sold to the American public. Public reaction to Upton Sinclair's book // The Jungle // was a major factor in the passage of the 1907 Meat Inspection Act, which established a system of meat inspection that lasted until July 1996, when the federal government announced new rules requiring more scientifically advanced methods of meat inspection.

Print out the letter from author <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Upton Sinclair to President Theodore Roosevelt (March 10, 1906) concerning conditions in the meat packing industry from the EDSITEment-reviewed website <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Digital Classroom. Students should read the letter and respond to the following:
 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Shouldn't the companies that sell meat inspect the meat they sell? Why should the government have a system for inspecting meat? How do meat inspections "promote the general welfare"?
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What else does the government do to promote the general welfare?
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What does "promoting the general welfare" mean?

** Group 5: Securing the Blessing of Liberty to Ourselves **

Print out <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Wisconsin v. Yoder// — Abstract from the EDSITEment-reviewed website <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: Supreme Court WWW Resource and the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">poster celebrating the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, available via a link from the EDSITEment resource <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">American Memory (Click here for the text of all<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Constitutional Amendments , including the Fifteenth Amendment.) Students should review the documents carefully and respond to the following: Share the actual outcome (conclusion) of the case.
 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">For a case to arrive at the Supreme Court, it must be difficult to decide. What good points are there on both sides of this case? Why do some people believe parents should be required to send their children to school? On the other hand, shouldn't parents be able to raise their kids the way they want?
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you think the Supreme Court decided in this case?
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Look up "liberty" in the dictionary. What does liberty mean? What might happen if everybody felt s/he had the liberty to do what ever s/he wanted no matter what the consequences? When, why and how should liberties ever be restrained ... and when should they not be?
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What does it mean to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves"?
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What is being celebrated in the poster? How did the Fifteenth Amendment secure the blessings of liberty to those who had been enslaved? That's an easy question, but here's a hard one: How did the Fifteenth Amendment secure the blessings of liberty to those who had NOT been enslaved?

** Group 6: Securing the Blessing of Liberty to Our Posterity **

Print out the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">photograph of coal breaker boys from the EDSITEment resource <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">American Memory. (Note to the teacher: An image using less memory is available by searching <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a9332d; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">American Memory for the exact phrase "Coal breaker boys." Students should review the image carefully and respond to the following:
 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Wouldn't some children your age be tempted to leave school and take up a job if they could? What's wrong with that?
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Why are there no more coal breaker boys?
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Constitution is still being changed with amendments. Our country's laws are still being changed today. How does improving the rules today help secure the blessings of liberty for people in the future (that's what "posterity" means)? Can you think of some other ways the government makes sure people in the future will have liberty?
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; color: #4b4b4b; font-size: 14px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What does "securing the blessing of liberty to our posterity" mean?