07.07.2009

July 07, 2009 ** The Anchoring of American Law, R. B. Bernstein **
 

// Preparation for Tuesday, July 7: //
Paper due on “Private Correspondence of the Founders” Read: //Thomas Jefferson,// pp. ix to p. 54 Read on the web: James Madison, “[|Vices of the Political System]”; and John Adams, “[|Thoughts on Government].” Read from //Fame and the Founding Fathers//, Chapters 6.



**Guiding Questions:** Enter your thoughts and questions by using the discussion tab on this page.

 * How did a familial quarrel within the British Empire lead to a colonial revolution?
 * How did Anglo-American constitutional history impact the American Revolution?
 * In the wake of the Revolution, what governmental experiments did Americans engage in as they attempted restore a legitimate government?
 * What are five points or insights you acquired from reading the letters in Kammen?

__SCHEDULE__
**8:00 a.m.** Coffee
 * 8:30-9:30** Evaluation Solutions, Matthew Peterson

> The first part will examine how a family quarrel within the British Empire spiraled out of control until it led to the first successful colonial revolution against a mother country. It will stress, among other things, the need to understand that the American Revolution had its roots in Anglo-American constitutional history, with colonists and mother country's polemicists disputing the meaning of the unwritten British constitution as applied to America. >  **10:30-11:00** a.m. Break
 * 9:30-10:30** Part One: Becoming Independent

> The second part will focus on the Americans' efforts to restore legitimate government in a form that recognized their rejection of monarchism. It will consider the development of written constitutions and declarations of rights, the constitutional convention and the proper means of exercising the constituent power, and the quandary of relations between church and state.  ====**1:00-2:30** Breakout Sessions Breakout sessions: Discussion of papers on the Private Correspondence of the Founders. **At the conclusion of this** ** session, please hand your papers into the session leader. ** ====  **2:30-2:45** Break
 * 11:00-12:00** Part Two: An Age of Experiments in Government
 * 12:00-1:00 p.m**. Lunch

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 * 2:45-3:30** Reports from Breakout Sessions

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">//<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000;">__Preparation for Wednesday, July 8__ // <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000;">R. B. Bernstein, //<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000;">In Book of Readings //<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000;">: R. B. Bernstein, “Prologue”; “The Confederation in Quandary”; "The American Revolution as a Constitutional Crisis"; “History Quotations.” <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: black; mso-bidi-language: X-NONE; msobidilanguage: X-NONE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Kammen, //The Origins of the American Constitution//: pp. 38-50 (The Constitution); pp. 10-18, (The Articles of Confederation).