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TBC 1150 US History to 1877 Paper #2 Due November 11 Write a letter in the voice of the assigned role for your group* in our class convention describing your thoughts about the outcome of the actual Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the new United States government. Put yourself in the mind of your character and think about how he or she would feel upon learning that the new constitution and the subsequent bill of rights had been enacted?
• What do you look forward to? What concerns you?
• Which parts of the new constitution and the first ten amendments (the bill of rights) affect you? What would you like changed?
• Would you favor a stronger central government or stronger rights for the states?
• How should the constitution be interpreted? As a strict constructionist or more loosely?
• Which events in the years after the constitution (international tensions, new economic policies, elections, new laws) have had a direct impact on your life? How so?
• What could the new government do to help you? You may want to review the handouts from our class convention as well as consult your textbook, lecture notes, as well as from QUALITY sources. A good paper will also cite specific examples from the US Constitution. Even though the assignment is written as a letter, be sure to use footnotes to cite all information you incorporate from another source, including class handouts and your textbook. The final letter should be about 750-1000 words in length and submitted as an MS Word document to [email protected] by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 18. For those of you who would like some help and support for your assignment, you can seem me during my office hours (Tues, 9-10 and Thurs 12-1). I’d also like to strongly recommend seeing Eileen Vickery. Eileen is here to help students with writing support. If you have questions about your paper, need feedback on your crafting your letter, or on citation formatting, Eileen can help with these issues. Eileen’s office hours for Writing Support are Thursday from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm. in the Scholar’s Cottage in the Library. If you cannot meet during that time because of a course conflict, you can also make an appointment by email to meet with her for another time. Here is her email: [email protected] *Group 1=Southern Planter, Group 2=Farmer, Group 3=Enslaved African American, Group 4=Banker/Merchant, Group 5=Worker