Individual Lesson View
Federalists & Anti-Federalists
(medium difficulty)
From: Gilder-Lehrman
Grade Level: MS, HS, College
Remote Ready: With Modifications
Time: 2-3 class periods
Length of Reading: Pages
The United States Constitution: Federalists v. Anti-Federalists
Common Core aligned. This lesson offers 4 lessons. First, students read primary sources with Federalist arguments. Secondly, they read Anti-Federalist primary sources. They then write a mock debate between the two. And finally, they present. Students should have background knowledge on the Constitution before beginning. You could lecture and/or assign this article from the National Archives: Constitution of the United States--A History
.
Lesson 1: Read excerpts from 4 Federalists Papers (each no more than one page each). Students then answer questions in groups.
Lesson 2: Students read excerpts from ANTI-Federalists and answer questions (4 docs, a page or less each).
Lesson 3: Students write the script for a debate between Anti-Federalists and Federalists.
Lesson 4: And finally students present these debate scripts.
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Grade Level: MS, HS, College
- This lesson is approved for Middle School (MS), High School (HS), and College Students.
Remote Ready: With Modifications
- Links to the reading assignments can easily be emailed or posted for students.
- It’s much easier for small groups or pairs to coordinate a phone call or video conference meeting than for the entire class to sync their schedules. Have these small groups post their mock debates, or better yet a video of their mock debate, to your LMS.
Primary Source Icon
This means that this activity utilizes primary sources
Group Work Icon
This activity calls for working in pairs, a group, and/or having a class discussion
Debate Icon
This activity involves a student debate
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