History 8-1, Assignment Eight, Building a New Nation

Click here to go back to the web site for History 8-1.

After the Revolutionary War ended, what next?

A view of Mount Vernon. George Washington's Estate. This side faces the Potomac River.

Description

When Cornwallis was defeated at Yorktown, the questions about how the new United States of America should be shaped became vital to the new nation. No one was sure just exactly what this new nation should be.

The Articles of Confederation, written early in the war, became the first form of government for the new nation. It was radically different than the Constitution that came later, but the states were deeply afraid of an overly-powerful monarch establish an empire.

The first years were tough and there was no certainty that the new nation would survive. After all, the models of government available at the time showed that power monarchies survived while others faltered quickly.

Objectives

Students will identify and describe the strategies of government and legacies that come to us from the post-Revolutionary War period.

Special instructions

See the printed assignment and use the linked chapter of the textbook for this assignment.

Vocabulary

N/A

If you want to learn more about the painting of the signing of the Constitution, click here.

Links

Printed files

Here is a link to the printed copy of this assignment.

Media files

NA

Online files

Here is a link to the chapter of the textbook you will need for this assignment.

Click here to view the Power Point about after Yorktown that we used in class.

Click here to view the video about the Articles of Confederation we used in class.

Here is the second one.

Here is the link to the short video about Shays' Rebellion.

Click here to view the video about the need to amend the Articles of Confederation.

Here is the link to the PowerPoint we used in class about the Northwest Land Ordinances.

To view the video we use in class 'Are We to be a Nation', click here.