The Assignment Links for Week Ten are Active

I hope you enjoyed your Spring Break, and you return rested and ready to hit the ground running.

This week, you'll read selections from the Federalists and Anti-Federalist Papers.  There were collections of essays published as the new Constitution of 1787 was being ratified.  We tend to think of the Constitution as rock solid and always having been around, but in the years surrounding 1787, our current Constitution was being hammered together to replace a document called the Articles of Confederacy, which had run the new country following our victory in the Revolution.  The Articles defined strong states and a weak central government.  Remember, the country had just fought one strong central government, and we didn't want to put a new one in it's place.  The Federalist argued that we needed a stronger central government, while the Anti-Federalists argued that concentrated power corrupts and leads to tyranny.  What was at stake were which of a host of different visions of the nation and of democracy would prevail.  As the Federalist--folks like Madison and Hamilton--wrote to get key states to ratify the new Constitution which created a strong federal form of government, the Anti-Federalists--like Patrick Henry--were trying to get folks to think through the full ramifications of putting so much power into a central government and that we should take another stable at creating a better document.  

This week, you'll be thrown into the midst of these debates.  Your blog post will have you updating Madison's Federalist Paper No. 10 and--in particular--looking at the various threats he saw in "faction" or "party" to the nation.  You'll have to decide if you think he is right in arguing that only a strong central government can limit the danger inherent in factions or--for that matter--if factions are as much of a danger as Madison suggests.  Remember, you've got two hundred plus years of history to see if things worked out as Madison predicted, and all the founding fathers wanted citizens to think about how to change the government and, if needed, to make it better.

The forum discussion on the thread, "Week 10: Improving the Constitution," has you discussing and debating specific changes to the Constitution which would make it better.   This week, not only much you post your suggestion for change or adoption one already posted, you are required to follow up and to challenge one or more suggestions made by those in the class.  Remember, this is a civil debate--the kind built into our society by the founders.  You are debating ideas, evidence, facts, etc.  When you offer an opinion, you must back it up and explain why you hold your opinion.  You are not attacking an individual or a group.

Have fun.  Be nice to one another, and think about the role of Enlightenment debate, reason, and opinion-support play in our society, which--I'll give you this hint--only works when its leaders can debate, offer opinion, and differ under the rubric of reason and evidence.