The Court

Article III of the United States Constitution creates a judicial branch of the national government. Notice that the actual structure and extent of the powers of this branch are not expressed in as much detail as the legislative (Article I) and executive (Article II) branches. The structure and extent of judicial power would be decided later with an act of Congress and by the court itself. Read the three following documents and answer the following questions.

The Judiciary Act of 1789.
What does the act do and why was it controversial?

Marbury v. Madison.
What was the case about? Why could it be argued that it is the most important Supreme Court case ever?

McCulloch v. Maryland.

What was the case about? Why is this a case that cements national power?

The Puritans

Read this article and watch the short video about the Puritans.

Puritans.

Read this article about Ann Hutchinson.



Anne Hutchinson.

How do you think Puritanism and Ann Hutchinson's experience influence United States culture?

Additional reading:

Puritan ideology.

Letter From A Birmingham Jail

MLK on "patience" and civil rights. How is MLK's statement similar/dissimilar to the Black Panther platform.

The Vietnam War

Pick a document from this site, describe the document, who wrote it and why it was important in the context of the war?

Some great photography from the war.

Classic photos from the Vietnam War.

The Dust Bowl

Interpret this graphic.


Pictures of what many Oklahomans thought was the end times.

Causes of the Dust Bowl.

The Depression and New Deal

Pick one of the people in this set of photo essays and describe what they thought of or how they experienced the Depression and New Deal.

If you are able listen to one of the interviews here: how did the 1930's change these peoples lives?

A nice summary of the New Deal. Examine this summary of the New Deal. Which parts have had the most long term impact?

Take the quiz (in the right margin) on the New Deal.

Progressivism

Here are the four primary goals of progressivism. Describe each of the goals and give a specific accomplishment of each.

Check out this photo gallery of child labor during the late 1800's early 1900's.

Do you think these ideas are still relevant today?

The Triangle Factory fire. What happened?

What is Race?

10 ideas about race. Pick 3 of the points made here. Describe the points and critique the ideas you chose.

Chinese-American Lisa See. Here's a biography of the author of "On Golden Mountain."

Try this exercise on sorting people.

The Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carngie wrote, as did other writers of the day, about the duties of the rich in "Wealth," also known as the Gospel of Wealth. What are his arguments and what do you think of them? Here's an audio clip if your interested.

Reconstruction

Eric Foner on the long term inpact of Reconstruction.

What is his point?

What do you think?

You must answer both questions or you will not get credit for this assignment.

Eric Foner interviewed this week.