Alabama Social Studies SS24.US1.2a
The Standard
- SS24.US1.2
- Evaluate how events and issues from the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783) to the ratification of the Constitution of the United States affected the development of the political system of the United States.
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and describe how Shays’ Rebellion generated sentiment favoring a strong central government.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify what the first U.S. Congress could do and where it depended on the states. They explain why the farmers' uprising in Massachusetts led some leaders to call for more national power.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can point to the Northwest Ordinance as an achievement and explain why Congress struggled to raise money. They can explain how the response to the uprising added to calls for a stronger national government.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think Congress had no powers at all, or that it could collect federal taxes. They may think federal troops stopped the uprising, or that every leader agreed on giving the national government more power.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name one thing Congress accomplished, one power it lacked, and one reason Shays' Rebellion changed some leaders' views.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs cards labeled Northwest Ordinance, taxes, treaties, and trade rules; have them sort what Congress could and could not do.
Ask students to write: Why did Massachusetts, rather than Congress, stop Shays' rebels, and what did that suggest about national power?
Play a matching game: pair 'no federal taxes' with 'asks states for money' and 'Northwest Ordinance' with 'rules for western territories.'
Compare a recent FEMA disaster response with Congress's requests for state funds; ask which government can collect taxes to pay for help.
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