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LESSON PLAN: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 - Primary Source Analysis

Grade: 11th Grade (Advanced AP US History)
Subject: US History
Standard: AP US History Topic 3.8 - The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification (Politics and Power thematic focus)
Duration: 90 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Analyze primary sources from the Constitutional Convention to evaluate the competing visions of government represented by the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan
2. Assess James Madison’s arguments and rhetorical strategies in his convention notes and apply historical reasoning skills to evaluate the significance of the Great Compromise
3. Synthesize evidence from multiple primary sources to construct an evidence-based argument about the tension between federalism and state sovereignty at the Convention
4. Evaluate the Constitutional Convention as a pivotal moment in defining American political structures using Period 3 (1754-1800) contextualization

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Primary source packet (one per student) containing:
  • Excerpt from James Madison’s Notes on Debates (May 29, 1787 - Virginia Plan presentation)
  • Excerpt from James Madison’s Notes on Debates (June 15, 1787 - New Jersey Plan presentation and Madison’s critique)
  • Excerpt from Madison’s Notes (July 16, 1787 - Great Compromise debate)
  • Federalist No. 10 (excerpt, 200-300 words)
  • Anti-Federalist responses (brief excerpt from Brutus I or similar)
• Document analysis graphic organizers (one per student)
• Whiteboard/projector for document projection
• Chart paper and markers for group work
• AP-style document analysis question handout
• Exit ticket slips

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LESSON SEQUENCE

HOOK/ANTICIPATORY SET (8 minutes)

Silent Primary Source Analysis - The Constitutional Crisis

Project Madison’s opening entry from his Notes (May 25, 1787) describing the Convention’s beginning, or Randolph’s speech introducing the Virginia Plan.

“Imagine you’re in Philadelphia, May 1787. The nation is barely functioning under the Articles of Confederation. Shays’ Rebellion just demonstrated the central government’s weakness. You’re one of 55 delegates tasked with fixing a broken system - but you don’t agree on HOW broken it is or what the solution should be.”

Display discussion prompt: “Based on what you know about the Articles of Confederation, what would YOU prioritize if you were redesigning American government? Power? Representation? Individual rights?”

Quick pair-share (3 minutes), then invite 2-3 students to share key tensions they anticipate.

Transition: “Today we’re diving into the actual debates at the Convention through the words of the delegates themselves - primarily through James Madison’s meticulous notes. Your job is to think like historians: What can primary sources tell us about the ideological battle over federalism?”

DIRECT INSTRUCTION (25 minutes)

Part 1: Historical Context and the Convention’s Stakes (8 min)

Provide brief context (use timeline or visual aid):

• Post-Revolutionary challenges: economic instability, interstate conflicts, Shays’ Rebellion (1786-87)
• Why Philadelphia? The Annapolis Convention’s call for revision
• The delegates: 55 men, average age 42, largely wealthy, educated elites
• Key players: Madison (VA), Hamilton (NY), Franklin (PA), Paterson (NJ), Morris (PA)

Emphasize: “The Convention met in SECRET. No press. Guards at the door. Madison sat up front and took notes every single day - these are our best window into what actually happened.”

Part 2: Introduce Primary Source Analysis Framework (7 min)

Display and explain AP History Disciplinary Practices:

1. Sourcing: Who wrote this? When? Why? What’s their perspective?
2. Contextualization: What was happening at this time? How does this fit into Period 3?
3. Close Reading: What specific words/phrases reveal the author’s argument?
4. Corroboration: How does this source compare to others? What’s missing?

Model with a brief excerpt from Madison’s May 29 notes on the Virginia Plan:

• Source: Madison, delegate from Virginia, May 29, 1787 - day 4 of Convention
• Context: Written as Virginia delegates propose scrapping Articles entirely
• Close reading: Note Virginia Plan’s call for “national government…supreme”
• Corroboration: We’ll compare this to the New Jersey Plan response

Part 3: The Competing Plans - Virginia vs. New Jersey (10 min)

Present side-by-side comparison:

Virginia Plan (May 29, 1787):

• Proposed by Edmund Randolph (written largely by Madison)
• Bicameral legislature with representation based on population or wealth
• Strong national government with power to veto state laws
• Three branches with checks and balances
• Favored large states (Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts)

New Jersey Plan (June 15, 1787):

• Proposed by William Paterson
• Unicameral legislature with equal representation per state (like Articles)
• Federal government with limited, enumerated powers
• Preserved state sovereignty
• Favored small states (New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut)

Key question to pose: “These aren’t just different structures - they represent fundamentally different philosophies. What’s the deeper debate here?”
(Answer: Nationalism vs. state sovereignty; large state vs. small state interests; democracy vs. republicanism)

Vocabulary check: Ensure students understand bicameral, unicameral, enumerated powers, federalism, sovereignty, proportional representation.

GUIDED PRACTICE (30 minutes)

Activity: Primary Source Analysis in Expert Groups

Divide class into 4 expert groups (4-5 students each). Each group receives one primary source document with specific analysis questions.

Group 1: Virginia Plan Excerpt (Madison’s Notes, May 29)
Focus questions:

• What language suggests Virginia’s vision for a strong national government?
• How does Randolph justify the need to abandon the Articles?
• What interests does this plan protect? Whose voices are marginalized?

Group 2: New Jersey Plan & Madison’s Critique (Madison’s Notes, June 15)
Focus questions:

• What are Paterson’s main objections to the Virginia Plan?
• How does Madison respond? What’s his central argument?
• What does Madison’s language reveal about his priorities and fears?

Group 3: The Great Compromise Debate (Madison’s Notes, July 16)
Focus questions:

• What solution emerges from the Virginia/New Jersey deadlock?
• Which side “wins”? What does each side give up?
• How does the compromise reflect the tension between democratic and federalist principles?

Group 4: Federalist No. 10 (Published October 1787, ratification period)
Focus questions:

• How does Madison justify a large republic over small, state-centered government?
• What’s his argument about factions? How does this connect to Convention debates?
• Who is his audience? How might Anti-Federalists respond?

Group Work Protocol (20 minutes):

1. Read document together (5 min)
2. Annotate for sourcing, context, argument (5 min)
3. Answer focus questions as a group using evidence (7 min)
4. Prepare 3-minute presentation for class (3 min)

Teacher circulates, asking probing questions:

• “What word choice stands out to you there?”
• “How might a small-state delegate react to this?”
• “What’s Madison assuming about human nature in this passage?”

Group Presentations (10 minutes):
Each group presents key findings (2-3 min each). Teacher facilitates connections between documents and adds missing context as needed.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE (20 minutes)

Activity: AP-Style Document-Based Question (Short Response)

Students receive a prompt modeled on AP History free-response questions:

Prompt:
“Using the primary sources you analyzed today, evaluate the extent to which the Constitutional Convention of 1787 resolved the tension between nationalism and state sovereignty. In your response, consider both the structural compromises made and the ideological debates that shaped them.”

Requirements:

• Thesis statement that takes a clear position (2-3 sentences)
• Two body paragraphs using specific evidence from at least TWO different primary sources
• Direct quotations with proper contextualization
• Historical reasoning (comparison, causation, or continuity/change)

Scaffolding provided:

• Thesis formula: “While the Constitutional Convention [resolved/failed to resolve] the tension between nationalism and state sovereignty through [structural compromise], the debates reveal [deeper ideological division/lasting framework/etc.].”
• Evidence sentence frames: “In [source], [author] argues that…This demonstrates…”

Students work independently. Teacher circulates to provide individual feedback on thesis construction and evidence use.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT - Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Primary Source Reflection:

Answer TWO of the following:

1. Sourcing: Why is it significant that most of our knowledge of the Convention comes from James Madison’s notes? How might his perspective shape our understanding of the debates?

2. Historical Argument: Which plan - Virginia or New Jersey - do you think better addressed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? Support your answer with specific evidence.

3. Continuity & Change: How did the Great Compromise represent both continuity with the Articles of Confederation AND change toward a stronger national government?

4. Causation: What role did Shays’ Rebellion play in shaping delegates’ willingness to create a stronger central government? Use evidence from today’s sources.

CLOSURE (2 minutes)

Looking Ahead:

“We’ve examined the structural debates - representation, federalism, power distribution. But the Convention wasn’t just about structures. What’s conspicuously ABSENT from these debates?”

(Elicit: Individual rights, Bill of Rights, slavery as a moral issue)

Preview: “Tomorrow we’ll analyze the ratification debates - Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist arguments - and examine how the promise of a Bill of Rights became essential to the Constitution’s adoption. We’ll also confront the Convention’s moral failure: the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Constitutional protection of slavery.”

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DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES

For Struggling Learners:

• Pre-teach vocabulary (federalism, sovereignty, enumerated powers, bicameral, proportional representation) with visual glossary
• Provide document summaries alongside original texts
• Offer sentence frames for thesis and evidence paragraphs
• Allow choice: answer 3 out of 4 focus questions instead of all
• Pair with stronger readers during group work
• Provide graphic organizer with pre-filled sections for document analysis

For Advanced Learners:

• Provide additional primary sources: Anti-Federalist Brutus I, Hamilton’s speech on British model (June 18), Franklin’s closing speech (September 17)
• Challenge: “Compare Madison’s arguments at the Convention to his arguments in Federalist No. 10. Are they consistent? Why or why not?”
• Extension question: “Evaluate the Convention as a ‘conservative’ or ‘revolutionary’ event using evidence from primary sources.”
• Assign pre-reading: Excerpts from Gordon Wood’s “The Creation of the American Republic” or Pauline Maier’s “Ratification”
• Encourage sophisticated historical reasoning: periodization, contextualization within Atlantic Revolutions

For English Language Learners:

• Provide primary source documents with marginal glosses for challenging vocabulary
• Create visual timelines and graphic organizers for Virginia Plan vs. New Jersey Plan comparison
• Allow use of translation tools for complex passages (but writing must be in English)
• Sentence frames for academic language: “Madison argues that…because…”
• Pre-teach document analysis framework with simpler, contemporary examples before applying to 18th-century texts
• Partner with fluent English speaker during group work

For Students with IEPs:

• Provide typed transcripts of projected documents (larger font, increased spacing)
• Allow audio recording of group discussions for later review
• Reduce independent writing requirement: thesis + one paragraph instead of two
• Offer choice of presentation format for exit ticket (written, verbal explanation to teacher, annotated document)
• Extended time for independent practice (can complete as homework if needed)
• Highlight key passages in primary sources to focus reading

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ASSESSMENT NOTES

Formative Assessment Throughout Lesson:

During Guided Practice:

• Monitor group discussions for evidence of close reading and sourcing
• Check that students are identifying author’s argument, not just summarizing
• Listen for historical reasoning language (causation, comparison, context)

During Independent Practice:

• Circulate to check thesis statements - do they take a clear position?
• Verify students are citing specific evidence, not making general claims
• Ensure proper contextualization of quotations

Exit Ticket Success Criteria:

• Advanced: Student uses specific evidence from primary sources, demonstrates sourcing/contextualization, makes nuanced historical argument
• Proficient: Student references primary sources, shows basic understanding of Convention debates, makes a clear claim
• Developing: Student demonstrates general knowledge but lacks specific evidence or struggles with sourcing
• Beginning: Student shows confusion about Convention outcomes or cannot support claims with evidence

Next Steps Based on Assessment:

• If 75%+ of exit tickets demonstrate proficiency: Proceed to ratification debates tomorrow
• If 50-74% proficient: Begin tomorrow with brief review of Virginia/New Jersey Plans and Great Compromise before moving forward
• If below 50% proficient: Reteach key concepts using different primary sources (perhaps more accessible excerpts or visual sources like political cartoons from the era)

AP Exam Alignment:
This lesson prepares students for:

• Document-Based Question (DBQ): Analyzing multiple primary sources to construct historical argument
• Short Answer Questions (SAQ): Sourcing, contextualization, and using evidence
• Long Essay Question (LEQ): Developing thesis, using specific evidence, demonstrating historical reasoning

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TEACHER PREPARATION CHECKLIST

One Day Before Lesson:
[] Curate and print primary source packet (1 per student, ~4-6 pages)

• Madison’s Notes excerpts from Library of Congress Digital Collections or Founders Online
• Federalist No. 10 excerpt (identify 200-300 word passage with key argument about factions)
• Ensure all sources are readable (OCR quality, font size 11-12, clear margins for annotation)
  [] Create document analysis graphic organizer (1 per student)
  [] Prepare expert group focus questions on separate handout or index cards
  [] Write AP-style prompt and requirements on handout (1 per student)
  [] Create exit ticket slips (1 per student) or prepare digital form
  [] Copy thesis formula and sentence frames on handout or poster

Morning of Lesson:
[] Set up projector/document camera for displaying primary sources
[] Pre-assign expert groups (consider grouping strategically for support)
[] Prepare chart paper at tables for group annotations (optional)
[] Write vocabulary on board: federalism, sovereignty, enumerated powers, bicameral, unicameral, proportional representation
[] Cue up opening primary source (Madison’s May 25 or Randolph’s Virginia Plan introduction)
[] Arrange room for small group work (clusters of 4-5)

Primary Source Selection Guidance:

• Madison’s Notes: Use Founders Online (founders.archives.gov) or Library of Congress James Madison Papers
  • May 29, 1787: Look for Randolph’s presentation of Virginia Plan (resolutions 1-15)
  • June 15, 1787: Paterson’s New Jersey Plan and Madison’s response speech
  • July 16, 1787: Connecticut Compromise accepted (Sherman’s proposal)
• Federalist No. 10: Use full text from Library of Congress or Constitution Center, select paragraphs on large republics controlling factions
• Keep excerpts to 300-500 words each for time management

Estimated prep time: 60-90 minutes (initial source curation takes longer; subsequent years only require reprinting)