Essay section (100 points) - Answer one question with 2 ½ to 3 honest pages.
Sources: When citing source materials in support of your essay, include author or authors. When you quote or closely paraphrase the words of others, enclose all direct uses of their words in quotes to avoid committing plagiarism. If you don’t, I’ll automatically return the paper unread and un-graded for you to correct that. When you cite Patterson in the body of your paper, always include the specific page or pages you used (via "Patterson 2007, 133" in text; or with MLA footnotes, use their standard method). With website references such as Renka's chapter 4 notes on civil liberties, cite the author and paper title ("Renka, Civil Liberties .."). At paper's end, put Endnotes or References down, and do full citation of these sources. Here you'd include the specific URL for all website references, alongside the authors, publication year, title of the article, and date of access of the URL.
Due dates: Wednesday, September 19 by midnight, at the
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1. The Framers wanted a central government strong enough to avoid the fatal flaws of the Articles of Confederation, but not so strong as to become tyrannical. First cite those flaws with some evidence to illustrate them. Then specify the primary mechanisms they put in place to achieve each of these objectives. Separation of powers, federalism, and the analysis of Madison’s Federalist No. 10 should all get your consideration here.
2. The federal government became steadily stronger and more important during the course of the 20th century. Using Chapters 1-4 and 18 and my notes, identify the pertinent evidence that points to this. This should include expanded war-making power with attendant restrictions on civil liberties; an expanded use of the commerce clause; and selective incorporation of the federal Bill of Rights to the states. Finally, take Patterson's term "devolution" into consideration and define how much rollback of federal power this trend represents.
Note: In making any moral judgments, please avoid saying the equivalent of “whatever is, must be fine, because it’s working OK by me, and the United States is the best possible way to do things, in any case.” That may be true, but it’s not an argument with evidence backing it. It’s a proclamation without a defense. In court you’d be defenseless against the other side’s cross-examination. Provide evidence-based conclusions rather than flat proclamations.
Russell Renka