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This course is a comprehensive introduction exploring the Constitution of the United States, the oldest national constitution still in use by a major sovereign country. These classes will take the student on a journey that begins with the problems stemming from the Articles of Confederation, the unrest of Shays' Rebellion, to the Constitutional Convention debates that resulted in the creation of the document that made Americans the freest people in the world. It has endured nearly 250 years with only 17 amendments (excluding the Bill of Rights) and carried this nation through generations of change. This course will help learners understand how the Constitution affects their lives and why a solid understanding of it will serve them a lifetime.

Students will receive a thorough introduction and understanding of the Constitution, including the historical influences on the Constitution, major obstacles and conflicts between the delegates, compromises made, the struggle for ratification, and the public campaign in support of passage (Federalist Papers).

Please see the course outline below.

Students will learn some interesting and largely unknown facts about the Constitution, such as:

•	What great Founding Father, critical to the Declaration’s success, almost turned down his invitation to attend the Constitutional Convention. 

•	Which Founding Fathers that were instrumental in the writing of the Declaration of Independence did not attend the Constitutional Convention.

•	What famous Founding Fathers refused to sign the Constitution and why.

•	What was the Great Compromise that saved the Constitutional Convention, and probably the Union? 

•	Which Founding Father was too ill to sign the Constitution without help from some other delegates.

•	Only two future presidents signed the Constitution, which ones?
…and, of course, much more. 

Class Outline:

Class One: Introduction/Road to the Constitutional Convention.
What convinced the Founders that the Articles needed to be revised. Problems as a result in the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and the Shays' Rebellion. 
. 
Class Two: Influences on the Constitution, Part I
 
There is an indispensable relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This lesson explores the universal principles outlined in the Declaration and their impact on the Constitution.

Class Three: Influences on the Constitution, Part II

We will examine the number of people, historical documents, and writings that helped guide the Founders as they wrote our Constitution.  This includes Aristotle, the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights of 1689, John Locke's writings on the consent of the governed, the draft version of George Mason’s “Virginia's Declaration of Rights”, and the US state constitutions that had been written in the mid-1700s.

Class Four: Articles 1 and 2
As homework, students will be required to read the Constitution in sections. In classes 4 through 7 we will explain each article in laymen terms.

Class Five: Article 1

Class Six: Articles 2 and 3

Class 7: Articles 4-7

Class 9: 27 Amendments

Class 10: Ratification/Federalist, anti-federalist

This is the third course in a series of three that I have offered covering the founding documents of the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. Note, each course is designed to be a stand-alone course and can be taken independent of the others.

What parents are saying about this course:

“Absolutely terrific and responsible teacher.  Teaches one of the most important subjects during these crazy times in a respectful and responsible manner, helping the children learn about, learn how to interpret, and learn how the Constitution affects them now through a historical original source study.  Teacher is reliable, kind, and scholarly.”

“We've found a new teacher who truly is a GEM at Outschool.  We usually don't jump on a new teacher bandwagon, but this teacher is a seasoned professional from the real world and is translating all those wonderful qualities from the real world onto the Outschool platform.  He's reliable, prepared, ultra-smart, intuitive, and quite honestly a great scholar and teacher.  Basically, your child will READ the original document for themselves.  Line-by-line, with history and context given about each mention, your learner will learn and study for themselves this important document.  So many history teachers tell kids what to think, instead this teacher will work through an original document with the kids.  He won't tell them what to think but will teach them the contexts -- the good and the bad from all sides -- and help the child in finding an understanding of the document in terms of historical and modern understanding and history while making their own opinions about the events behind things.”

Notice to Parents: Occasionally, for good reasons, a course takes a little longer than scheduled. Usually it’s because of class participation and questions—both great reasons! It is my policy that if the entire course cannot be completed in the classes as outlined above, I will add, FREE of charge, an additional course (or two) to the above. It’s important to me that the students are exposed to the full course without being rushed through it.