create your own government assignment

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Lesson 1: Starting a Government from Scratch

Statue of John Hanson by Richard E. Brooks in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

Architect of the Capitol

At the time the Founders were shaping the future of a new country, John Adams suggested the President should be addressed as “His Excellency.” Happily, others recognized that such a title was inappropriate. Though the proper form of address represents only a small detail, defining everything about the Presidency was central to the idea of America that was a work-in-progress when the nation was young.

Guiding Questions

What actions are necessary in order to start a new government?

What would one of the major concerns be in preserving the new government and country?

What should be the role of the leader or president of the country?

Learning Objectives

Describe the role of the government and the president in establishing a new country.

Describe some of the actions the government bodies would probably take to ensure order and security.

List some of the challenges and problems, as well as accomplishments that might occur in forming a new government.

Lesson Plan Details

NCSS.D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.

NCSS.D2.His.2.6-8. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.

NCSS.D2.His.3.6-8. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.

NCSS.D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.12.6-8. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to identify further areas of inquiry and additional sources.

NCSS.D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past. 

NCSS. D2.His.16.6-8. Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past.

Activity 1. Starting a Government From Scratch

Begin the discussion by asking students if anyone in their families ever makes a “to do list.” Talk about such lists.

Ask students to think carefully about what the Founders had to do to start a brand new country, which officially began with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781. Imagine you've just formed a new country. Brainstorm a list of actions the Continental Congress would probably take in starting a new country. Consider the many kinds of things a government does.

"The exceeding narrow limits to which the possessions of the enemy (the British) are confined by a series of the most judicious and fortunate operations, must be the source of infinite discontent and an inconceivable mortification to their unbounded ambition and intolerable pride; at the same time that it affords every Friend to his Country singular Joy and satisfaction. Nothing can be a more convincing proof of their weakness and hopeless situation, than the base unworthy acts they are practicing and the infamous means they have recourse to, in order to support themselves in their diminishing Conquests and distress us. But I hope every practicable measure will be adopted to defeat their wicked designs. The partial failure of their attempt to embody (enlist) the Tories I consider as a favorable Omen; and as to the Negroes, (the British are trying to convert them to) inhuman purposes. ... But with respect to the savages (Native Americans), every precaution within our power should be used to render the plans of our enemy ineffectual."

"… the Battle of Blue Licks, in the Appalachian west, the British and their Indian allies, the Wyandot, Ottawa, Ojibwa, Shawnee, Mingo, and Delaware inflict heavy casualties and force the retreat of Daniel Boone and the Kentucky militia. In response, George Rogers Clark leads Kentucky militia on an expedition against the British into Ohio country. These are often considered the last formal engagements of the Revolutionary War."

• The class should also consider the ways the government helps out with activities Americans do every day, such as going to schools supported and regulated by the government, spending money coined by the government, riding on roads maintained by the government, paying taxes for the government's use, sending and receiving mail, and so on.

"The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority … to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction -- to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years."

Guiding Discussion Questions

• What “rules” applied to the President under the Articles of Confederation? ( The responsibility to preside over Congress's meetings, a one-year term, only one term in any three-year period, and nothing else specific in the way of powers or responsibilities .)
• What does it mean to preside over a meeting?
• What responsibilities does that task entail?
• What power could that give the person who presides?
• If the term of the President was set at one year, and a candidate could only be elected for that one-year term once every three years, how would those requirements most likely affect the power of the President?

More information on the Articles of Confederation, intended specifically for students in grades 6-8, is available on Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids: The Articles of Confederation , a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library.

Write down and save all of students' ideas about what was on the minds of the Founders as they started the new nation. We know what was on some of their "to do lists" because records were kept of what happened in the Continental Congress. In Lesson Two , students will review the Journals of the Continental Congress to find out what was really on the Founders' “to do lists.”

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• John Hanson to Nathanael Greene, January 29, 1782
• Last engagements of the Revolutionary War
• The Articles of Confederation

Related on EDSITEment

Lesson 2: the "to do list" of the continental congress, lesson 3: lost hero: was john hanson actually the first president, before and beyond the constitution: what should a president do.

Create your own government assignment

• Word Document File

Description

This assignment asks students to create their own government

Things to Consider about the State:

1. Population

a. How many people will live there? Why?

b. Who will live there? (Heterogeneous? Homogenous?)

c. Will you allow outsiders to immigrate? Emigrate? Who is given citizenship?

i. How do you know if they are citizens

ii. What rights do citizens have

d. Will religion play a role?

2. Territory

a. Where are you?

b. What natural resources will you have?

c. What type of industry will you have

d. What problems may your nation face?

3. Sovereignty

a. Who and where is all the power?

b. Who is in charge?

i. One person? Two? None? 100? Why

ii. What is their job description

iii. What criteria/ qualifications must be had

iv. How much power should they have?

v. How are they elected?

vi. Do they represent a certain group in society?

vii. What happens if they die?

c. Who makes the laws?

i. Is this different from the first person, why or why not (go through i-vi on #3)

d. Who enforces the laws?

i. Is this different from the first person, why or why not (go through i-vIi on #3)

e. Who decides which laws are fair?

i. Is this different from the first person, why or why not (go through i-vII on #3)

f. What happens if one person/group gets too powerful?

4. Type of Government

a. Which government do you feel yours most closely resembles?

b. Is it liberal? Conservative? Moderate? On the political spectrum

c. Is it more of a democracy or dictatorship? Why?

d. Is it unitary? Federal? Or a confederacy? Why?

e. Presidential or Parliamentary

f. What are your top ten laws on your nation?

i. Where are they located?

ii. Who can and who cannot see them? (remember not everyone has the internet)

iii. What type of punishments do you have? Who decides them?

In addition, you will need to…

5. Create a flag with a symbol of your State and tell why you have chosen this

6. Name your State

7. Motto or a slogan that describes your State

8. How will you defend your nation? (Think about the countries surrounding it)

9. What about heath care?

11. How will your government get money?

12. Show a map of your state

13. Choose a theme song or create one that describes your State and explain why you chose this song (be appropriate)

14. Present your State to your class, and defend your State

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Creating a Political Party and Platform Activity

Published: Sep 15, 2020 Contributor: Rachel Bzostek Walker License: CC BY NC SA 4.0 license – Allows revisions and additions but forbids commercial use.

This is an active learning resource for lower-division introductory American government courses. In the assignment, students are asked to build a political party by thinking about the component parts of parties and then start to build the party platform by selecting key issues and suggesting solutions to deal with those issues. One of the goals of this assignment is to get the students to understand that partisanship and ideology are related to each other, yet also separate and distinct from each other.

Keywords: active learning; assignment; lower-division course; political parties

• Creating a Political Party and Platform Link opens in a new tab.
• Rachel Bzostek Walker - Creating a Government class assignment Link opens in a new tab.
• Rachel Bzostek Walker - Amending the Constitution activity Link opens in a new tab.
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Resource Type

• Writing assignment

Course Topic

• U.S Government and Politics

Course Level

• High school
• Introductory
• Lower division

Course Type

Peer reviewed.

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