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fandomhigh2007-02-08 11:13 pm
professor-lyman.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2007-02-08 11:13 pm
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US Government [Friday, February 9, 1st period]
Josh was grinning at the front of the class as the students arrived. "First of all," he said, "your tests came out very well. I'll hand your results out next week so that anyone who didn't take the test has a chance to now." He smiled at Dawn. "I'm glad to see you're whole again," he said. "Please stop by after class and take your test now that you can hold a pen."
He reached for his notes. "Today we talk about two other important documents that were intended to govern the United States: the Articles of Confederation, which totally didn't work, and the Constitution, that did."
"Okay, the Articles of Confederation. Short version: wow, did this not work. Longer version will take a little more explanation so prepare to take notes. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the thirteen states were certainly nothing that could be thought of as 'united.' Eleven states had their own navies. The Continental Congress was trying to run a national government, and it had a navy, too--but one that was smaller than Virginia's. Every state was printing its own money, in addition to the stuff the federal government was putting out, which devalued everyone's currency and made it all worthless." He grinned. "Although very collectable nowadays if you're into that sort of thing."
He looked back at his notes. "The states were also taxing each other's stuff. New York and New Jersey were taxing goods coming across their states' borders. Virginia and Maryland were having boundary disputes. The people in England were placing bets on how long it would be before we were begging to be a colony again." He scowled, then cleared his throat. "Anyway. People realized that this wasn't working. Our fist attempt at setting things straight was the Articles of Confederation."
He smiled. "And a piece of trivia for you--the first president of the United States wasn't actually George Washington. It was John Hanson who became president under the Articles of Confederation. This'll win you money in bar bets if you have friends like mine who are obsessed with politics." He looked around. "Of course normal people might think you're weird, so let's just move on, okay? So, the people in the new United States were rightfully a little worried about a hugely powerful federal government. That's what they had been fighting against, after all--a central power who made all the rules and had no accountability. The Articles went way too far in the other direction, though. Every decision had to be agreed to unanimously by the states." He smirked. "There are thirteen of us if we count the two deer hanging out by the window. We'll call them the delegates from North Carolina. Imagine trying to come to a unanimous agreement on what to watch on television tonight, let alone what kind of taxes to levy or who to send as a representative to England to negotiate a peace treaty.
"The Congress--which under the Articles was the only branch of government: the President of the United States was the guy who was in charge of Congress--was denied the power of taxation. They could only request money from the states, who ignored them. This led to the truly humiliating 'chased out of Philadelphia by their own army' incident in 1783 because the Congress hadn't been able to pay them." He shrugged. "Something had to change--we weren't really a nation yet. People thought of themselves first as a citizen of the state they came from. Hell, we hadn't decided on what the country was called yet. There were a few speed bumps to go over." He gave the class a wry smile. "Which is something to remember when watching other countries going through nation-building. It took us six years to come up with a workable government. These sorts of things don't happen overnight."
He looked around the room. "Everyone still awake? Because I have an instructional video for you. Schoolhouse Rock, in all of its cheesy glory, blared through the room.
When the cartoon characters had finished singing about the Constitution, Josh flipped the lights back on. "It might be a good idea to have the preamble memorized for your next quiz. Just putting that out there."
He reached for his notes. "Okay. The Articles of Confederation were pretty much a complete bust. But the Founders had learned a couple of important lessons. Namely that a federal government that only has the power to say 'pretty please' and hope the money comes in is going to be broke. So they needed some centralized powers, if not exactly going to the extreme of 'mine, mine, it shall all be mine!' that King George had been veering towards."
Josh drew a triangle on the board. "What they came up with was three branches of government, which would insure separation of powers through checks and balances. They were, and you should definitely write this down, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The three branches would in essence police each other to prevent power from being concentrated into too few hands." Josh rolled his eyes. "Assuming of course that the Presidency, both houses of Congress and the judiciary weren't run by the same party, but what were the chances of that happening?" He held up a hand. "Yes, I know. And no, I don't want to talk about it."
He sat down. "Today, since you've all read the Constitution like the smart students you are, talk about the balance of powers. Someone give an example of a power that the President has, for instance, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, and someone else show how a different branch can check that power." He smirked. "Think of it as a really, really nerdy game of rock-paper-scissors."
He reached for his notes. "Today we talk about two other important documents that were intended to govern the United States: the Articles of Confederation, which totally didn't work, and the Constitution, that did."
"Okay, the Articles of Confederation. Short version: wow, did this not work. Longer version will take a little more explanation so prepare to take notes. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the thirteen states were certainly nothing that could be thought of as 'united.' Eleven states had their own navies. The Continental Congress was trying to run a national government, and it had a navy, too--but one that was smaller than Virginia's. Every state was printing its own money, in addition to the stuff the federal government was putting out, which devalued everyone's currency and made it all worthless." He grinned. "Although very collectable nowadays if you're into that sort of thing."
He looked back at his notes. "The states were also taxing each other's stuff. New York and New Jersey were taxing goods coming across their states' borders. Virginia and Maryland were having boundary disputes. The people in England were placing bets on how long it would be before we were begging to be a colony again." He scowled, then cleared his throat. "Anyway. People realized that this wasn't working. Our fist attempt at setting things straight was the Articles of Confederation."
He smiled. "And a piece of trivia for you--the first president of the United States wasn't actually George Washington. It was John Hanson who became president under the Articles of Confederation. This'll win you money in bar bets if you have friends like mine who are obsessed with politics." He looked around. "Of course normal people might think you're weird, so let's just move on, okay? So, the people in the new United States were rightfully a little worried about a hugely powerful federal government. That's what they had been fighting against, after all--a central power who made all the rules and had no accountability. The Articles went way too far in the other direction, though. Every decision had to be agreed to unanimously by the states." He smirked. "There are thirteen of us if we count the two deer hanging out by the window. We'll call them the delegates from North Carolina. Imagine trying to come to a unanimous agreement on what to watch on television tonight, let alone what kind of taxes to levy or who to send as a representative to England to negotiate a peace treaty.
"The Congress--which under the Articles was the only branch of government: the President of the United States was the guy who was in charge of Congress--was denied the power of taxation. They could only request money from the states, who ignored them. This led to the truly humiliating 'chased out of Philadelphia by their own army' incident in 1783 because the Congress hadn't been able to pay them." He shrugged. "Something had to change--we weren't really a nation yet. People thought of themselves first as a citizen of the state they came from. Hell, we hadn't decided on what the country was called yet. There were a few speed bumps to go over." He gave the class a wry smile. "Which is something to remember when watching other countries going through nation-building. It took us six years to come up with a workable government. These sorts of things don't happen overnight."
He looked around the room. "Everyone still awake? Because I have an instructional video for you. Schoolhouse Rock, in all of its cheesy glory, blared through the room.
When the cartoon characters had finished singing about the Constitution, Josh flipped the lights back on. "It might be a good idea to have the preamble memorized for your next quiz. Just putting that out there."
He reached for his notes. "Okay. The Articles of Confederation were pretty much a complete bust. But the Founders had learned a couple of important lessons. Namely that a federal government that only has the power to say 'pretty please' and hope the money comes in is going to be broke. So they needed some centralized powers, if not exactly going to the extreme of 'mine, mine, it shall all be mine!' that King George had been veering towards."
Josh drew a triangle on the board. "What they came up with was three branches of government, which would insure separation of powers through checks and balances. They were, and you should definitely write this down, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The three branches would in essence police each other to prevent power from being concentrated into too few hands." Josh rolled his eyes. "Assuming of course that the Presidency, both houses of Congress and the judiciary weren't run by the same party, but what were the chances of that happening?" He held up a hand. "Yes, I know. And no, I don't want to talk about it."
He sat down. "Today, since you've all read the Constitution like the smart students you are, talk about the balance of powers. Someone give an example of a power that the President has, for instance, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, and someone else show how a different branch can check that power." He smirked. "Think of it as a really, really nerdy game of rock-paper-scissors."
Re: Listen to the lecture
But with the Bene Gesserit and the Guild playing it's almost as headache inducing as what this government created.