Grade 7 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 18, Lesson 4

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Across the Centuries

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 18, Lesson 4: After the American Revolution (pp. 497-500)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Justice Based on Enlightenment principles, the United States Constitution established a government that could be responsive to the nation's people.

Remind students that the United States is governed by the Constitution, an agreed-upon set of rules based on the Enlightenment ideal of a social contract between the people and their government. Ask students what life would be like without a written constitution. How would a judge have decided how to rule on a case? What standards of justice would he or she use? Discuss the implications to justice of having a constitution that people agree on.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Have students research and write a brief report about the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Ask them to look for evidence that the framers of the Constitution were influenced by Enlightenment ideals and to note which ideals did not become part of the final document.
Ask students to create a political cartoon showing what the United States might be like today without a constitution to protect the rights of its citizens.

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