Answer to Question 1
Answer:
An ideal response will:
1. List the major compacts and constitutions that led to America's Constitution. The American tradition of written constitutions extends back through the Articles of Confederation, the colonial charters, and the Mayflower Compact to the thirteenth-century English Magna Carta. The Second Continental Congress in 1776 adopted a written Declaration of Independence to justify the colonies' separation from Great Britain. All of these documents strengthened the idea of a written contract defining governmental power.
Answer to Question 2
Answer:
An ideal response will:
1. Recall that most delegates believed that only property-owning men should vote.
2. Discuss the ways in which the Framers sought to calm those fears by balancing power.
3. Explain that the Constitution ended up without any property requirements for voting.
