question 1:
For our first discussion this week I want you to read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This may seem like an odd request as we all live with the Constitution on a daily basis, but I have found that most people have never actually read the document in its entirety. So, first read the Constitution found here, and then read the Bill of Rights found here.

https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/constitution?gclid=Cj0KCQjws-OEBhCkARIsAPhOkIbva0G5aiJwyXXqhmsX-tDIhvDkbllbYD13yK_giChw-EzVccyGnboaAsHfEALw_wcB

https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/bill-of-rights

After reading both of these, I want you to reflect on what you’ve read in them. I want you to tell us in your first forum post something that you didn’t know was in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. Was this surprising to you?

question 2:

How did the conception of race and identity shape thinking about who “belonged” and who was an “American” in the early Republic? How did various groups fit into this conceptualization?

As this discussion topic covers sensitive topics, please ensure that your forum posts stick to the topic at hand and that you stay within the bounds of scholarly and polite conversation. Just a reminder that hate speech is not tolerated here

question 3:

Welcome to our primary source reflection for week 7! This reflection also requires that you have done the reading for the first discussion forum this week (the Constitution and Bill of Rights). In addition to these, I want you to read nos. 42 and 44 in our READER (“David Ramsey, American Innovations in Government (1789)” and “James Winthrop, The Anti-Federalist Argument (1787)”).

Based on our readings earlier in the week, how do these sources align with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Do you think either, both, or neither of these documents lived up to the expectations of the two sources we read for this reflection? As always, I’d also like you to write a bit of a personal reflection on how these sources have changed your understanding of the United States and our country’s history!