US I - Final Exam - Essay

From its ratification through the end of American imperialism, the U.S. Constitution has served as both a foundation for American democracy and a battleground for competing visions of power, liberty, and identity.

Evaluate how the Constitution has shaped the major political and social changes in the United States from its founding to the rise of imperialism? Use specific events, debates (such as states’ rights, civil liberties, or expansion of federal power) to support your argument.

You MUST select 1 event from each of the following time periods -

Time Period 1 - Early Republic (1781 - 1820)

1. Ratification Debates (1787–1788)
2. The Bill of Rights (1791)
3. Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
4. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
5. Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Time Period 2 - Sectional Conflict & Civil War (1820–1865)

6. Missouri Compromise (1820)

7. Nullification Crisis (1832–1833)

8. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857).

9. Lincoln’s Suspension of Habeas Corpus (1861)

10. Emancipation Proclamation & 13th Amendment (1863–1865)

Time Period 3 - Rebuilding America (1865–1900s)

1. 14th Amendment (1868)
2. 15th Amendment (1870)
3. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
4. Insular Cases (1901) .
5. The Spanish-American War & Treaty of Paris (1898)