FINAL EXAM 2012



Of course, This does not apply to Home Schooling  Moms or Dads!



The Final Exam is now posted on ENGRADE  and here on the blog. Remember this is is an OPEN BOOK exam. Questions come from your class handouts, homework assignments, items on our blog site and any articles distributed in class or noted on your handouts. You may ask your parents for advice and help if needed but work apart from other members of the class including your siblings.

The EXAM is to be finished and turned in for grading no later than Saturday, January 12, 2013. Your exam, any ungraded homework and final grades will be returned to you later in January 2013. As I grade your ungraded homework and final exam, I will post grades on ENGRADE and give periodic updates on the blog as I complete grading.  If you have questions, you may send me a message via E-mail , Engrade or simply  clicking on "No Comments" at the end of this post. And there is always the old fashioned phone call @ 275-4029. Sorry but I'm not into texting yet.

MAY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE A VERY BLESSED NEW YEAR AND MAY THIS OLD IRISH BLESSING BRING FAVOR ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

May you always have work for your hands to do
May your pockets hold always a coin or two
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain
May the hand of a friend always be near you
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

R.I.P. - President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate Dies

Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye (September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was a  Medal of Honor recipient and a U.S. Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2010 until his death in 2012, making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in U.S. history. Inouye was the chairman of the  U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.

A senator since 1963, Inouye was the most senior U.S. senator at the time of his death. He was also the second-longest serving U.S. Senator in history after Robert Byrd. Inouye continuously represented Hawaii in the U.S. Congress since it achieved statehood in 1959 until the time of his death, serving as Hawaii's first U.S. Representative and later a senator. Inouye was the first Japanese American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and later the first in the U.S. Senate. Before then, he served in the Hawaii territorial house from 1954 to 1958 and the territorial senate from 1958 to 1959. He never lost an election in 58 years as an elected official. At the time of his death, Inouye was the second-oldest sitting U.S. senator, after Frank Lautenerg of New Jersey.

Because of his seniority, following Senator Byrd's death on June 28, 2010, Inouye became President pro tempore of the Senate; this made him third in the presidential line o succession after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. (Source: Wikipedia)

WEEK 15: Presidential War Making Powers



A Caisson carries the remains of Army Captain John Ryan Dennison during funeral services at 

Arlington National Cemetery, Wednesday, November 29, 2006



The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Captain John R. Dennison, 24, of Ijamsville, Maryland, died on November 15, 2006, in Balad, Iraq, as a result of small arms fire. Dennison was assigned to 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

THIS LAST CLASS IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF CPT JOHN RYAN DENNISON, THE SON OF JACK AND SHANNON DENNISON, OLD FRIENDS OF OURS FROM MY EARLIER MILITARY DAYS. PLEASE GO HERE TO SEE MORE ABOUT THE LIFE AND FAMILY OF JOHN RYAN DENNISON.

In this our last class, we will review the constitutional framework for presidential war powers and discover that the Constitution does not provide us with authoritative answers as to how the powers of the president as commander in chief are to be exercised. In fact, the debates of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 focused on the power of Congress to declare war and specific powers over the military found in Article 1. However, the commander in chief clause found in Article 2 of the Constitution does give some specific powers to the president and this forms the basis for the debate over presidential power in times of national emergency.

This week in our class handout we will discuss the following topics:

• A Christian Perspective on War
• The Constitutional Framework
• Presidents and the Military Establishment
• The Military Chain of Command
• Presidential Use of the Armed Forces
• Legitimizing Presidential War Making
• The War Powers Resolution of 1973

In more than 300 instances, U.S. presidents have relied on their constitutional prerogatives as commander in chief to use the armed forces abroad in situations of conflict or potential conflict to protect U.S. citizens or promote U.S. interests. Fewer than half of these situations involved any prior legislative or Congressional authorization. In September 2012, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepared for Congress an updated report and detailed listing of notable deployments of U.S. Military Forces overseas between 1798 and 2012. To view this listing click on here. In fact there have been only five (5) times in American history when presidents have used the armed forces with congressional declarations of war.

In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush named the Axis-of-Evil nations in his response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Since then there has been legitimate debate and interpretations of the Catholic just war tradition by Christians as they formulate a responsible U.S. answer to the terrorist threat. In this 2005 article "Bush vs. Benedict", you can read here how Catholic neoconservatives grapple with their Church's just war tradition. 

Mean while back in 2001, after the 9/11 attack, James V. Schall, S.J. wrote an extensive commentary on the War on Terror entitled "Assessing What is at Issue in this War" and Patrick Buchanan commented on Colin Powell's remarks on Terrorism on the 6th anniversary of 9-11 in his article "Is Terrorism Really a Mortal Threat?".

In June 2012, Mr. Buchanan offered commentary on the uprising in Syria by contrasting it to the Spanish Civil War which he describes as the Great Rehearsal for World War II in his article "Dress Rehearsal for a Mideast War?". And most recently last month, he analyzed the darkness of the current situation in the Middle East and suggests President Obama ask himself this question, "How would America's vital interests be imperiled by staying out of this particular quarrel, conflict or war?"  See his article entitled "Is Middle East Peace a Mirage?"

The neoconservatives are not really conservatives at all. They are impostors and opportunists. — Where the Right Went Wrong

WEEK 14: Presidential Diplomacy

Reaching a Critical Junction in Syria

Diplomatic attempts to end the Syrian conflict are "nearly impossible" and not enough is being done to end the fighting, the new United Nations and Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said in a recent BBC interview. 

In this Nov. 29, 2012 photo, night falls on a Syrian rebel-controlled area as destroyed buildings, including Dar Al-Shifa hospital, are seen on Sa'ar street after airstrikes targeted the area, killing dozens in Aleppo, Syria.
Source:  Christian Science Monitor



In this week's class,  we will examine the constitutional powers of the President in foreign affairs. What is diplomacy and how does the Constitution provide for the making of treaties? How does a treaty differ from an executive agreement and are these executive agreements constitutional? The president has three principal groups of officials to help him formulate foreign policy to include diplomatic communities, military communities and intelligence communities. The Secretaries of State and Defense together with the Director of Central Intelligence and the National Security Council (NSC) are key advisors to the President in carrying out his constitutional powers and interacting with Congress and its explicit constitutional powers detailed in Article 1. An example of a controversial diplomatic decision by U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton is the continuation of China's MFN status after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. See a BBC video of this event here, a Chinese video here, and a music video here that chronicles the massacre.

In our classs handout, we will discuss the following topics:

• The Constitutional Framework of Presidential Diplomacy
• Treaty Powers
• Executive Agreements
• The President versus Congress
• The White House Foreign Policy Advisory System
• The Secretary os State and the Diplomatic Community
• The Secretary of Defense and the Defense Community
• The Director of Central Intelligence and the Intelligence Community
• The National Security Advisor and the National security Council

WEEK 13: The President and the Budget



Your Portion of the Federal Debt is $50,563

This week we looked at the budget process and the role of the president, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Congress and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in developing a Fiscal Year (FY) budget for the U.S. government. Along the way we discovered that a budget simply determines government activities for the coming year, specifies when they will take place and puts a price tag on them. We compared the annual budget deficit or surplus for the years 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2000 though 2012 and the increase in the Gross National Debt and the Annual Interest on that Debt over those years. The FY 2010 budget was examined and controllable outlays were defined and identified and contrasted with uncontrollable outlays which include the various government entitlement programs.

The homework assignment requires the student to review the actual U.S. Government Budget totals for FY 2012 that ended September 30, 2012. You should view the Joint Statement of Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, and Jeffrey Zients, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on Budget Results for Fiscal Year 2012 found under "Useful Links" and answer questions 1-5 of your homework assignment. Questions 6 & 7 are answered by reading the two articles found on the blog under "Useful Links" entitled: "What Would Leo XIII Say About the Social Security System" and "Fiddling While Social Security Burns".

Finally, we did discuss in class the potential impact of the "Fiscal Cliff",  but what often gets lost in the discussion is that "Bush's tax cuts" and "Obama's spending binge" don't begin to address the real problem and that is our Constitution gives Congress ultimate taxing and spending authority and they are ultimately responsible for the mess we are in, not this President nor any President before him.  See Professor Walter Williams article addressing this  "Who May Tax and Spend?" on this blog under "Useful Links".

Kent State Revisited



America in the 1960s and 1970s was filled with turmoil and civil unrest as the nation was divided in a way not seen since the Civil War.  As one looks at the events of this period, there is no doubt that the political activism of the young people on its college campuses contributed to the social unrest.  Civil rights demonstrations and anti-war protests were prevalent on campuses across the nation. Oftentimes violence followed these demonstrations and no other event captures this aspect of student life in those days more vividly than that of the tragic shooting that took place in a small university town in Kent, Ohio in May of 1970.

In a earlier post you viewed a video of this action by clicking on 1970 Kent State Ohio Shootings. Now you can read the rest of the story in an article revisiting those times by Steve Farrrell at "Peace Loving" Protesters: Kent State Revisited.

WEEK 12: The President & the Courts

Little Rock Central High School - 1957

This week we examined the Federal Court System and the Constitutional dimension. Article 3 of the Constitution vests all judicial power in the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. The president nominates candidates for openings to the 800+ lower-court positions in the U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the nine member U.S. Supreme Court. These are life time positions and all of the presidential nominees must be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Senate. Because Presidents take an oath to defend the Constitution and execute the duties of their office, they have a constitutional duty to see that laws are faithfully executed - not only laws passed by Congress, but also federal court decisions. If U.S. Marshals under the Department of Justice are unable to enforce these laws and decisions of the federal courts, presidents may use Federal troops or call the National Guard to Federal service, or both.

Two examples in the 20th century of Presidents using this power to enforce Federal court decisions occurred in September 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas when Federal troops were called up by President Eisenhower. Click on this Little Rock Nine Documentary for more details.

A second example occurred in 1962 when President Kennedy called out Federal Marshals and then Federal troops so that James Meredith could be enrolled in the University of Mississippi. Click on Deadly Riots at Ol' Miss which outlines events leading up to President Kennedy's decision and the events surrounding the riots at Ole Miss and the shooting of 35 U.S. Marshals precipitating the calling in of Federal troops.

And in May 1970, closer to home, the Governor of Ohio called out the Ohio National Guard to the campus of Kent State University where students protesting the bombing of Cambodia by United States military forces, clashed with Ohio National Guardsmen. When Ohio Guardsmen shot and killed four students on May 4, the Kent State Shootings became the focal point across the country for a nation deeply divided by the Vietnam War. See a video of this action by clicking on 1970 Kent State Ohio Shootings.

Projections Sunday November 4, 2012

Source:  http://www.electoral-vote.com/

                                                                                                   

Obama (281 Electoral Votes)   Ties (51 Electoral Votes)   Romney  (206 Electoral Votes)

                      

Blue States (Obama)  White States (Ties)   Red & Pink States (Romney) 

      

 If interested in Zogby's latest poll on Saturday, click on Zogby Newsmax Poll. 

If interested in reports and analysis found on the more conservative Rasmussen Reports, you can click Rasmussen Reports - Electoral College Breakdown . 

 

U.S. SENATE RACES -  Democrats currently hold the Senate by a 53-47 edge. To get an update on the latest projections for the U.S. Senate races click on  2012 Senate Balance of Power.

U.S.  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES -  Republicans currently hold the House of Representatives by a 241-194 edge. To get an update on the latest projections for the U.S. House of Representatives races click on Battle for the House.

Week 9: The Electoral College

    





In this week's class, we examined the constitutional basis for the Electoral College and how the system works during a Presidential election. We reviewed the key dates in November, December & January for the Electoral College and define some terms or issues that are sure to be heard on Election Day. We'll examine the most recent electoral vote projections for the Presidential race as well as projections on what the new U.S. Congress may look like. Closer to home, we will look at our state wide races and ballot issues and look at Harrison & Jefferson County races & ballot issues. 

What if the Electoral Vote is a Tie?

If the eletoral College vote ends in a tie, 269 votes for each of the candidates or no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes (270 or more) than the Constitution outlines how the President and Vice President  are to be chosen. Please view this instructive video that outlines the process by which the U.S. House of Representatives will choose the President and the U.S. Senate will choose the Vice-President
Click on to see this short video: An Electoral College Tie.

For more information on the Electoral College, click on   U.S. Electoral College resources for the National Archives site. To view the class handout used to explain the Electoral College in more detail see our Class 9 Handout-The Presidency and the Electoral College on the right hand column of this blog under Class Handouts.

Why We May Not Know the Winner of the Election For At Least 10 Days

Front of Ohio Statehouse

Kenneth Blackwell, former Secretary of State for Ohio, was recently interviewed on AFA Radio 88.9FM Steubenville and had an article written in NewsMax about his fears that a little-known change in the Buckeye State’s absentee-ballot process could lead to a “nightmare scenario.”

Quoting from that NewsMax article: "And that scenario could force the entire country to wait 10 days after the election to find out who will be the next president of the United States. It’s a complicated situation, to say the least, but one that could have a far-reaching impact on the Nov. 6 election process.

For the first time in the key swing state’s history, Blackwell says, virtually all Ohio voters this year were mailed an application for an absentee ballot. In previous elections, most Ohio voters had to request an application for an absentee ballot to receive one. The concern is that thousands of Ohio voters may complete the absentee-ballot application and receive an absentee ballot, but not bother to complete and mail in the ballot.

Anyone who is sent an absentee ballot — including those who do not complete it and mail it in — and later shows up at the polls on Election Day to cast their ballot in person will be instructed to instead complete a provisional ballot. And under Ohio election law, provisional ballots cannot be opened until 10 days after an election. To read more about this potential problem in full, click on Ohio Voting Count 'Nightmare' Looms

General at center of Benghazi-gate controversy retiring

    There is a growing controversy that an American General may be losing his job because of his attempt to save the Americans, including our Ambassador, that eventually lost their lives in the Benghasi, Libya attack on September 11. You can read the report in the Washington Times story at this site:http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/robbins-report/2012/oct/28/general-losing-his-job-over-benghazi/.  This story has been reported on by AFA Radio 88.9 FM out of Steubenville but few if any major media outlets have reported, let alone followed up on this story.

Conflicts with Religious Liberty and Conscience in the Health Care Professions: Four Views from the Battlefront

“It is not always easy to follow one’s conscience in obedience to God’s law. It may entail sacrifice and disadvantages, and one can in no way discount this cost; sometimes heroism is called for if one is to be faithful to these demands. Nevertheless, it must be clearly stated that the road of genuine progress for the human person passes through this constant fidelity to a conscience upholding rectitude and truth.”  As well as being a mark of professional loyalty, conscientious objection on the part of the health care worker, for the right reasons, is highly meaningful as a social condemnation of a legal injustice against innocent and defenseless life.

Source: CHARTER FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS published by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers 



 A 12th-century Byzantine manuscript of the Hippocratic Oath.

This last weekend, the Society of Catholic Social Scientists met for their 20th Annual Conference in Long Island, New York. Mr. McKeegan participated in a panel discussion that included four health professionals. They discussed the impact of the Health Care mandate on their respective professions (nursing, medicine, pharmacy and social worker) and initiatives being taken both by their respective professions and by individual states to put limits on conscientious objection by insisting on a referral clause. Copies of two of their presentations can be found here: The Pharmacist View of Religious Freedom and

The Physician View of Religious Liberty.

3rd PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE VIDEO

If you missed the last Presidential debate you can view it here. Final Presidential Debate October 22, 2012

The Al Smith Dinner with Governor Romney, President Obama and Cardinal Dolan in New York City



 About the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner

Although both his state and his country generously honored Alfred E. Smith after his death in 1944, the most unusual and notable memorial to him has been an ongoing series of black-tie dinners. Sponsored by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, these annual fêtes were initiated by then-Archbishop (later Cardinal) Francis J. Spellman of the Archdiocese of New York in 1945. Since that time the Foundation has raised millions of dollars for healthcare causes.

Cardinal Spellman, capitalizing on the fact that Governor Smith died in the month of October (the peak of election season), used the dinner to remind later generations of Smith's extraordinary public career and unique role in political history by securing the participation of the leading political figures of those later generations. Over the years, the dinner has attracted the cream of modern American politics: the list of speakers and attendees reads like a who's who of the political landscape.
                                                            
Today the dinner remains a true phenomenon - a living memorial to an uncommon public figure, best known as the first Roman Catholic presidential candidate, who died more than six decades ago. Doubtless the dinner's honoree would be deeply gratified that he is being remembered each year in this fashion. He would be even more gratified to know that the dinner commemorating him and his unique role in American politics has contributed millions of dollars for charitable endeavors in the city he loved so much.
On Thursday, October 18, 2012 the featured speakers were President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney along with their host Cardinal Dolan. You can access their very short but entertaining speeches here: Romney, Obama and Cardinal Dolan's Speeches

Videos of the Debates & the Mid-Term Exam



Did you miss one of the previous debates? You can view here the First Presidential Debate from the University of Denver, the Vice-Presidential Debate at Centre College and the  Second Presidential Debate from Hofstra University.

The Mid-Term Exam is now posted on our Engrade site and the final question on the Mid-Term Exam requires you to answer questions from this Debate.

FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE-October 22, 2012





Topic: Foreign policy Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern TimeLocation: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS) The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate and will focus on foreign policy.

The Battle of Yorktown



October 19, 1781 The Siege at Yorktown Ends

On this day in 1781, General Lord Cornwallis signed orders surrendering his British Army to a combined French and American force outside the Virginia tobacco port of Yorktown. This essentially ended the Revolutionary War but it wasn't until September 1783, that the final treaty was signed between the United States and Great Britain which officially ended the war and acknowledged American independence.

Presidential Debate #2: October 16, 2012

                                                   

Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent)

The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the candidates on foreign and domestic issues. Candidates each will have two minutes to respond, and an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate a discussion. The town meeting participants will be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.

History of Third Party Candidates



It was 1832, when for the first time in American history, a third party challenged the major two political parties.The Anti-Masonic Party carried 8% of the popular vote and one state. In 1848 former Democratic President Martin Van Buren was the presidential candidate of the anti-slavery Free-Soil Party. He wins 10% of the popular vote and is credited with taking enough votes away from the Democratic candidate to help Whig candidate Zachary Taylor win the election. And in 1856, another former president Milliard Fillmore runs as the presidential candidate of the Know-Nothings and Whig Party remnants (American Party) and wins 22% of the popular vote and 8 electoral votes.
In 1912, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive (or Bull-Moose) party. It was the first time in American history that a third-party candidate receives more votes (electoral and popular) than one of the major two parties when Roosevelt received 88 electoral votes and the incumbent Republican President William Taft received just 8 while the Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson received 435 electoral votes.
In more modern times, three recent presidential elections were probably decided by third-party candidates. In 1968, Richard Nixon, a Republican, narrowly defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey by less than 1% in the popular vote as many Southern Democrats supported Governor George Wallace of the American Independent Party who won 13+% of the popular vote and 46 electoral votes. In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton won the presidential election with only 43% of the popular vote over the incumbent President George H.W. Bush because businessman Ross Perot of the Reform Party wins 19% of the popular vote and takes votes from President Bush.
And finally in 2000, George W. Bush, the Republican candidate won a disputed election over Democrat Al Gore who won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote by 4. Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, took 2.74% of the popular vote that may otherwise have been cast for Gore.
Check future entries for the 2012 election third-party candidates.

Nativist Riots in Philadelphia

                                            St. Augustine's Church on fire
The "know nothings" or the Know Nothing Party was a nativist American political movement from 1852-1860. It was a secret society whose members professed ignorance about it and whose aim was to keep control of the government in the hands of native citizens. The movement was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to US values and controlled by the Pope in Rome. The largely middle-class and entirely Protestant membership fragmented over the issue of slavery. Most ended up joining the Republican Party by the time of the 1860 Presidential election. Originating in New York in 1843 as the American Republican Party, the movement spread to other states as the Native American Party and became a national party in 1845. In 1855 it renamed itself the American Party. The origin of the "Know Nothing" term was in the semi-secret organization of the party. When a member was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply, "I know nothing." The party was very anti-immigrant and especially anti-Catholic which led to the violent Nativist Riots in New York, Philadelphia and other cities and states where there was a sizable Irish-Catholic presence. To read about the Nativist Riots in Philadelphia and to answer your homework questions, go to the St. Philip Neri Parish History found under U.S. Presidents Useful Links.

First Presidential Debate: October 3, 2012

Wednesday night will be the first televised Presidential debate of three scheduled. See the schedule below of the other debate dates. Our Wednesday night class will start on time at 7PM and finish early at 8:50PM. It will be carried on Network TV, streamed live on the Internet and can be heard live on FM 89.9 the Public Radio station in Wheeling WV. Details of the debate are as follows:

Topic: Domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: University of Denver in Denver, Colorado
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Jim Lehrer (Host of NewsHour on PBS)

The debate will focus on domestic policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks before the debate.
The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the topic.
Additional Homework Assignment: Identify four areas of domestic policy in which the two candidates clearly take opposite positions and be prepared to discuss in class. This is in addition to Homework Assignment Week 5.

Polling the Presidential & Congressional Races

REMEMBER - It takes 270 electoral votes to win the Presidential race. A number of polling organizations will be surveying potential voters for their presidential preferences between now and Election day. Each of the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX) and Major News Media (NY Times, Newsweek etc) as well as independent polling firms such as Zogby & Rasmussen will be publishing weekly if not daily polls of voters preferences. Watch this site for the most up-to-date predictions. CLICK ON
Map  for a daily update on elections around the country involving U.S. representatives & Senators and the latest presidential polls.

Week 2: Origins of the Presidency

In week 2, we examined the three basic forms of government identified by Aristotle (384-322 BC) and how these forms were modified by the British national government and the American colonies. Events leading up to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were highlighted to include: the Continental Congresses, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, The Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation, French and American victory at the Battle of Yorktown, peace with England and the Treaty of Paris.  During the Constitutional Convention, three proposals to select a president were considered and seven times the method was changed. Finally, the  indirect election method was chosen in which popular sentiment could be expressed by voting for intermediaries called presidential electors which were to be chosen by states in a manner designated by each state legislature.  During the period from the drafting and the proposed federal Constitution in 1787 to its ratification in 1789, there was an intense debate on ratification in the colonies and the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist papers played an important role in debating how this new government would operate and why this form of government was the best choice for the United States of America. A copy of the handout used in Class 2 and homework assignment can be found on the right hand side of the blog. To answer the homework assignment, you can use the Useful Links found on the bottom right of this blog. Next week we will look at the Evolution of the Presidential Office.

The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers were a series of articles written in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name of Publius by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The purpose of The Federalist Papers was to gain popular support for the then-proposed Constitution. You can view the 85 essays outlining this new type of government planned for the U.S. of America by viewing: http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/

The arguments against ratification of the Constitution appeared at the same time in various forms and by various authors , most of whom used a pseudonym such as "Centinel", "Cato", "Brutus" and "The Federal Farmer". Collectively, these writings became known as the Anti-Federalist Papers. They contain warnings of dangers from tyranny that weaknesses in the proposed Constitution did not adequately  provide against  and while some of those weaknesses were corrected by adoption of the Bill of Rights, others remained, and some of these dangers are now coming to pass. The Anti-Federalist Papers can be viewed on the same site above.

Presidential & Vice-Presidential Debates

The schedule has been published with the following dates  for the OBAMA-ROMNEY Presidental debates as follows:
        Oct 3      -->  Denver
        Oct 16    -->  Hempstead, NY  (a town-hall debate)
        Oct 22    -->  Boca-Raton, FL (foreign policy debate)

The BIDEN-RYAN Vice-Presidential Debate will be on October 11 in Danville, Ky

Week 1: Review of Course & Declaration of Independence

This first week we reviewed the Course Syllabus and the Schedule of Classes  (see right hand side of blog). We also took a quick tour of the World Almanac and pointed out the parts of the Almanac that will be useful for our classes and homework assignments. In class we reviewed events leading up to July 4, 1776 and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence  and the events leading to August 2,1776 when 54 of the eventual 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence signed the engrossed copy on parchment in the Continental Congress. We then watched scenes from the movie "1776" after the initial reading of the Declaration resulted in debate, alterations, deletions and amendments until the final vote culminating in the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. A copy of the handout used in Class 1 and homework assignment can be found on the right hand side of the blog. To answer your homework assignment, you can use the Useful Links found on the bottom right of this blog. Next week we will look at the Constitutional Convention and the Origins of the Presidency.

Welcome Students & Parents!

A warm welcome is extended from our family to yours. This Blog is dedicated to my late father, Warren Joseph McKeegan, a World War II vet who loved his family, his Lord, history and politics and passed that love on to me. This Blog will be used to supplement the handouts used in class and the homework assignments with each class. We will have two classes this year on Wednesday and Sunday nights with a total of 43 students. This Blog will also be used to communicate news and updates on the classes. In preparation for the students first homework assignment due on Sept 12 and Sept 16, 2012, I have attached three links to help the students with this assignment. You can find these links on the right hand side under "US Presidents Useful Links:.Both students and parents are encouraged to post comments or questions anytime they need help or want clarification of some issue discussed in class.

Welcome to the U.S. Presidents Course Blog

Use this link to find a List of U.S. Presidents and biographical information about each president and their respective Vice-President.