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1. Entry Activity: Display the following prompt on the board or overhead.
You are a legislator for Country A. Your country is at war. Your legislature has a budget of $100,000 to spend. You have to decide how that money will be spent. These are your choices: a. pay the salaries
of 50 government workers at $2,000 per person How would you vote to spend the money? Explain why? |
Pass out index cards as the students enter the room and ask the students to respond to the prompt. After you collect their responses, ask student to volunteer answers.
This activity is designed to stimulate thinking about how governments incur debts and why there might be reasons for a government’s failure to repay those debts. If you have taught them about "opportunity costs" you may want to reinforce this concept by asking them to identify their opportunity costs as well.
2. Brainstorm: Begin the lesson by asking students to identify the three branches of government. Write the names of the three branches across the board (legislative, executive, and judicial). Then, ask the students to explain which branch has [or ought to have] the power to initiate tax bills and why. Assuming that you have already taught the Constitutional Convention, the goal of this activity is to reinforce that idea that Congress, and specifically the House of Representatives, is granted exclusive power under the Constitution to initiate tax bills because of the historic debate over taxation without representation and the fact that the House of Representatives was originally the only "branch" of the federal government elected directly by the people.
3. Lesson Description: Tell the students that they are going debate what the FFC labeled the "Funding" bill. The intent of the bill is to devise a way to pay the national debt.
4. Assign Roles: Remind students to debate within roles. Since the final vote on Madison’s proposal to split payments was 36-13 (defeated) in the House, give approximately one-third of the class "Role Card B: Opponent."
5. Parliamentary Rules: Distribute copies of Handout 1 (see Unit Resources) so that the students can refer to them during the debates.
6. Distribute Legislative Brief 1 (Handout 4-2 - see Unit Resources): Ask students to read their briefs then clarify any questions they may have about the contents of the brief. This may be assigned for homework the night before the simulation.
7. Distribute Role Cards (Handout 4-3 - see Unit Resources): Ask students to read over their roles and the arguments advanced on the cards.
8. Debate
9. Vote
10. Debrief
(a) Reteach—One of the problems that can occur when using simulations as a method of instruction is that students may "learn" that what they did during the simulation actually occurred in history. Be sure that the students conclude the lesson with the understanding that the FFC rejected the plan to split funding payments between the original & current bondholders by a margin of 36-13 thereby approving Hamilton’s plan to pay current bondholders only.
(b) Reflect—Ask students…
- why the value of bonds decreased during the 1780s?
- why the value of bonds increased after 1790?
- which branch of the federal government has the power to initiate tax bills and why?
Recommended Readings/Works Cited
Bickford, Charlene Bangs and Bowling, Kenneth R. Birth of the Nation: The First Federal Congress 1789-1791. Madison House Publishers. Madison, WI. 1989.
For more information, contact Fran O’Malley (302-831-8443).
