Constitutional Convention Guide to Geography
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GUIDE TO GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE Creating the Constitution 1 © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute N S E W 0 100 200 kilometers 0 Albers Conic Equal-Area Projection 100 200 miles New York Boston Philadelphia Baltimore Charleston Georgia South Carolina North Carolina Virginia Pennsylvania New York New Hampshire New Jersey Rhode Island Maryland Delaware Connecticut Massachuses 35°N 30°N 40°N 70°W 75°W 80°W 85°W N S E W 0 100 200 kilometers 0 Albers Conic Equal-Area Projection 100 200 miles The United States, 1790
Transcript of Constitutional Convention Guide to Geography
G U I D E T O G E O G R A P H Y C H A L L E N G E
Creating the Constitution 1© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
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NewYork
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CharlestonGeorgia
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NewHampshire
NewJersey
RhodeIsland
Maryland Delaware
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USI_LG_U03_01 The United States, 1790Second ProofTCI19 76
The United States, 1790
G U I D E T O G E O G R A P H Y C H A L L E N G E
Creating the Constitution 2© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
Geography Skills
Score 1 point for each correct answer. Use the map on the previous page to check shading and labeling.
1. Virginia and Pennsylvania had the largest populations.
2. The nation’s five largest cities in 1790 were Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; New York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
3. Only 6 of the nation’s 24 largest cities and towns were located in the South.
4. The South’s next four largest cities had populations of 2,500 to 5,000. All were located in Virginia.
5. Students should shade Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Most of these states were in the South.
6. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island had few or no slaves in their populations. These states were in the North.
7. Eighteen of the nation’s 24 largest cities and towns were in states with few or no slaves.
8. Slaves were about one-third or more of the population in Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia.
9. Students should circle Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and South Carolina. Virginia would fall from the top rank to the same range as Pennsylvania. North Carolina and Maryland would fall below Massachusetts and New York. South Carolina also would fall a tier in the population rankings.
Critical Thinking
Questions may have more than one correct answer. Score 1 to 3 points for each reasonable answer, depending on the strength of students’ geographic reasoning. Possible answers are given here.
10. Populous states like Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Maryland would likely support such a system because it would give them great power in the national government. Less-populous states like Rhode Island, Delaware, and Georgia would likely oppose it because they would have little power in a population-based legislature.
11. Less-populous states like New Jersey would benefit from a system of equal representation and would suffer in a population-based system. Proposed compromises will vary, but students might suggest a two-house legislature in which states are equally represented in one house and by population in the other.
12. Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and South Carolina had large slave populations. Not counting slaves for seats in a population-based legislature would reduce their power. This would indirectly benefit populous states with few or no slaves, like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, which would likely favor such a plan for that reason. Suggested compromises might include a two-house, population-based legislature where slaves count in one house but not in the other, or counting only a portion of a state’s slaves when determining its population.
G U I D E T O G E O G R A P H Y C H A L L E N G E
Creating the Constitution 3© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
Using Scores to Inform Instruction
Geography Skills A score of 6 out of 9 or better indicates that students have acquired sufficient geographic information to proceed with the unit.
Critical Thinking A score of 6 out of 9 or better indicates that students are beginning to understand the relationships between physical geography and the different ways in which people live.
Modifying Instruction
ELL or Learners with Special Education Needs Consider focusing on map-reading questions or limiting the number of “Critical Thinking” questions.
Students with Weak Map or Critical Thinking Skills Assign appropriate pages from the Social Studies Skills Toolkit.
