TERM PROJECT

On 12 April 1861 Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor in South Carolina. The bombardment, which resulted in no casualties for either side, was the culmination of conflicts and compromises that had occurred in the US since 1787.

The main subject of these compromises was the extension of legalized slavery into areas under US jurisdiction. However, during the war, most mainstream Confederate soldiers did not hold anyone in legalized slavery, due to the cost involved. Nevertheless, slavery continues to be taught, on many academic levels, as the cause of the war, In fact, there were several causes of the war including inadequacies in the Constitution, the extension of slavery into the territories, the actual existence of slavery where it already was, and the legal rights of the states under the Constitution. This project is an attempt to remedy one of those inadequacies.

PROJECT FORMAT

The focal point of this project is the 10th Amendment.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

As can plainly be seen in its wording, the rights of the states are not specifically spelled out. The objective of this project is to amend the 10th Amendment to specifically spell out those rights.

Each student will submit at least 5 rights he/she believes the states should have under the 10th Amendment. The student must write at least one paragraph per proposal to explain why the change should be included.