Procedures

• INTRODUCTION:

  At the beginning of the class, introduce the topic of the purposes of government by having the students make a list of actions the government takes. Discuss with the class why the government takes these actions.

  Either as a class or individually read the Preamble of the Constitution. Have the students identify the five purposes of government that are contained in the Preamble.

  "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

• EXPLORATION:

  Using the clips associated with each of the purposes of government found in the Constitution, students will complete the chart on the handout to summarize each purpose of government and identify keywords. This can done individually or using a jigsaw format where students are assigned one of the purposes and report back to the group.

  HANDOUT: Purposes of Government (Google Doc)

• PURPOSES OF GOVERNMENT VIDEO CLIPS:

  "Establish Justice"

  • VIDEO CLIP: Establish Justice (1:48)

  "Insure Domestic Tranquility"

  • VIDEO CLIP: Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) on Establishing Justice (1:21)

  "Provide for the Common Defense"

  • VIDEO CLIP: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Providing for the Common Defense (1:12)

  "Promote the General Welfare"

  • VIDEO CLIP: Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) on Promoting the General Welfare (1:38)

  "Secure the Blessing of Liberty"

  • VIDEO CLIP: Sen. Grassley (R-IA) on Securing the Blessing of Liberty (1:37)

• APPLICATION:

  Using the second page of the handout, have the students view each linked video. They should summarize the governmental actions being discussed and explain which of the purposes of government relate to that action. This can either be done as homework or a class assignment.

  HANDOUT: Purposes of Government (Google Doc)

• CONCLUSION:

  After having the students complete the handout, have them explain their answers and discuss. As a conclusion have them answer the following prompt as an exit slip:

  • Which purpose of government is the most important?

• EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  Purposes of Government Research- Using C-SPAN's Video Library, find and clip examples of each purpose of government. Each clip should be no longer than two minutes. View our clipping guide for more information on how to do this.

  Purposes of Government Graphic- Create a graphic for each purpose of government that illustrates an example of it. Each graphic should show how the government fulfills this purpose.

  Additional Prompts:

  • Pick one of the purposes of government found in the Preamble of the Constitution and evaluate how well the government is fulfilling it.
  • Which purpose of government do you feel is the least important?
  • Choose one of the purposes found in the preamble and discuss why the writers of the Constitution used that specific phrasing?