• Login
  • Register
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Documents
  • Activities
  • Activity Tools
    • All Tools
    • Analyzing Documents
    • Discussion Topic
    • Compare and Contrast
    • Zoom/Crop
    • White Out / Black Out
    • Spotlight
    • Finding a Sequence
    • Making Connections
    • Mapping History
    • Seeing the Big Picture
    • Weighing the Evidence
    • Interpreting Data
  • Popular Topics
    • See All
    • National History Day
    • The Constitution
    • Sports: All-American
    • Rights in America
    • American Indians
    • Women's Rights
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • The Vietnam War
    • 1970s America
    • Congress
    • Amending America
    • Elections
    • What Americans Eat
    • Signatures
    • Nixon and Ford Years
  • Resources
    • Getting Started
    • Document Analysis
    • Activity-Creation Guide
    • Manage Assignments
    • iPad App
    • Presentation Materials
    • Webinars
      • Recorded Webinars
      • Live Webinars
MENU
DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

The Voting Record of the Constitution

Interpreting Data

Print
Created by the National Archives
Bookmark this Activity in My Activities:
Copy this Activity to My Activities for editing:
The Voting Record of the Constitution

About this Activity

  • Created by:National Archives Education Team
  • Historical Era:Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
  • Thinking Skill:Historical Analysis & Interpretation
  • Bloom's Taxonomy:Analyzing
  • Grade Level:Middle School
Start Activity
Please use a tablet or desktop computer to use this activity.
In this activity, students will analyze a primary source document to find relevant historical data and measure the degree of agreement and disagreement during the Constitutional Convention.
https://docsteach.org/activities/student/the-voting-record-of-the-constitution

Suggested Teaching Instructions

Learning Objectives

Students will use the interpretation tools available in the activity to analyze a voting record of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Students will use the data to determine the degree of agreement and debate that existed when legislators were crafting the US Constitution.

Instructions

This activity may be used during a lesson about the Constitutional Convention in 1787. For grades 5-8. Approximate time needed is 60 minutes.

Start the lesson with a brief role-play (15 minutes) that can highlight the issue of a group coming to a decision (e.g. choosing a class motto, class song, or a snack for the next day's class). Observe the role-play. Students may take votes, explain their reasons, debate with other students, etc. After this role-play, debrief students and discuss the way a final decision was (or was not) made.

After the debrief, segue to a discussion of the Constitutional Convention and its voting record which documents the way the delegates from individual states voted on important issues between May and September 1787.

Use this activity as a class, in small groups, in pairs, or individually. Direct students to analyze the voting record, look for votes that were more divided (i.e. closer to 6-6 split) and votes that were more united (closer to 12-0 vote). Ask them to note these and other important issues that are listed on the sample pages from the voting record.

When students have clicked “When You're Done” in the activity, ask them to respond to the follow-up questions. Then engage them in a class discussion that could include:

  • Which issues had the most agreement? Which issues had the most disagreement?
  • In general, how were states divided on some of these issues? Did they divide based on region? Based on their state's population? Other factors?
  • Overall, which 3 votes on these several pages do you think were the most significant to the final ratified Constitution. Explain.

Documents in this activity

  • Voting Record of the Constitutional Convention

CC0
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Education Team has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "The Voting Record of the Constitution".

  • Explore Primary Source Documents
  •  
  • Discover Activities You Can Teach With
  •  
  • Create Fun & Engaging Activities
Follow us on Twitter:twitter
Follow us on Facebook:facebook
Please enter a valid email address

View our webinars:youtube

Get our iPad app:apple
New Documentsshare
New Activitiesshare

The National Archives

DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the U.S. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. We hold in trust for the public the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — but also the records of ordinary citizens — at our locations around the country.
  • All Education Programs
  • Student Visits
  • Distance Learning
  • Professional Development
  • National Archives Museum
  • Presidential Libraries
  • Archives.gov
  • National Archives Foundation




Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, DocsTeach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Primary source documents included on this site generally come from the holdings of the National Archives and are in the public domain, except as noted. Teaching activities on this site have received the CC0 Public Domain Dedication; authors have waived all copyright and related rights to the extent possible under the law. See our legal and privacy page for full terms and conditions.