American Government Research Project Your goal for this research project is to understand the ideological framework and political positions of the Federalists and
Anti-Federalists during the early days of American government and to make an argument for whether either would
support the modern American government after centuries of constitutional changes and amendments. Your paper will
focus on each branch of government and the changes each has gone through since the writing of the Constitution.
Starter Resources:
Source 1: Federalists Introduction
o https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1184/federalists
Source 2: Anti-Federalists Introduction
o https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1175/anti-federalists
Source 3: Overview of Position on Property, Class, and Government
o https://csac.history.wisc.edu/document-collections/constitutional-debates/property-class/ Paper Requirements:
Your 2–3-page research project should address the following key topics:
1. Introduction—Provide an overview of both the Federalists’ and Anti-Federalists’ positions on the government.
Reference key thinkers and political writings of each position. Briefly state, for each branch of government,
whether the Federalists and Anti-Federalists of early America would support its current power and capabilities.
Later in your paper, you’ll go into more detail about why they would or wouldn’t.
2. The Executive Branch—How have the powers of the Executive Branch changed since the writing of the
Constitution? What was the stance of both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists at that time? Create an argument
for the position of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists regarding the modern-day Executive Branch. Your
argument should reference specific amendments, legal cases, or precedents to support it.
3. The Legislative and Judicial Branches—How have the powers of the Legislative and Judicial Branches
changed since the writing of the Constitution? What was the stance of both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists at
that time? Create an argument for the position of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists regarding the
modern-day Legislative and Judicial Branches. Your argument should reference specific amendments, legal
cases, or precedents to support it.
Citing Your Sources:
Whenever you use information from research, whether on the internet, or in books or documentaries, you must cite
(record) your sources. There are different formats that researchers use to document important things like where the
information came from, who wrote the original information, and the date of the information.
This website: https://jefferson.kctcs.libguides.com/c.php?g=204715&p=1351168 contains information about how to make
a reference page at the end of your paper that accurately records your sources. Most of your sources should be webpages,
following this format for each source:
Example 1:
Author, A. A. (2000). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from source.
Example 2:
Wendland, K. (1999). Navigating the Internet. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from http://www.uwm.edu/~wendland/internet.htm
NOTE: Sometimes you can’t find the author or the date that the page was created or last updated. At least provide a title,
the date retrieved, and the URL. Alphabetize by the first word in your reference. You should include a reference page by itself at the end of your paper listing each resource. To achieve maximum credit,
you should use 3–4 difference sources, including the three provided above.
Formatting:
Your paper should use 1-inch margins, 12 pt. font, Times New Roman, and be double spaced.
Research Project Rubric Score
Descriiption 2 3 5
Proofreading
Paper contains incomplete
sentences, many
grammatical, spelling and
punctuation errors (>10).
Paper contains
grammatical, spelling, and
punctuation errors (5–10).
Paper contains almost no
grammatical, spelling, or
punctuation errors.
Citing Sources
No sources are cited.
Some information appears
in the paper without citing
a source. 1–2 sources
used.
Sources are properly cited
at the end of the paper.
3–4 sources used.
Introduction and
Summary of Position
Paper doesn’t include
introductory information
regarding the Federalist
and Anti-Federalist
political positions. Student
doesn’t provide a
summary of the argument
on Federalist and Anti-
Federalist stances on the
modern-day American
government.
Paper includes limited
introductory information
regarding the Federalist
and Anti-Federalist
political positions. Student
provides a weak summary
of the argument on
Federalist and Anti-
Federalist stances on the
modern-day American
government.
Paper includes detailed
introductory information
regarding the Federalist
and Anti-Federalist
political positions. Student
provides a strong
summary of the argument
on Federalist and Anti-
Federalist stances on the
modern-day American
government.
The Executive Branch
Paper doesn’t include
information regarding the
changes in the Executive
branch, the perspective of
Federalists and Anti-
Federalists, and doesn’t
make an argument
regarding perspective on
modern-day American
government.
Paper includes limited
information regarding the
changes in the Executive
branch and the perspective
of Federalists and Anti-
Federalists. Student makes
a weak argument
regarding perspective on
modern-day American
government. Includes 0–2
amendments, legal cases,
or precedents to support
argument.
Paper includes detailed
information regarding the
changes in the Executive
branch and the perspective
of Federalists and Anti-
Federalists. Student makes
a strong and supported
argument regarding
perspective on modern-
day American
government. Includes 3+
amendments, legal cases,
or precedents to support
argument.
The Legislative and
Judicial Branch
Paper doesn’t include
information regarding the
changes in the Legislative
and Judicial Branches,
perspective of Federalists
and Anti-Federalists, and
doesn’t make an argument
regarding perspective on
modern-day American
government.
Paper includes limited
information regarding the
changes in the Legislative
and Judicial Branches and
the perspective of
Federalists and Anti-
Federalists. Student makes
a weak argument
regarding perspective on
modern-day American
government. Includes 0–2
amendments, legal cases,
or precedents to support
argument.
Paper includes detailed
information regarding the
changes in the Legislative
and Judicial Branches and
the perspective of
Federalists and Anti-
Federalists. Student makes
a strong and supported
argument regarding
perspective on modern-
day American
government. Includes 3+
amendments, legal cases,
or precedents to support
argument.
TOTAL
____ /25 = _____%
100% max score
