Chronology Challenge Bellringer
Bellringer U.S. History • 7–10 Min Warm-Up
Name: ______________________
Period: _____
Date: _________
Chronology Challenge: The Road to the Constitution
Place milestones on the chronological timeline and analyze cause-and-effect historical context.
Skill: Chronological Reasoning
1
Place the Milestones on the Timeline
Match each letter (A–D) from the Event Bank to its date on the timeline
A Shays’ Rebellion
MA farmers revolt; reveals Articles’ weakness
B Jamestown Settlement
1st English colony; House of Burgesses forms
C Federalist Debate
Constitution drafted; clash over federal power
D Declaration of Independence
Colonies break from Britain over natural rights
1
1607
Letter:
Colonial start of representative self-rule.
2
1776
Letter:
13 colonies formally reject British monarchy.
3
1786
Letter:
Armed revolt exposes weak central government.
4
1787–88
Letter:
Framers draft and debate new U.S. Constitution.
2
Cause-and-Effect Context Analysis
Interim Assessment Skill Check • Circle the correct answer
1. CAUSE & EFFECT (Jamestown → Declaration): How did the tradition of colonial self-government (begun at Jamestown) contribute to the Declaration of Independence?
A. Colonists viewed British direct taxes without consent as an attack on self-rule.
B. Colonists sought to abolish representative assemblies and install an American king.
C. Virginia planters rebelled because Britain refused to enforce strict trade monopolies.
D. Colonists organized to immediately draft a permanent federal constitution with a bank.
2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT (Declaration → Articles): Why did Americans deliberately design the Articles of Confederation with an intentionally weak national government?
A. They intended to grant the executive branch total emergency military command powers.
B. Having just rejected royal British tyranny, they feared central power and prioritized state sovereignty.
C. They sought to create a uniform national currency backed by a supreme federal judiciary.
D. British peace treaties legally required all thirteen states to govern independently.
3. CAUSE (Articles → Shays’ Rebellion): Which weakness of the Articles of Confederation directly caused the crisis of Shays’ Rebellion in 1786?
A. The national government levied excessively high federal land taxes on western farmers.
B. The national government maintained an aggressive standing army in Massachusetts towns.
C. The national government lacked power to tax, manage currency, or raise an army to halt unrest.
D. The federal Supreme Court ruled all state debt relief and court stays unconstitutional.
4. DIRECT EFFECT (Shays’ Rebellion → Federalist Debate): Which of the following was the most direct result of the crisis caused by Shays’ Rebellion?
A. Delegates gathered in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution, sparking debates over federal power.
B. States voted unanimously to surrender their sovereignty back to the British Crown.
C. State legislatures agreed to forgive all personal debts and abolish state taxation completely.
D. Anti-Federalists immediately passed the Bill of Rights without drafting any new framework.
Historical Context Synthesis Takeaway Q1 Interim Assessment Anchor
Key Rule: Historical context consists of the prior conditions and crises that prompted an action. The rejection of British tyranny led to the weak Articles of Confederation; the failure of the Articles during Shays’ Rebellion created the urgent historical context for the Constitutional Convention and the Federalist Debate.
Checklist: 4 milestones placed on timeline 4 Cause & Effect questions answered Historical context takeaway reviewed
Quarter 1 Review • Ready for IA
