Founding Leaders and Founding Documents

Laura EwingPresident/CEO

Texas Council on Economic Educationwww.economicstexas.org

www.smartertexas.org Laura@economicstexas.org

713-655-1650

TCEE• Teaches teachers who teach students who

are the future of Texas• Provides interesting hands-on lessons that

develop critical thinking skills for students in Economics, Social Studies, Math, and Career/Technical Education classes.

This workshop and the accompanying materials are made available to teachers through the generous support of State Farm and the Council for Economic Education.

Economics Challenge Fall and Spring Online Testing In

Micro, Macro and International Economics

Adam Smith Division 2nd place national champs

Bellaire HS 2010/3rd 2012

David Ricardo Division 3rd place national champs Plano HS 2010/4th place 2012

State competition in Austin

Personal Financial Literacy Challenge

Middle and High School

Fall and spring online challenges will determine state finalist candidates

“State Play-Offs” in Austin with cash awards for two top teams

HS national finals at Fed in St. Louis

Bellaire HS Houston 2nd in nation 2012

Stock Market Game ™InvestWriteTeams of 2 to 5 students

Grades 4 to 12Cost: Fidelity sponsorsLegislative Challenge

10 week Student Session 

www/economicstexas/org How Do You Get These Materials?

www.economicstexas.org

What Role Does Geography Play In…

•1. how Texans make a living•2. where people settle

What are the factors of production?

•1. Land •2. Labor•3. Capital•4. Entrepreneurship

What do you know about the economy of the 13 colonies?Write at least three things about the economy

of the 13 colonies.Share your answers with a partner.Listen as three students share their answers

with the class.

Visual 4.2: % of Distribution of Total Colonial Trade (1768 to 1772)

United Kingdom

West Indies

Southern Europe

Africa

% of Colonial

Imports of G & S80%18%

2%0%

% of Colonial Exports of G

& S

56%26%

18%1%

Role of property rightsUse these concepts to explain the free

enterprise system in colonial America:Property rightsIncentivesProductiveSpecializationTradeGlobal economyInvestmentsprofits

Goods and ServicesWhat is the difference?Good: Service:

Which of the items on the list are goods and which are services?

Rank order: which do you think most important to least important.

What do you know about the US Articles of Confederation and

U.S. Constitution?

Years?

Purpose?

Who wrote?

Why?

U. S. ConstitutionFirst Continental Congress met September 5, 1774

in Philadelphia in response to the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) passed by Parliament which had punished Boston for the Boston Tea partyAgreed to petition King George for redress of

grievances12/13 colonies attended with 56 people (only Georgia,

the convict state not included)

First CC agreed to meet again next yearShot heard ‘round the world in Lexington 1775

Second Continental CongressBegan meeting in Philadelphia May 1775Organized the war effortCommissioned writing of Declaration of

Independence When in the course of human events, it becomes

necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of God’s Nature entitled them…should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Declaration of IndependenceWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness-that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government because destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…Right to revolt…after a long train of abuses…

List of grievancesJohn Hancock’s signatureWritten by Thomas Jefferson

Economic Problems During the Articles of ConfederationDebt

Taxation

Tariff Battles

Military Weakness

A New Nation in 1781: One Nation or Thirteen?Guidelines for the activity:1. Individually read the problem and the predicting

consequences.2. Succinctly state the problem in one sentence.3. What do you think the consequences will be?4. Work in a small group and compare your

problem sentences. As a group restate the problem statement.

5. As a group, restate what you predict the consequences will be.

6. Share your answers with the class.

Processing Activity on Articles of ConfederationHow did the Articles reflect the wishes of a

people vying for less centralized power?What were issues with the Articles?What will happen as a result of the issues?

The U. S. Constitution: The Rules of the GameWhat is the role of the government in the U.S.

market economy?

Constitutional ConventionMay to September 1787September 17, 1787 is Constitution Day

The U. S. Constitution: The Rules of the GameThe new nation was in financial crisis.The new states sent 55 leaders to amend the

Articles of Confederation.They met from May until September 1787.They quickly learned that they needed to

make substantial changes. They wrote a new Constitution based on Adam Smith’s concepts of economic freedom.

What were the new rules of the game?

The Constitution: Rules for the Economy As you participate in the activity, notice the new rules of

the game, why they were established, and the expected outcomes.

Read Economic Freedom and the FoundersThe Particular:Name and summary of statement

Location In US Constitution

Based on the rule, how would you decide on the question?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Rules of the Game and YOUWhat are three ways that the rules of the

game affect you:

Economically?

Personally?