Create-A-Constitution Project

Often, a school is your best bet-perhaps not for education but certainly for protection from an undead attack.
Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks

Hu-Hello? Whos there? Are youhuman?

Oh thank goodness! Another human being! Welcome weary traveler! We are what is left of the human race. We
are on the brink of starvation, terrified, and a confused hodgepodge of people, but we are alive and thats more
than I can say for most. After years of being at war with the zombie horde, it is time to reorganize humanity and
create structure again. Your task is to recreate the government of the United States. You will work with a group
of people to accomplish this end. No pressure, but the human race is depending on you to lead them back to
stability and peace.
Good luck!

Da Rules
Rule #1: Cardio
Zombieland
Your goal is to rewrite the Constitution of the United States a daunting task. However, remember that it is
your constitution. You get to decide what is included. You will also need to do some research into what kind of

things go into a constitution, what kind of laws, bills, and rights for the people of your new country will be
included. You might want to check out a few other countries' constitutions to see what they've done.
There is no minimum length required for your constitution, but it must include the following:

Minimum 2 Articles or Items on the Structure of Government

o How will your country be run? Who is the leader(s) of the country?
o Monarchy? Oligarchy? Democracy? Dictatorship?
Minimum 1 Article on Amending the Constitution
o What are the rules and procedures for how to amend your document?
o How many votes does it need? Or does it not need votes?
Minimum 5 Articles or Items that Guarantee Citizen Rights
o You can be as magnanimous or as cruel as you want.
o The rights of your citizens should correspond to the type of government you have.
AKA if you have an oppressive dictatorship, your citizens shouldnt have complete
freedom.
A Cover Worthy of Such a Document
o Create a cover page for your constitution with the name of the document, the authors, the name
of your country (doesnt have to be The United States), the date of its inception, and anything
else you would like.

The Process
So you realize the huge responsibility that you have been given to form this new country! It seems like it might
be impossible, but it's not. Here are some questions that might help you in your search for knowledge:

Where can I find information to help me learn about a constitution?

What countries have constitutions that I can use as a model?
How can you organize the constitution into small sections?
Do we all want to write each part together, or do we want to divide different sections up?
What are the things that we think are important for a country to have?
What kind of ideas might we want to borrow from other constitutions?
Is something missing? Certain perspectives? Certain ideas or opinions on what is important?
Have you checked the rubric and task to make sure that you have completed all aspects of the task?

Pro Tips
Do not just write, It is a tyranny. There are no rights and freedoms in the Neo-United States. Elaborate on
your choicewhy is it a tyranny? Is it an oppressive system of government because the apocalypse has proven
that humans cannot be trusted? Or is it because you cant wage a war on zombies with people running around
doing whatever they want? You must provide rationale and explanations when appropriate.

If you think you didnt provide enough detail, youre probably right. However, you can always ask me for
feedback. That being said, please do not wait until the last minute!

Resources
Cornell University Law School has excellent pages that have quick links to all the articles and amendments of
the United States Constitution.
The US Constitution Online has the entire US Constitution with quick links to different sections. It also has
links to the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
The French National Assembly has the French constitution listed on it with quick reference links to each
section.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation is listed in completion on Bucknell University's website.
Miriam-Webster's Online Dictionary has a definition for constitution. Maybe it can give you some ideas.
Here are pictures and text from actual original source documents, such as the US Constitution, Declaration of
Independence and others. It may help you get ideas for what your document and its cover could look like.

Structure of
Government

Rights of the
People

Amendment
Process

Document
Cover

Secretary

Impeached (0)

Hog Reeve (2)

Governor (4)

No articles pertaining
to the structure of
government or
organization of the
country are included.

1 article pertaining to the

structure of the government
or organization of the
country is included.
Articles give no instruction
on how these structures will
be enacted.

1 article pertaining to the

structure of the government
or organization of the
country is included. Article
gives very little instruction
on how these structures
will be enacted.

2 articles pertaining to the

structure of the government
or organization of the
country are included.
Articles give some
instruction on how these
structures will be enacted.

2 or more articles pertaining

to the structure of the
government are included.
Articles give clear, detailed,
and specific instruction on
how these structures will be
enacted.

No articles on the
rights of citizens.

Less than 5 pertaining to the

rights of the citizens are
included. Articles give no
information on these rights.

Less than 5 articles

pertaining to the rights of
the citizens are included.
Articles give very little
information on these rights.

4 or 5 articles pertaining to
the rights of the citizens are
included. Articles give some
information on these rights.

5 + articles pertaining to the

rights of the citizens are
included. Articles give
clear, detailed, and specific
information on these rights.

No articles on how to
amend the
constitution are
included.

1 article on how to amend

the constitution is included.
Article gives very little or
unclear instruction for
procedure.

1 article on how to amend

the constitution is included.
Article gives very little or
unclear instruction for
procedures on how to
amend the constitution.

1 article on how to amend

the constitution is included.
Article gives some
instruction for procedures on
how to amend the
constitution.

1 + articles on how to
amend the constitution are
included. Article(s) gives
clear, detailed, and specific
instruction for procedures
on how to amend the
constitution.

No document cover is
provided.

Document cover is
provided, but does not
reflect time and effort. Is
sloppy and rushed.

Document cover is
provided and reflects some
effort, but could be
improved.

Document cover is provided

and reflects effort and time.
Contains most of the
necessary components.

High-quality document
cover that reflects great
time, detail, and effort is
provided. Contains all
required components.

Many grammatical,
spelling, or punctuation
errors.

A few grammatical,
spelling, or punctuation
errors.

Almost no grammatical,
spelling, or punctuation
errors

No grammatical, spelling,
or punctuation errors.

Conventions

Total Score: ____/40

Comments:

of State (6)

President (8)