Shelby County Schools Extended Learning Guide Social Studies 6Th
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Shelby County Schools Extended Learning Guide Social Studies 6th Grade Social Studies Sixth Grade Lesson 1: Review of Standard 6.53: Describe the government of the Roman Republic, including: branches of government, checks and balances, civic participation, representative democracy, the rule of law and the twelve tables. Background: The Roman Republic had three main branches of government: the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch. In the U.S. government, the executive branch enforces laws, the legislative branch makes the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws. No one branch has too much power and each branch has ways of limiting the power of the other branches. This is called ‘checks and balances’, power is balance between the branches by the checks they can keep on each other. Read the excerpts below on the Roman Republic and answer the questions on Excerpts from “Roman Government”: The Consuls: Instead of a king… the new government chose consuls, two in number. These individuals were not elected by the populace but appointed by the popular assembly… Each consul served a one-year, non- consecutive, term, although he could serve a second or third term later. As both political and military heads of state, consuls possessed supreme executive power, commanding the army, presiding over the Senate, and proposing legislation; however, as a safeguard each consul had the ability to veto the other’s decision… At the end of their one-year term, they were held accountable to the popular assembly for any decisions made or actions taken… Initially, while the position of consul was open only to patricians, plebeians became eligible in 367 BCE and by 342 BCE legislation dictated that one of the two consuls had to be a plebeian. 1) How many consuls served at once? 2) How were consuls chosen? 3) What governmental responsibilities did consuls have? 4) Are the consuls part of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of government? Choose a branch and explain your answer using evidence from the text. 5) How were consuls able to ‘check’ or balance the power of other branches in the Roman government? The Senate and assemblies: Unlike later parliamentary bodies, the Roman Senate had little if any legislative authority, for that power wrested in the hands of the popular assemblies… And, while it had no legal power, it still held significant influence, serving as an advisory body to the consuls and later emperors… Senators not only discussed both domestic and foreign policy but supervised relations with foreign powers. They directed the religious life of Rome, and most importantly, controlled state finances. Instead of authority lying in the Senate, power to pass laws was given to a number of popular assemblies … [One of the assemblies] duties included electing various magistrates (consuls, praetors, and censors), enacting laws, declaring war and peace… During the time of the Republic, these various assemblies were the voice of the citizens of Rome, and although not fully democratic in the modern definition of the word, they allowed at least some portion of the Roman citizenry to be heard. Their essential role in Roman government was crucial enough that the army inscribed on their military standards the letters SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanus or Senate and Roman people. 6) What governmental responsibilities did the Senate have? 7) What governmental responsibilities did the Assemblies have? 8) Are the senate and assembles part of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of government? Choose a branch and explain your answer using evidence from the text. 9) How were the senate and assemblies able to ‘check’ or balance the power of other branches in the Roman government? *Students may want to refer back to the reading on the consuls to assist with this answer. The Tribunes and Rule of Law: …plebeians could elect tribunes who, like consuls, served for one year. Their primary function was to safeguard plebeian rights against patrician abuse. Their duties were in many ways similar to that of the consuls; however, they could veto any magistrate decision as it related to the plebeians. Later, to further protect the rights of the plebeians, the Twelve Tables also called the Ten plus the Two was enacted as the first record of Roman law - there had never been a written constitution in Rome. By the 4th century BCE all citizens had the right of provocatio populum - the right to appeal the decision of a magistrate, and by 287 BCE the Lex Hotensia stated that laws passed by the Concilium Plebis were binding to all people, even patricians. Source: Excerpts from Wasson, Donald L. "Roman Government." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 29 Nov 2015. Web. 30 Mar 2020. Licensed CC A-NC-SA. Available at: https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Government/ 10) What were the governmental responsibilities of tribunes? 11) What was the Twelve Tables? 12) Blast from the past: How are the Twelve Tables similar to and different from Hammurabi’s Code? 13) Are the tribunes and magistrates part of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of government? Choose a branch and explain your answer using evidence from the text. 14) How were tribunes and magistrates able to ‘check’ or balance the social power of patricians? 15) Summarize the information from the readings into a paragraph describing the branches of government in the Roman Republic and how these branches were able to ‘check and balance’ the power of each other. Social Studies Sixth Grade Lesson 2: Review Standard 6.54: Describe the class system of ancient Rome, including the role of patricians, plebeians, and slaves in Roman society. Background: Rome was divided into two main social groups, patricians and plebeians. Patricians were wealthy landowners, while plebeians were workers who often lived on patrician land. Patricians tended to have more political power and rights than plebeians, although this situation shifted as laws in Ancient Rome changed. Prisoners of war and their descendants were commonly enslaved and the labor of enslaved peoples was common in all areas of Roman life. Excerpt on Social Classes of Rome: [W]hen the Etruscan king was finally ousted in 509 BCE, the aristocratic families of the city [of Rome] - the patricians - seized control of the government and created a republic, but a republic in name only. The noble patricians considered themselves privileged and better capable of ruling; certain people were born to lead and others were destined to follow. The majority of the citizens, the plebeians, were denied any part in how, or by whom, they were ruled. During the rule of the Etruscan kings, the patricians (the word comes from the Latin patres meaning “fathers”) owned most of the land, and while there were many wealthy plebeians (a word meaning “the many”), a handful of patrician families rose to become advisors and warlords to the king, although some historians argue that even the king may not have always been a patrician. For decades to come, all patrician families could trace their ancestry to these original clans. Among these were the Claudii, the Julii or the Cornelii. This natural born right, the right to govern, became hereditary and thereby allowed the patricians to distinguish themselves from those they considered a lower class. With the [start] of the republic, the patricians sought to maintain this hold on governmental power. 1) Which social class had the most power when Rome first became a Republic? Why? 2) Which social class had the least power when Rome first became a Republic? Why? This new government was truly unique and, in all appearances, representative. There was a centuriate assembly or Comitia Centuriate, a Senate, and two co-consuls. The latter were elected by the assembly for a one-year term but had the power of a king. All of this was open only to the patricians and only concerned their welfare. This extreme authority allowed them to sustain both their economic and political status, but this was not the only method used to suppress the plebeians. Another way was through the priesthood - something they would control for years to come. Religion had always been an integral part of a Roman citizen’s life, and one method of suppressing any possible rebellion among the plebeians was for the patricians to maintain their role as the “gatekeepers to the gods.” The patricians simply claimed to have special knowledge of the gods and therefore served as custodians of religious law with authority to punish offenders. 3) The author states, “This new government was truly unique and, in all appearances, representative.” How was the Roman Republic during this time not representative? 4) In your own words, explain two ways patricians were able to use their role in government to maintain more power than plebeians. Unfortunately for the patricians, this dominance would and could not last. There had always been little, if any, relationship between the two classes - by law they were even forbidden to intermarry. The patricians gradually began to lose control when many of the more wealthy plebeians wished to secure some voice in the government, threatening, more than once, to leave Rome. As the majority of the Roman citizenry, the plebeians were a diverse group. They were the urban poor, wealthy farmers, tradesmen, as well as the core of the Republican army. The [lowly] positions of tradesman or craftsman were never considered a job for a patrician; he believed he was better suited for leadership positions in politics, law, or the army. However, the patricians realized they needed the plebeians more than the plebeians need them and decided to relinquish some, but not all, authority. Unfortunately, this battle between the two classes would continue for decades to come.