Our American Government and How We Got Here

Our American Government and How We Got Here

Course | Available

FIU Biscayne Bay Campus 3000 NE 151st Street, ACI-224 North Miami, FL 33181-3000 United States

TBD

anyone

8/8/2024-8/22/2024

10:30 AM-12:00 PM EDT on Th

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$80.00

$60.00

Join us for a most interesting course, taught by Dr. Rebecca Staton-Reinstein. 



The Enlightenment and the Founding of the U.S. – Why We Should Care

This epic battle between competing philosophies is the background for the epic struggles of the American Revolution, the framing of the Constitution, and the evolution of American governance. We were never a philosophically unified country as The Great Awakening championed the heart over the head while the "Enlightened" Revolutionaries voted for the head. The same battle plays out today in somewhat disguised form as leaders struggle for the soul of the country.

(Session 1)

Constitutional Convention Day-By-Day: Endless Debate, Disgruntlement, Disillusion, and Decisions

When delegates arrived in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, most thought they were going to spend a few weeks tinkering with the Articles of Confederation and return quickly to their law firms, plantations, businesses, and families. They were shocked the first day when the Governor of Virginia read out a plan which called for eliminating the Articles and proposing an entirely new form of government. Some delegates left, never to return. No wonder Patrick Henry had refused to go in the first place, saying he smelled a rat. Sit through that long hot summer with them as those who stayed hammered out our essential document. Enter the furious debates that still echo in today’s politics. Examine the compromises that are under scrutiny even today.

(Session 2)

Unending War: States’ Rights vs The Federal Government

We are NOT more divided now than ever before. As Europeans poured into the “new world” displacing indigenous peoples, they brought a multitude of political beliefs and cultural traditions. The Colonies barely united to free themselves from the British and never had the support of most people. The Constitution was bitterly opposed and barely squeaked by in some states. The conflicted Framers created a document full of compromises. The persistent fault line is between the rights of the states and those of the Federal government.

(Session 3)

  • Members save $20 and enjoy free parking at BBC. 

Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., president of Advantage Leadership, Inc. has served as an executive in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors and as a consultant in strategic leadership. She is the author of several books on strategic leadership and planning. Her best-selling Conventional Wisdom: How Today’s Leaders Plan, Perform and Progress Like the Founding Fathers allowed her to draw on her lifelong passion for history to draw parallels between the founders and contemporary leaders. Growing up in Virginia, the daughter of history-loving parents, the family visited every battlefield and historic home and read every historic highway marker. She followed in her mother’s footsteps and graduated from William and Mary. While there, she worked for the Restoration as a costumed guide and was hooked on the 18th century. Her programs examine the Enlightenment, the transition from colonies to independence, the creation of the Constitution, and lead up to the Civil War and its aftermath. In profiles of the women and men who were critical in the development of the U.S., she helps her audience understand them as human beings with their admirable qualities and their flaws. “Because these people were humans and not idealized superheroes, we can learn from them and apply the lessons of history to our situation today.”