The Constitution Day presentation this year focuses on the classic arguments for the adoption of the Constitution made by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in The Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers were a collection of eighty five essays published in various New York newspapers designed to convince the delegates in the New York Ratifying Convention to adopt the Constitution, and subsequently have served as the most significant interpretation of the Constitution in American political history. A recommended reading list and handout will be provided, and there will be a question and answer session after the lecture.
The facilitator, Bennett Smith, is an instructor in history and political science at North Iowa Area Community College. He is also an instructor in various lifelong learning programs including the NIACC lifelong Learning Institute; the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Iowa State University and the LIFE program at Rochester Community and Technical College in Rochester, Minnesota. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communication and a Master of Arts degree in history from Iowa State University. He has also done graduate work at the University of Iowa in Social Foundations of Education.