Article describes how the written constitutions adopted by each of the 13 colonies were the seeds of the U.S. Constitution including the Bill of Rights. Includes questions for discussion and small group activity.

September 17 is recognized in the United States as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. The purpose of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is to commemorate the creation and signing of the supreme law of the land and to honor and...

Read the speech given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 17, 1937, honoring the Constitution and applying the tenets of the Constitution to contemporary issues in the 1930s.

A game where the player must sort items into whether they belong in the body of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Amendments, the Articles, or not at all. There are two rounds to the game.

See transcripts of the debates of the Federal Convention of 1787, the draft of the Constitution, or see the facsimiles of the original documents. Trace the progress of the Constitution using the historical documents themselves.

This site from the United States Senate provides information about the evolution of the Senate as the Constitution was being written by the Constitutional Congress.

US History learning module on the post revolutionary period discussing the fundamentals of writing the Constitution and a new form of government.

Discusses the origin of Constitution Day and the history of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Lists descriptions of the seven articles and twenty-seven amendments in the Constitution. Presents lesson suggestions from teachers and...

The Library of Congress provides several hundred documents relating to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. Content includes drafts of the Constitution, journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee...

After reading this section of the chapter on "Creating Republican Governments", students will be able to identify the central issues of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and their solutions and also describe the conflicts over the...

Ben's Guide is a fun way to present US laws to school aged children. This site presents a thorough investigation into ways to amend the Constitution. Links to related sites are available.

This resource from Khan Academy provides practice questions over the ratification of the US Constitution. These questions are intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics courses, including the...

The first unit of an online course on AP US Government and Politics. It explores key concepts of American government, including constitutional government, republicanism, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, construction...

The Constitution can be broken down into 6 main themes: Limited Government, Federalism, Republicanism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and Popular Sovereignty. Young scholars will study background on the Founding Fathers and...

The sources in this primary set document the creation of the US Constitution. Includes teaching guide.

Information about Connecticut's delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Includes information on Oliver Ellsworth, a key supporter of the Great Compromise, as well as William Samuel Johnson and Roger Sherman.

The issue of slavery was a contentious one during debates in the Constitutional Convention. Read about the various issues, the quotes of several of the delegates, and see how the word "slave" is not even mentioned in the Constitution....

The original text of official Resolutions by members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 during the debate creating a new national U.S. Constitution.

North Carolinians have lived under three state constitutions - the Constitution of 1776, the Constitution of 1868, and the Constitution of 1971. In general, each constitution expanded the rights and privileges of the citizenry as well as...

These step-by-step lesson plans help students understand the historical background to the U.S. Constitution. Students simulate a hypothetical situation where they must create their own rules and figure out how to work together. Links to...

Explains why the Articles of Confederation were not strong enough to hold the country together. One result was a farmers' rebellion in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, which was precipitated by a debt crisis that caused many farmers to...

Read about Checks and Balances, Balance of Power, the Electoral College, and much more in this informative lesson about the making of the Constitution.

Provides a summary of the Bill of Rights with a discussion on why it was added to the Constitution.

A good biography on Pinckney and his role in the formation of the Constitution.