Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Slavery, Civil War, and Democracy: What Did Lincoln Believe?
Activity in which students examine the concept of democracy and the idea of a "just society" through the eyes of Abraham Lincoln. Lesson includes questions for discussion and activity in which students prepare a speech on the what they...
Boston College
Boston College: Bigelow v. Virginia
Complete syllabus and decision on the Supreme Court case Bigelow v. Virginia (1975).
Other
Gunston Hall Plantation: Discover George Mason
Lesson plans, activities, and resources for learning about George Mason and his contributions to Virginia statehood and in forging the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Other
Founding Fathers
Find information about the founding fathers and what they accomplished. Presents the Federalist Papers, The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and The U.S. Constitution. Also includes images, quotes, a history of the...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Is Torture Ever Justified?
Activity for students promoting a critical analysis and relevant discussion on whether torture is ever justified. Students are presented with the literature on U.S. law and international law on torture as well as Bush administration...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Are We Headed for a Sixth Mass Extinction
Activity in which students analyze the information on biodiversity and extinction presented in the article and answer questions for discussion, then develop policy to meet modern environmental challenges. Individual and small group work.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Life Under Communism in Eastern Europe
Activity based resource on political and economic systems, asks students to explore communism, capitalism, socialism and democracy and formulate informed opinions for discussion and debate. Group and individual work.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Global Warming: What Should We Do About It?
Activity based resource for teachers in which students are involved in reading summaries, literature and scientific reports about Global Warming, formulating a response on how to approach Global Warming, then taking part in a mock Global...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: What Caused Egypt's Old Kingdom to Collapse?
Activity on Egypt's Old Kingdom and how societies meet the environmental challenges faced. Students review the article on the Old Kingdom and in small groups, develop a strategy to deal with the Nile River. Questions for writing and...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Leadership: u.s. History
Lesson and activity looks at leadership in U.S. history focussing on presidents, past and present, to determine what makes a good leader. Questions for discussion and class activity guidelines included.
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: George Mason 1725 1792
This resource presents links for different parts of George Mason's life. Information about his life includes links to relevant topics.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat
By 1788 eleven states ratified the Constitution, more than enough to put it into effect as the document establishing rules for the nation. Read about the goals of the Federalists in estabilishing a national government and find out how...
Other
Us Courts: Sixth Amendment Activities
Activities for the classroom in which students apply landmark Supreme Court cases to contemporary scenarios related to the right to counsel and right to a fair trial. With plan for teachers, word bank, and links to related resources.
iCivics
I Civics: Federalists & Anti Federalists
Look at the debate and eventual compromise, between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists that occurred around the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Political Experience
Read about how the state governments in the new American nation served as the laboratory to try out new ideas of governing and treating citizens. See how remarkably similar the ideas put forth in state constitutions were to each other.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Madison
The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia provides an extensive biography on the life of James Madison. Provides information about his life before and after the presidency as well as his policies on foreign and domestic...
Other
Us Courts: First Amendment Activities
Activities for students that make learning about the 1st Amendment relevant by applying landmark Supreme Court cases to contemporary scenarios related to the five parts of the First Amendment and rights to freedom of religion, speech,...
Read Works
Read Works: u.s. Presidents James Madison
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Classroom: Seventh Amendment
Text and summary of the 7th Amendment to the Constitution. From Annenberg Classroom with links to related materials including videos, timeline and news article.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Who Will You Back? (The First American Political Parties)
Learners will produce an illustrated documentary on one of the first two American political parties.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Themes: America: What Makes America Unique?
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question. "What makes America unique?" Select a grade level and a collection of on grade-level reading passages on the topic comes up. [Free account registration required...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Early Republic
[Free Registration/Login Required] Read about the tremendous growing pains faced by the new republic of the United States from the presidency of George Washington up to the election of Thomas Jefferson. Find out about the domestic...
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Annotation 2: Fifth Amendment
This resource explains the phrase "double jeopardy," including a look at its development through history.