This mini-lesson plan covers the basics of the Supreme Court decision that determined that Dred Scott, having lived in a free territory, was not entitled to his freedom. Students learn about the impact of the Court's decision, and how it...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A lengthy essay about American focus on foreign affairs after the Civil War, expanding particularly in the late 19th century. Read about U.S. exploits in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific...

An original 13th amendment restricting lawyers from serving in government that was supposedly ratified in 1819 and removed from the U.S. Constitution during the Civil War.

After the Civil War concluded in 1865 and the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, Columbia University's faculty members shaped historical interpretations of slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, as well as scientific theories...

A lesson plan that directs students to review the concept of civil liberties and to examine examples from American history wherein rights were restricted. They will investigate key arguments between those who seek to restrict liberties...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Samuel Freeman Miller, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1862-90), a leading opponent of efforts to use the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution to protect business...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features John Marshall Harlan, an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1877 until his death and one of the most forceful dissenters in the history of that tribunal. His best...