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.

Here you will find background information concerning the Articles of Confederation. Underneath the photo of the document, click on each page to view the original document.

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...

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 Trace the progress of the Constitution using the historical documents themselves.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 U. S. Department of State article discusses The Respect For Human Rights Constitution in Niger. Referring to various sections of the constitution, examples are given for violations in each section by government officials. (28...

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.

Beginning page of a Learning Adventure examines what parts of the Constitution give the branches of the Federal Government their specific powers. Those three parts are Article I, Article II, and Article III.

Article discussing 45 years of the Cold War between Russia and the U.S. Questions for discussion and small group activity.

Gives a nice history of the Articles and also a summary of what they were and the problems that developed with their adoption. Includes links to the actual document.

The original text of a letter from Alexander Hamilton to Governor George Clinton of New York in 1778 complaining of inadequate material for the U.S. armed forces and perception of weakness by foreign powers.

This article contains information about the principles used to create the Constitution of the United States.

The Dirksen Congressional Center provides abundant lesson plans on all aspects of the US Congress and the US Constitution. All lessons contain time frames, objectives, and links to material, and are built around Bloom's taxonomy.

An article on the historical aspects of the women's suffrage movement, with a feminist viewpoint.

The original text from the University of Chicago Press of a 1780 letter from Alexander Hamilton to James Duane, who later became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, on the weaknesses of the existing U.S. government under the...

Article discusses the War of 1812 as America's first declared war and what that meant for the future of the U.S. Includes questions for discussion and small group activity.

Read a "proposed" Article of Amendment XXVII - Nonpartisan Direct Representative Democracy, Government Electorate, Voting and Education Networks. Read this example of a proposed amendment for the establishment of direct democracy and a...

The links in the New Nation, which is provided for by the Library of Congress, will lead you to sets of selected primary sources on a variety of topics,such as the Constitution, governmental policy on Native Americans, and problems and...

From the National Archives and Records Administration site, this lesson, focusing on a poster circulated in Philadelphia in 1839 to discourage the coming of the railroad, relates to the struggle to define the powers of the national and...

An excellent informative biography on Abraham Baldwin who was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, founder of the University of Georgia, a member of the Georgia State Legislature and U.S. House of Representatives, and a U.S....

Scholastic offers a series of printable panels and classroom activities in PDF format that focus on a U.S. citizen's right to express his- or herself. Content focuses on the Bill of Rights and its provisions for freedom of religion,...

Article considers the reasons behind the enactment, in 1919, of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol.

This site from the Modern History Sourcebook of Fordham University comprises a series of articles from the New York Times detailing the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in Congress and the battle to get the...

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy , but the king has little power. Find out how the government works in this current article based on information from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

Learn about the government of Lesotho in this article from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes. Find a list of the current government officials and read about the political parties.