Marbury v. Madison is arguably the most important landmark case in the history of the Supreme Court. A fact-filled lesson provides background information about the case and two others related to the concept of judicial review. Scholars...

Almost every American is familiar with the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education. Far fewer understand the constitutional reasoning or the wide-ranging consequences of the ruling in the field of criminology. The interesting...

Why should classes care about the First Amendment? An engaging lesson serves as a powerful tool for answering just that. As all four cases in the lesson relate directly to freedom of expression in schools, young scholars explore the...

Americans love to learn about their rights, especially those that protect them from the government's power to invade their privacy. Young people are especially engaged by this topic. An informative lesson explores four Supreme Court...

Unless you are a lawyer, you might not understand just how unrealistic Law and Order and other legal dramas actually are. Here's a great resource to help scholars of criminology gain a more realistic perspective. The lesson outlines the...

Ben's Guide is a fun way to present U.S. Government to students grades K-12. This site presents a brief history of the Constitution. Links to related sites are available.

Trace the history of the women's suffrage movement from its organized beginnings in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention to the final success with the adoption of the 19th Amendment, which constitutionally granted women the right vote.

The nullification controversy began as an economic dispute between north and south. See how the question about tariffs resulted in a states' rights issue in South Carolina. Read about what President Andrew Jackson was going to do about...

Read about the fortuitous purchase made that doubled the size of the United States. See why Napoleon was willing to sell the land, and find out about the quandary Thomas Jefferson was in as he had to go against his strict construction...

Imagine a boat still existing today from 1797 that actually fought in the War of 1812! That's the USS Constitution that is now a museum in Boston Harbor. Here's a bit about Old Ironsides and what it was like to be "at sea" back in those...

Read about the structure of the U.S. Constitution and the thoughts of the framers behind the formation of each branch.

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.

Find details of the Federalists and Antifederalists views of the proposed U.S. Constitution. Peruse the activists and legacies representing both sides of the debates.

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.

Read about George Washington's presidency. See why his role was so important in setting precedents to be followed by future chief executives. Find out about some of the warts in his personality too, all of which made him more human.

Read about how compromises were reached at the Philadelphia convention that dealt with issues between large and small states, and slave and free states. Take the quick quiz to assess knowledge about the writing of the Constitution.

Ben's Guide is a fun way to present US laws to students grades K-12. This site presents a brief history of the Bill of Rights. Links to related sites are available.

After the SpanishAmerican War the American occupation of Cuba and the adoption of the Platt Amendment, which was forced upon the Cuban government when it formed its constitution, showed the signs of imperialism on the part of the United...

What is the Bill of Rights? Why were they created? Find out the purpose of these ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution and how they work to protect the citizens in the U.S.

Article on American policy and the war in Afghanistan in which students read background history and assert an informed opinion about what they think the U.S. role in Afghanistan should be. Small group work and questions for writing and...

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...

Read about the necessity for Virginia and New York to support the ratification of the Constitution. See what influenced the vote in Virginia and how the legislature of New York was finally convinced.

A brief look at the men who supported the new Constitution and the reasons they supported it.

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.