Before and Beyond the Constitution: What Should a President Do?

Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...

How much power should a president be allowed to exert? Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised their power according to their interpretations of the United States Constitution, and these interpretations affected the...

What should a president do when enemies take Americans hostage in a foreign revolution? Learners take a look at the dilemma through the eyes of Jimmy Carter during the Iran hostage crisis. Primary sources, analysis worksheets, and...

After reading the article Choices: Truman, Hirohito, and the Atomic Bomb, class members engage in a simulation, assume the role of President Truman or one of his advisors, and discuss the options open to the president. The exercise...

Who knew that one poster about George Washington could have so many learning possibilities attached to it? Here you'll find an attractive learning display on the first president of the United States, as well as worksheets and...

What characteristics would your class attribute to a hero? Have them explore heroic acts and character development with a lesson from Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying. After discussing a handout, readers decide if small acts can...

Travel back to 1787 as young scholars investigate the creation of the US Constitution. After first working in small groups to create sets of classroom rules, students go on to read a summary of the Constitution and watch a short video...

How much power is too much power for the federal government? Scholars use primary documents and constitutional research in groups to analyze the creation of the Second National Bank under James Madison. This is the second lesson of a...

What a fun way to learn about the making of the American Constitution! This video does a great job of describing the circumstances that existed for the delegates in Philadelphia in 1787, where in a just a few days, they would effectively...

A government of the people, by the people, and for the people! Invite your class to really analyze the concept of consent of the governed and why it is one of the foundational principles of the United States Constitution and of...