The Founders believed that property is among the natural rights governments exist to protect. One of the ways the Founders protected property rights was in the Fifth Amendment. This amendment restricts the government's ability to take property and ensures that when it does take property, it must pay for it. This lesson explores the Fifth Amendment and its applications.

The Founders meant for the First Amendment to protect a wide array of expressive activities. The Supreme Court, recognizing changes in society and technology, has applied the First Amendment's protections in some ways that are broader than ever. Student speech in public schools, however, poses unique questions. This lesson will help students to understand the operation of the First Amendment in both their school and in the wider context of society, and it will help foster students' appreciation of their rights, preparing them for responsible and effective participation in their school, community, and nation.

For much of American history, the Supreme Court had very little to say about the Second Amendment until 2008 when the Court heard arguments in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. Richard Heller challenged the city's total ban on handguns on Second Amendment grounds. The Court agreed with Heller finding the ban unconstitutional.

55 min
This lesson addresses the virtue of justice, which requires that rules are applied and enforced equally for everyone. Students will analyze the virtue of justice by evaluating a letter from Jourdon Anderson to his former slave owner. They will consider how Jourdon received justice for himself and for his family and how they can seek justice on behalf of themselves and other people.

This lesson explains the five major accomplishments of the first Congress. Students learn how the Constitution provided a general framework for the government.

This lesson on the Electoral College is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These resources were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts and secondary sources of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by answering questions that seek to measure their conceptual understanding of the topic as well as engaging them in thoughtful discussions. Students are required to express themselves in writing. Students are asked to not only explain, but make fact-based arguments based on textual evidence.

This lesson on the Electoral College is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These resources were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts and secondary sources of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by answering questions that seek to measure their conceptual understanding of the topic as well as engaging them in thoughtful discussions. Students are required to express themselves in writing. Students are asked to not only explain, but make fact-based arguments based on textual evidence.

The process of how a bill becomes a federal law is more than a series of linked steps. It is the fundamental way people in a democracy get involved and work through their elected officials to meet needs and solve problems to benefit themselves and other Americans. Through this lesson, students will learn about the dynamic process of federal lawmaking and how it relates to them.
The estimated time for the lesson is three to five class periods. It is aligned to the National Standards for Civics and Government.

This video covers part two of article one of the Constitution. It details how a bill becomes a law and can be used for teaching kids or adults.

ÒHow is Power Divided in the United States GovernmentÓ TED Talks provides a quick review lesson with a video, a couple of comprehension questions and an open ended discussion question about the first 3 articles of the Constitution.

WARNING: this video is NOT particularly rigorous, but it might be used best as a warm up review for seniors, or perhaps in a flipped classroom, a reminder for students who will be coming in the next day for a deeper discussion or for absent students to catch them up, or ELL students, or struggling students.

Amending the Constitution was never meant to be simple. Although thousands of amendments have been discussed since the original document was approved in 1788, there are now only 27 amendments in the Constitution.

An Introduction to the Humanities

Short Description:
This multimedia reader examines how people use a humanities lens to make sense of what they experience, as well as share their experiences with the rest of the world. The information is presented using a pedagogical approach called reverse teaching, which introduces artifacts in their historical, social, political, personal, and other contexts. Along with the narrative, questions for creative and critical thinking prompt the reader to practice self-exploration.

Word Count: 36397

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

The Magna Carta, meaning “Great Charter,” is one of the most influential political documents ever written: it is seen by many modern political scientists as the fundamental document for many of the governing laws of the west, including the United States. Originally issued in 1215 by King John of England as a way of dealing with his own political crisis, the Magna Carta was the first governmental decree establishing the principle that all people—including the king—were equally subject to the law.

Zoom in on digital copies of the original documents. Each includes classroom resources and lessons. Lesson idea: Assign groups one of the nine documents then have them give quick presentation about them--be sure each group highlights the importance of the document.

Learn about the women who carved a path for future female advocates, judges, and Supreme Court Justices.

David Armitage, Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History at Harvard University, briefly explores some less obvious aspects of the Declaration of Independence, while also pointing to some of the later declarations heavily influenced by the American document.

This documentary, featuring Justice Stephen G. Breyer and leading constitutional scholars, chronicles two key moments that defined our understanding of the role of the judiciary: the Cherokee Nation's struggles before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1830s to preserve its homeland in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, and Cooper v. Aaron (1958), which affirmed that states were bound to follow the Court's order to integrate their schools. (34 min)

This lesson explores the role of the judiciary in relation to the legislative and executive branches and how judicial independence has evolved since the founding of the nation. Two significant cases covered in the lesson, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Cooper v. Aaron (1958), exemplify the importance of an independent judiciary. Students will use their knowledge based on watching the Annenberg Classroom video âAn Independent Judiciary.â

Ingraham v. Wright (1977) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if corporal punishment in public schools violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Court ruled that physical punishment does not qualify as "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment.