Answering the question "What does the U.S. Constitution say about enslavement" is a little tricky because the words "slave" or "slavery" were not used in the original Constitution, and the word "slavery" is very hard to find even in the current Constitution. However, the issues of the rights of enslaved people, its related trade and practice, in general, have been addressed in several places of the Constitution; namely, Article I, Articles IV and V and the 13th Amendment, which was added to the Constitution nearly 80 years after the signing of the original document.

Administrative law is the area of law created by the agencies and departments of the government, which carry out the laws passed by Congress or a state legislature. Administrative law governs the decision-making and rulemaking of executive branch units of government responsible for regulating areas such as trade, labor, manufacturing, civil rights, the environment, taxation, communications, and transportation. Explore this article to learn more.

This lesson introduces the study of authority. Students learn two very important concepts: authority and limited government. Students also learn the importance of examining and choosing people for positions of leadership.

Birthright citizenship in the United States is the legal principle that any person born on U.S. soil automatically and immediately becomes a U.S. citizen. It contrasts with U.S. citizenship obtained through naturalization or acquisition—citizenship granted by virtue of being born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent.

Civil law is both a legal system and a branch of law. In the United States, the term civil law refers to court cases that arise over a dispute between two non-governmental parties. Outside of the U.S., civil law is a legal system built upon Corpus Juris Civilis, the Justinian Code which originated in Rome in the sixth century. Most Western European states have a civil law system. In the U.S., Louisiana is the only state that follows the civil law tradition due to its French heritage.

Constitution Day – also called Citizenship Day is a U.S. federal government observance that honors the creation and adoption of the United States Constitution and all persons who have become U.S. citizens, through birth or naturalization. It is usually observed on September 17, the day in 1787 that the Constitution was signed by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Independence Hall. When Constitution Day falls on a weekend or on another holiday, schools and other institutions typically observe the holiday on an adjacent weekday.

Corporal punishment is a physical punishment which inflicts pain as justice for many different types of offenses. This punishment has been historically used in schools, the home, and the judicial system. While this is a general type of punishment, it is often most associated with children, and the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child defined it as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort.”

In this lesson from the We the People: The Citizen & Democracy textbook, students will learn a very simple definition of democracy from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The lesson introduces the essential elements of a democracy, which is a country where the people have the right to make all the rules and laws either directly or by means of elected representatives. The teacher's goal for the lesson is to help students understand what it means for a democracy to be a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The legal term double jeopardy refers to the constitutional protection against being made to stand trial or face punishment more than once for the same criminal offense. The double jeopardy clause is present in the Fifth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which provides that “No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”

Federalism is a hierarchical system of government under which two levels of government exercise a range of control over the same geographic area. This system of exclusive and shared powers is the opposite of "centralized" forms of governments, such as those in England and France, under which the national government maintains exclusive power over all geographic areas.

Originalism is a judicial concept asserting that all statements in the United States Constitution should be interpreted strictly according to how it would have been understood or was intended to be understood at the time it was adopted in 1787.

Prior restraint is a type of censorship in which speech or expression is reviewed and restricted before it occurs. Under prior restraint, a government or authority controls what speech or expression can be publicly released.

Qualified immunity is a judicially created legal principle that protects state and local government officials from being sued for their actions in civil court. First developed by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1960s, the application of qualified immunity has been criticized by those who say it allows for and even encourages the use of excessive force by police.

Sedition is the act of inciting a revolt or coup d'etat against a legally established government with the intent of destroying or overthrowing it. In the United States, sedition is a serious federal felony punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison. The following provides an overview of this particular crime against the government and how it compares to the act of treason.

In this activity, students make a poster illustrating their “best freedom.” They discuss individual freedoms they have at school and as Americans and then focus on the freedom they enjoy most. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

The Constitutional principle of due process, which holds that government must interact with citizens according to duly-enacted laws, balances the rights of suspects with public safety. This lesson explores the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment and how the Supreme Court has interpreted it over time.

An amicus brief is a legal brief filed in appeals cased to aid the court by providing extra relevant information or arguments.

Many students do not understand the importance of the U.S. Census and why it is taken. This lesson will help students understand the importance of the Census historically and the importance of its contemporary use.

The Commerce Clause is a provision of the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 8) that grants Congress the power “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." This law gives the federal government the power to regulate interstate commerce, which it defines as the sale, purchase, or exchange of commodities or the transportation of people, money, or goods between different states.

This free course is for all those who have not had an opportunity to study the American political system in depth. The course is divided into various sections with videos, questions for understanding, and discussion questions. We hope that this course will be of interest to all Americans who wish to learn more about their system of government and how they can best exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens.