Founding Father Alexander Hamilton fought at General George Washington’s side in the American Revolution, aided in the passage of the Constitution, and helped save the United States from financial ruin. A great leader, writer, soldier, and lawyer, Hamilton did not let his poor birthright stop him from achieving greatness. Through a short video and an analysis of two primary sources, students will examine the life of this important military and political leader.

In the early republic, Congress was a colorful, exciting, unpredictable, and contentious branch of the United States government. The members constantly quarreled but often deliberated and compromised through persuasive oratory and rational conversation. Congress was divided by party and sectionalism, but was guided through these difficulties by legislative statesmen. The Congress continued to function as the undisputed law making body of the people of the United States. Even during some of its most tumultuous years, from 1789 until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1860, the Congress effectively governed the nation.

This webpage includes information about the amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their role in the history of the United States of America.

This is an optional program for use by Utah LEAs, schools, and teachers to observe Founders Month and Consitution Day. It aligns with and supports mastery of many Utah Core Social Studies Standards in grade K-5. Standards alignment is provided, along with resources for possible use.

The era of the American Founding lasted from the 1770s through either the late 1780s or early 1790s, depending on one’s perspective or school of thought. For the sake of this resource, the Founding is defined as being the period from 1776 through 1789 – that is, from the writing of the Declaration of Independence through George Washington’s inauguration as the country’s first president. This toolkit provides guiding questions and links to essential documents, resources, and lesson plans related to America's founding.

This course provides a basic history of American social, economic, and political development from the colonial period through the Civil War. It examines the colonial heritages of Spanish and British America; the American Revolution and its impact; the establishment and growth of the new nation; and the Civil War, its background, character, and impact. Readings include writings of the period by J. Winthrop, T. Paine, T. Jefferson, J. Madison, W. H. Garrison, G. Fitzhugh, H. B. Stowe, and A. Lincoln.

America's independence from Great Britain was a decisive turning point in world history. Join us to explore the causes, character, and consequences of an American Revolution that continues to shape lives around the globe. This site is a virtual museum experience. Explore the American Revolution by timeline, people, and multimedia.

In this iCivics lesson, students explore an article-by-article overview of the structure and function of the U.S. Constitution. They learn about the duties and powers of the three branches, the amendment process, and the role of the Constitution.

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast excerpts from The Republic of Plato and selected Federalist Papers by James Madison to determine in what ways Madison agreed and disagreed with Plato, regarding human nature the proper role of government in a society. What influence did Plato have on James Madison and the writers of the Constitution? In what ways did they agree? In what ways did they disagree?

A challenging, fun card game that helps students learn about their rights under the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The game offers three levels of play: Easy, Normal, Difficult.

What is the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? How do these Founding documents reflect common republican principles?

Students discover what constitutes a natural disaster, explore the different professions involved with natural disaster response, identify steps they can take to help themselves and others be prepared for natural disasters. Students also learn about filmmaking and create a film to share stories and lessons learned from natural disasters and educate individuals about natural disaster preparedness. Emergency Preparedness picture from public domain (https://nara.getarchive.net/media/washington-dc-july-7-2006-a-red-cross-ready-to-go-preparedness-kit-showing-946cb7) 

Use this lesson after reading The Constitutional Convention Narrative and/or the Constitutional Convention Lesson.

In 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation. The objectives of this activity are: Students will analyze the provisions of the Articles of Confederation. Students will determine why individuals such as George Washington expressed a growing concern over government’s inadequacies, and why these concerns were expressed by and heightened after events such as Shays’s Rebellion. Students will explain why there was a growing call for creating a strong central government and the rationales for the various arguments.

Articles of Confederation- A brief description of the AofC and some short videos.

This is a facsimile of the 1777 Articles of Confederation, adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution, and was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present Constitution went into effect.

Organized around the compelling question "How have Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders engaged civically and contributed to U.S. culture?" and grounded in inquiry-based teaching and learning, this lesson brings history, civics, and the arts together to learn about the experiences and perspectives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in U.S. history. elementary sources, literature, and works of art created by AAPI individuals and related organizations provide an historical as well as contemporary context for concepts and issues including civic participation, immigration, and culture.

We've all had that experience, the one where we start arguing with someone and find that we disagree about pretty much everything. When two people have radically different background beliefs (or worldviews), they often have difficulty finding any sort of common ground. In this lesson, students will learn to distinguish between the two different types of background beliefs: beliefs about matters of fact and beliefs about values. They will then go on to consider their most deeply held background beliefs, those that constitute their worldview. Students will work to go beyond specific arguments to consider the worldviews that might underlie different types of arguments.