Provide excerpts from Montesquieu's, ÒSpirit of LawsÓ, the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, and the English Bill of Rights. Have students read and summarize each excerpt and then have them identify and describe a key Constitutional principle found in the excerpt. This is a discussion of where did the ideas possible come from. For example the English Bill of Rights is a good example of separation of powers and checks and balances, as it describes things the King is not allowed to do without the consent of Parliament. Some of the excerpts require a good understanding of the context to really understand the principle so that may be required as part of the reading. A document analysis worksheet from the national archives Text/HTML may be a good tool as students are reading the document.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the notion of “freedom of the press” from the First Amendment and learn about the crucial role journalists and reporters play in keeping the citizens in a democratic society informed about their community, the nation, and the world. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

In this lesson, students learn about how the U.S, Supreme Court has interpreted freedom of the press throughout in the 20th century and into the 21st century. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

This lesson addresses two essential questions: To what extent does the Bill of Rights provide a "blanket of protection" for American citizens? Why do many Americans believe that the Bill of Rights is especially relevant today?

In this lesson, students learn about the Bill of Rights and analyze primary sources from the Library of Congress to identify freedoms and rights. They will explore the questions: What are our rights? What freedoms are most important to you? Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. Those 10 amendments establish the most basic freedoms for Americans, including the rights to worship, speak, and peacefully assemble and protest their government how they want. The amendments have also been subject to much interpretation since their adoption, particularly the right to carry a gun under the Second Amendment.

Charles Lindbergh was a genuine American hero. He was the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic. When his infant son was kidnapped, the trial of the alleged kidnapper developed into a sensational news story. The reaction of the public to this highly publicized crime, and the effects that modern publicity had on the jury, seriously challenged the limits of freedom of the press. The controversies raised by the media coverage of the Lindbergh kidnapping trial still resonate today. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

The three-fifths compromise was an agreement reached by the state delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Under the compromise, every enslaved American would be counted as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation purposes. This agreement gave the Southern states more electoral power than they would have had if the enslaved population had been ignored entirely.

In this lesson, students will study the life of James Madison. They will learn about why he is called "The Father of the Constitution," his views on the Bill of Rights, his remedy for the problem of factions in a democratic republic, and much more.

The First Congress considered four versions of the First Amendment before finally adopting the fifth version, which now appears in our Bill of Rights. Students learn about this as well as the history behind the Bill of Rights and its ratification in this lesson from Teach Democracy's BRIA curricular magazine. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

Should someone be prosecuted for criticizing or insulting a government official even if the offending words are the truth? Should a judge or a jury decide the case? These were the key questions argued in the colonial New York trial of John Peter Zenger. The outcome deeply influenced freedom of the press in America. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

In this lesson, students learn about the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of the right to a trial by an impartial jury chosen from a cross-section of the community. Students explore how this right has not always been protected when potential jurors were excluded because of their race, ethnicity, and gender. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

Members of CRF’s Youth Board lead a lesson for elementary students as they learn about the three branches of government. Links to free, downloadable lesson materials included. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

The Ninth Amendment ensures that you don't lose certain rights just because they're not specifically granted to you or mentioned elsewhere in the U.S. Constitution.

Roughly a decade after the United States declared independence, the United States Constitution was created to replace the failing Articles of Confederation. At the end of the American Revolution, the founders had created the Articles of Confederation, which set forth a governmental structure that would allow states to keep their individual powers while still benefiting from being part of a larger entity.

This lesson is based on the two-part Annenberg Classroom video âThe Story of the Bill of Rights,â which explores one of the toughest political fights in American history and the outcome that became a symbol of liberty and freedom in America – the Bill of Rights.

Why are prayers at meetings of government bodies constitutional? Students learn why in this lesson on the Supreme Court's landmark 2014 decision of Town of Greece v. Galloway from Teach Democracy's BRIA curricular magazine. Access to this resource requires a free educator login.

Any member of Congress or state legislature can propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Since 1787, more than 10,000 amendments have been proposed. These proposals range from banning the desecration of the American flag to balancing the federal budget to altering the Electoral College.

Shays’ Rebellion was a series of violent protests staged during 1786 and 1787 by a group of American farmers who objected to the way state and local tax collections were being enforced. While skirmishes broke out from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the most serious acts of the rebellion occurred in rural Massachusetts, where years of poor harvests, depressed commodity prices, and high taxes had left farmers facing the loss of their farms or even imprisonment. The rebellion is named for its leader, Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays of Massachusetts.

The term "social contract" refers to the idea that the state exists only to serve the will of the people, who are the source of all political power enjoyed by the state. The people can choose to give or withhold this power. The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system.