Read information about the "Founding Fathers" of the United States of America, including George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, Gouverneur Morris, Roger Sherman, James Wilson, and Edmund Randolph.
On September 17, 1787, the Constitutional Convention came to a close in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were seventy individuals chosen to attend the meetings with the initial purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation.
This lesson is based on the Annenberg Classroom video âA Call to Act: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.,â which tells the law-changing story behind the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Students gain insight into law-making process, consider how statutory decisions made by the Supreme Court can prompt better laws, and learn about the rights and responsibilities they will have when they enter the workforce.
The estimated time for this lesson is four days.
Trace the history of the Supreme Court’s group photograph through selected highlights, from the first in 1867 to the most recent in 2022.
This webpage includes information about the amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their role in the history of the United States of America.
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.
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.
The purpose of this lesson is to assist student understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court created under the Constitution. Through a document exploration and story-telling activity, students will understand the role of the Supreme Court in our constitutional system of government. Students will also explore how the Court’s role has evolved over time by looking to a number of key Supreme Court decisions.
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.
In this lesson students will discuss what the necessary and proper clause means to them. They will also put themselves into the shoes of citizens in 1791 and look at Alexander Hamilton’s and Thomas Jefferson’s opinions on the national bank. Students will also learn about the war debt and currency issues so as to better understand the national bank debate. This lesson may be used in an American history class or civics classes as it will allow students to analyze and use primary sources as part of a continuation in developing their social studies skills.
The Constitution might never have been ratified if the framers hadn't promised to add a Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments to the Constitution gave citizens more confidence in the new government and contain many of today's Americans' most valued freedoms.
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. James Madison wrote the amendments, which list specific prohibitions on governmental power, in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties. For example, the Founders saw the ability to speak and worship freely as a natural right protected by the First Amendment. Congress is prohibited from making laws establishing religion or abridging freedom of speech. The Fourth Amendment safeguards citizensâ" right to be free from unreasonable government intrusion in their homes through the requirement of a warrant.
Join an American Indian Interpreter as they share how the founding fathers looked to native governments when establishing their new republic.
This game immerses students in the workings of our three branches of government. Players take on the roles of legislator, president and Supreme Court justice to get constitutional laws enacted. Players must juggle several bills at once while holding press conferences and town hall meetings.
Join our panelists Thomas Duckenfield, Trustee for the Nomini Hall Slave Legacy Project, Dr. Andrew Levy, Author of The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father Who Freed His Slaves, and Gerry Underdown, Actor Interpreter with Colonial Williamsburg, as they discuss those that physically built the nation, those that built the nation with enlightened ideas, and their combined lasting legacy.
This is part of our national conversation series, US: Past, Present, Future. Learn more at colonialwilliamsburg.org/us.
This documentary tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, whose fight for equal pay for equal work eventually involved all three branches of government. Her U.S. Supreme Court case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., turned on the interpretation of the 180-day statute of limitations for filing a discrimination complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After losing at the Supreme Court, Ledbetter urged Congress to start the 180-day clock for filing a complaint on the date an employee learned of the discrimination. The result was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
Closed captions available in English and Spanish.
What should a Capitol building look like? How does the U.S. Capitol building serve as a symbol of the U.S. government?
The Founders designed a system of checks and balances into our Constitution so we'd avoid abuses of power that had been experienced under British rule. Join James Madison and John Marshall for a discussion along with 21st century politicians to learn if that system still functions as intended.
Prerequisite: Students need to know the function of each of the branches of government. In this activity, students examine documents from U.S. history to examples of specific "checks and balances."
This lesson will focus on the case Korematsu v. U.S. in comparison with other times in U.S. history when the government was faced with the challenge of how to protect the country during war and, at the same time, protect individual freedoms. Using primary sources, students will examine five events in which U.S. citizens were forced to give up their civil liberties in times of war, highlighting the tension between liberty and security. Students will analyze these events to determine what groups were affected and the reasoning for and against the government action to decide if the government action was justified. Students will be able to form an opinion on the essential question: Is our government ever justified in restricting civil liberties for the security of the nation?