The anniversaries of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, provide us an opportunity to reflect upon who we are as Americans, examine our most fundamental values and principles and affirm our commitment to them, and evaluate progress toward the realization of American ideals and propose actions that might narrow the gap between these ideals and reality. These lessons are designed to accomplish these goals.

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.

This resource is a Google Arts & Culture interactive presentation about Alexander Hamilton and the ratification of the United States Constitution.

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.

How can one interpret the Apotheosis of Washington? What symbols, stories and artistic approach did Constantino Brumidi employ?

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

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.

In this lesson, students will examine a copy of twelve possible amendments to the United States Constitution as originally sent to the states for their ratification in September of 1789. Students will debate and vote on which of these amendments they would ratify and compare their resulting “Bill of Rights” to the ten amendments ratified by ten states that have since been known by this name.

The purpose of this lesson is to investigate the Bill of Rights through the perspective of someone living during the ratification period. After exploring the historical perspective of the Bill of Rights through study of the Dissent of the Minority in Pennsylvania, students will be asked to apply the rights they learned about to their lives today and assess, critique, and solve problems based on the modern meaning of these rights. In doing so, students will develop a meaningful understanding of the amendments, in their original and their contemporary meanings. This understanding is essential to foster active, informed, and rational thinkers.

Join an American Indian Interpreter as they share how the founding fathers looked to native governments when establishing their new republic.