President John Adams sent this message nominating John Marshall to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

The road to Emancipation was indeed stony! Enslaved people struggled to free themselves and loved ones, one person at a time.

This activity includes primary sources from the official records of the U.S. District Court at Boston that tell the story of William and Ellen Craft, a young couple from Macon, GA, who escaped to freedom in Boston in 1848. The two traveled together, Ellen as a White gentleman (she was the daughter of an African-American woman and a White master and passed as White), and William as her slave valet. They made their way to Boston, and lived in the home of Lewis Hayden, a former fugitive and abolition activist.

With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in September, 1850, the Crafts' respective owners employed the legal system to regain their escaped property. A U.S. Marshal was sent to the home of Lewis Hayden. Hayden refused to let the marshal in and threatened to ignite kegs of gunpowder; the Marshal left. Ellen and William fled to Britain, where they remained for 20 years. They eventually returned to the United States and settled back in Georgia.

In this activity, students will examine historic documents about these fugitives from slavery. Then, using the documents, they will construct historical narratives to tell their story. They can explore perspective and use standard elements of writing (plot, character, setting, conflict, impact). Thinking about essential questions/topics, they will begin their writing with a topic/opening sentence that sets out the main idea.

In 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested in Arizona and charged with kidnapping, robbery, and rape. When questioned by police, Miranda confessed. He was tried and convicted based on his confession. Miranda appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 1966 that statements made by the accused may not be admitted in court without procedural safeguards. Page 31 from the decision describes two of those safeguards—the accused’s right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning. Selected pages are shown.

Students will use primary resources to explore the reasons for Western Expansion. They learn why Americans living in the East decided to migrate West and how/why those motivations changed over time. This is an activity for students to analyze documents and put them in chronological order. They then compile a list of reasons for the Western Expansion. Online resource.

In this activity, students will identify and draw conclusions about the relationship between the legislative, executive and judicial branches by critically analyzing primary sources. Using the scale, they will decide whether the United States government more appropriately fits the concept of "separation of powers" or "shared powers." They will formulate an opinion about each document and place it on the scale accordingly, and support their opinions with specific evidence from the primary sources.

This link provides an activity that enables students to make connections between photographs and primary documents. Students look for for cause-and-effect relationships, identify the roles of government policy and technological improvements in the settlement of the West, and explain their impact on Native Americans.

Overview of the 6 big ideas that animate the Constitution: limited government, republicanism, chdecks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty

Students will consider the arguments made by members of the Continental Congress regarding whether or not to sign the Declaration of Independence. They will also have the opportunity to analyze each section of the Declaration to understand its meaning and consider the consequences of signing the document.

This footage shows the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence as they are loaded into an armored truck at the Library of Congress, taken to the National Archives Building in a procession down Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, and carried up the building's steps. President Harry S. Truman and Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson speak in a ceremony at the National Archives Rotunda on the historic importance of the documents.

The so-called "Fifth Page" of the US Constitution -- also known as the Transmittal Page -- has never been publicly displayed. On the 225th anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution the Fifth Page was displayed at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The Fifth Page has received the same care as the more famous documents in the Charters of Freedom and is encased in the same type of state-of-the-art oxygen-free encasement as the Declaration of Independence, Constitution pages one to four, and the Bill of Rights.

In this Inside the Vaults video short, Chief of Reference at the National Archives Trevor Plante literally takes viewers inside the Archives vaults to see some of his favorite rarely-displayed documents. They include:
• The original text of the "Virginia Plan," Edmund Randolph's proposal for a national government that included three co-equal branches: "supreme legislative, judiciary and executive";
• A printed copy of the Constitution with George Washington's handwritten annotations;
• The final printed copy of the Constitution, which was delivered to the Constitutional Convention September 13, 1787, approved by vote on September 15, and then signed on September 17; and
• The state of Pennsylvania's ratification copy of the Constitution — unlike the four-page version of the Constitution on display at the National Archives in Washington, DC, the entire text is on one enormous sheet of parchment so it could be more easily transported.

Inside the Vaults includes highlights from the National Archives in the Washington, DC, area and from the Presidential libraries and regional archives nationwide. These shorts present behind-the-scenes exclusives and offer surprising stories about the National Archives treasures.

Come see the U.S. Constitution on permanent display at the National Archives in Washington, DC. September 17 is designated as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787.

In this activity, students will analyze a primary source document to find relevant historical data and measure the degree of agreement and disagreement during the Constitutional Convention.

In this activity, students will examine the original and final drafts of the Constitution and evaluate the significance of the selection of the words "We the People."