This lesson is based on a two-part Annenberg Classroom video – The Story of the Bill of Rights and the Ten Amendments – about 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.
Civic Participation in the Justice System: How Individuals Shape Major Cases
Your students will analyze the impact of historic cases and the role of civic participation in these cases. Students will also demonstrate their understanding of the basic elements of a trial through a mock trial proceeding.
The Constitution in Today’s America
This lesson will teach students about the development of the U.S. Constitution and its role in our system of government. Students will learn about the relationship between the Constitution and a democratic government. In the activities and lesson extensions, they will explore decisions made in the Constitution, including the creation of government institutions, and the purpose of the amendment process. Students also will write an essay in which they analyze how the Constitution helped to fulfill the promise of the United States.
The Constitution in Action – Political Parties and Presidential Electors: The Election of 1800
History is the chronicle of choices made by actors/agents/protagonists in specific contexts. This simulation places students in the Early Republic and asks them to engage in the politics of those times. Acting as either Federalists or Republicans, they will be asked to develop strategies for electing their party’s standard bearer as president, using the Constitution’s complex system of presidential electors to their advantage.
The Constitution in Action: Who Shapes Foreign Policy?
History is the chronicle of choices made by actors/agents/protagonists in specific contexts. This simulation places students in the Early Republic and asks them to engage with a fundamental question of Constitutional interpretation faced at that time: Who controls foreign policy, Congress or the President? Students will explore this sweeping question with respect to Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 and Jay’s Treaty.
The Constitution in Action: Strict vs. Loose Construction
History is the chronicle of choices made by actors/agents/protagonists in specific contexts. This simulation places students in the Early Republic and asks them to engage with questions of Constitutional interpretation faced by President Washington and the First Federal Congress. Did the Constitution empower Congress to charter a national bank? Finance and maintain lighthouses? Regulate working conditions of merchant seamen? Support higher education?
The Constitution in Action: Republic or Democracy?
History is the chronicle of choices made by actors/agents/protagonists in specific contexts. This lesson places students at the First Federal Congress and asks them to consider whether citizens have the right to instruct their elected representatives on how to vote. This gets to the very heart of what our government is all about. Should we have a republic—a representative government in which elected leaders are free to deliberate and decide on their own—or a democracy, in which representatives follow the lead of their constituents?
The Constitutional Convention: To Sign or Not to Sign (Option B: Student-Generated Constitution)
NOTE: This lesson is for classes that have completed other components of ConSource’s Constitutional Convention Simulation unit. Classes that have not engaged with other lessons in this unit should use Option A, in which students decide whether to sign the historical Constitution. Teachers whose classes have participated in the ConSource simulation can use either Option A, in which students decide whether to sign the historical Constitution, or Option B, in which students decide whether to sign the student-generated constitution. They can also choose to do both lessons.
The Constitutional Convention: To Sign or Not to Sign (Option A: The Historical Constitution)
NOTE: This lesson depends on a prior study of the Constitution Convention and the plan it produced, whether that study has been based on ConSource’s Constitutional Convention Simulation lessons or other curricula. Students will not be able to make a reasoned decision on whether to sign the Constitution unless they know what it is they are asked to endorse. Classes that have engaged in ConSource’s Constitutional Convention simulation can engage with both “To Sign or Not to Sign: Option A,” which asks students to cast a final vote on the Constitution of 1787, and “To Sign or Not to Sign: Option B,” which asks students to cast a final vote on the student-generated constitution.
The Constitutional Convention: Amendments and Ratification
History is the chronicle of choices made by actors/agents/protagonists in specific contexts. This simulation places students at the Constitutional Convention and asks them to engage in two overarching questions: How would the proposed plan be placed into effect, and how might it be changed in the future? These issues place the proceedings of the Convention in context: Without the assent of the people, the new plan would come to naught, and unless people believed they had workable ways to amend it, they would never grant their assent. Specifically, students will address the nuts-and-bolts of amendment and ratification procedures.