Students will explore and discuss the history and context around the Juneteenth holiday. Topics examined include the history of racial injustice in the U.S., the Civil War and the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation. Additionally, students will be encouraged to explore the modern significance of Juneteenth and its long-term impact.
At George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Remembering the Enslaved People Who Built America
A tour guide at Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, who is also a distant relation of an enslaved person at the Virginia estate, offers his perspective about American history, slavery and the founding fathers.
When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776-1807 – Online Exhibit
Between 1776 and 1807, women and free people of African descent were legally allowed to vote in New Jersey if they met a property-ownership requirement. Through primary source documents, high-quality images of artifacts and historical objects, and interviews with historians, this exhibit explores a little-known moment in the history of the Revolutionary era, how the
Getting Started with Civil Discourse
This unit provides lesson plans to help teachers cultivate respectful and constructive discussions among students in the classroom, promoting critical thinking, empathy, and effective communication skills.
Heroes of Progress
This unit focuses on the remarkable historical figures who have embodied human progress and innovation throughout world history. Students will delve into the lives and achievements of influential individuals, exploring their contributions in areas such as science, art, and social reform, cultivating a deep appreciation for the transformative power of individuals in shaping our world.
Economics
This unit aims to cultivate critical thinking skills in students as they explore microeconomics and macroeconomics, examining the role of government in the economy through lessons that encourage analysis, evaluation, and understanding of economic principles and government interventions.
Foundations of Civics and Economics
This unit on civics fosters critical thinking skills in students as they engage with topics in government, democracy, and U.S. history, providing comprehensive lesson plans that encourage deep analysis, evaluation, and reflection on the principles and dynamics of civic life.
Rule of Law and the Death Penalty
Students will work together to analyze key points of different Supreme Court cases and apply their analysis to evaluate to what extent the Constitution merits capital punishment.
Article V and the 27 Amendments – Module 15 of Constitution 101
With the Constitution, the Founding generation created the greatest charter of freedom in the history of the world. However, the Founding generation did not believe that it had a monopoly on constitutional wisdom. Therefore, the founders set out a formal amendment process that allowed later generations to revise our nation’s charter and “form a more perfect Union.” They wrote this process into Article V of the Constitution. Over time, the American people have used this amendment process to transform the Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights, abolishing slavery, promising freedom and equality, and extending the right to vote to women and African Americans. All told, we have ratified 27 constitutional amendments across American history. Learning objectives: Describe the reasons that the Founding generation included a formal process for amending the Constitution;
explain how the Constitution’s amendment process works, and why the founders made it so hard to amend the Constitution; identify the key periods of constitutional change in American history and outline factors that drive successful pushes to amend the Constitution; describe all 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
14th Amendment: Battles for Freedom and Equality – Module 14 in Constitution 101
The 14th Amendment wrote the Declaration of Independence’s promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution. Ratified after the Civil War, this amendment transformed the Constitution forever and is at the core of a period that many scholars refer to as our nation’s “Second Founding.” Even so, the 14th Amendment remains the focus of many of today’s most important constitutional debates (and Supreme Court cases). In many ways, the history of the modern Supreme Court is largely a history of modern-day battles over the 14th Amendment’s meaning. So many of the constitutional cases that Americans care about today turn on the 14th Amendment. Learning objectives: Explain why the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution; identify the core principles in the 14th Amendment’s clauses; summarize how the Supreme Court has interpreted the meaning of the 14th Amendment; evaluate the effect of the 14th Amendment on liberty and equality.