Religion in Colonial America

This short video examines impact of Reformed Christianity on the minds and hearts of the Framers of the Constitution. Influenced by the writings of John Locke, Algernon Sydney, and John Calvin, Founders such as George Washington and John Adams believed that religion should play an informal, though important, role in American Society. Professor Jeffry Morrison examines Adams’ contention that colonial fears of British bishops helped to inflame revolutionary sentiments.

Grades 11, 12
Foundations of Democracy
Video

The Troubled Elections of 1796 and 1800

George Washington won the first two U.S. presidential elections without being challenged. When he decided not to run for a third term in 1796, intense rivalries, political disputes, and attempted manipulations of the Electoral College came into play. These factors would again affect the 1800 election, essentially a rematch of 1796, pitting a sitting president, John Adams, against his own vice president, Thomas Jefferson.

Grades 8, 9-12
Executive Branch/Presidency
Lesson Plans

Early Presidents (CKHG Unit)

Early Presidents and Social Reformers

This unit (first half of Early Presidents and Social Reformers) focuses on the first seven presidents of the United States. Across 9 lessons, students learn about how the early presidents organized the federal government, built a national capital, directed a second war with Great Britain, more than doubled the size of the country, and formulated a “hands-off” foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.

Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Executive Branch/Presidency
Assessments

Documents and Debates in American History and Government – Vol. 1, 1493-1865

The Core Documents Collection – Documents and Debates is structured around a series of topics, each based on a question for debate. For each topic, there is a collection of documents that, together, form the basis of argument over that topic – from those who debated it at a given point in American history. Volume One covers 1493-1865, and Volume Two covers 1865-2009.
The goal is to explore a series of critical moments in American history by asking questions for which there are not simple yes/no answers, but instead call for informed discussion and rational debate. The Documents and Debates readers also include appendices of additional documents, and together are a perfect fit for any American History survey course, including AP U.S. History.

The American Revolution (CKHG Unit)

The American Revolution

This unit begins by providing background information on the establishment of the thirteen colonies. Across 25 lessons, students learn about early alliances, the French and Indian War, and causes and provocations of the American Revolution. Students are introduced to major ideas in the Declaration of Independence and to key figures in the Revolution, as well as art and literature representative of the period.

Includes 25 lessons of roughly 45 minutes each.

Forgotten Founders

This short video examines why some Founders have been “forgotten” by subsequent generations. Some individuals, like John Dickinson, found themselves “on the wrong side of history”. Others, like Samuel Adams, played no further role on the national stage. Professor Daniel Dreisbach explains how an early death (e.g. George Mason) or a minimal written record also contributed to some Founders being “forgotten.”

Foundations of Democracy
Video

Founders Online

The website brings together the papers of six of the nation’s Founders (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Hamilton) into one searchable database. The site has taken the content produced by teams of historians and documentary editors who have worked for many years to transcribe and annotate thousands of primary source documents from hundreds of sources and publish them. The website combines all these document transcriptions and annotations into one free online resource.

Foundations of Democracy
Primary Sources

Who Were the Foremothers of the Women’s Suffrage and Equality Movements?

This lesson looks at the women’s suffrage movement that grew out of the failing of the Continental Congress by “remembering the ladies” who are too often overlooked when teaching about the “foremothers” of the movements for suffrage and women’s equality in U.S. history. Grounded in the critical inquiry question “Who’s missing?” and in the interest of bringing more perspectives to whom the suffrage movement included, this resource will help to ensure that students learn about some of the lesser-known activists who, like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony, participated in the formative years of the women’s rights movement.

Grades 10, 11, 12, 8, 9
History
Modules (Teaching Unit)