This lesson is designed to help students view political debates. The resources provided support the critical evaluation of the candidate’s performances. Body language, demeanor, appearance and positions on key issues are analyzed in an attempt to help students determine the importance of debates to the election cycle. This lesson could be used in class or as a homework assignment.
South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession
This is the primary source document, “Declaration of the immediate causes which induce and justify the secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.” It details South Carolina’s decision to secede from the United States in 1860.
Cast Your Vote (Game)
What issues do you want to ask candidates about? In Cast Your Vote, you choose the questions in a debate, rate their responses, and vote for the candidate of your choice.
One Person, One Vote
In this documentary, Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen G. Breyer and other experts discuss how the principle of one person, one vote emerged from a series of landmark decisions, including Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims, based on the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. A PDF lesson guide accompanies the video.
The Constitutional Convention: Lesson 2: The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention
When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened in May of 1787 to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation, one of the first issues they addressed was the plan for representation in Congress. This lesson will focus on the various plans for representation debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Freedom Summer
In the summer of 1964, student volunteers from around the country joined organizers and local African Americans in a historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in Mississippi, one of the nation’s most segregated states . The website features historical background essays, bonus video of interviews with participants and original art work.
Suffragists and Their Tactics
Students will work primarily with two American Memory Collections, Votes for Women – The Struggle for Women’s Suffrage and Votes for Women: 1848-1921, to understand how the suffragists of the early 20th century changed the requirements for voting in America.
Suffrage Strategies: Voices for Votes
Students examine a variety of primary source documents related to the women’s suffrage movement. They identify different methods people used to influence and change attitudes and beliefs about suffrage for women. Students then create original documents encouraging citizens to vote in current elections.
Women’s Suffrage Primary Source Set
Sound files, sheet music, photographs, letters and maps help students better understand women’s suffrage. Includes teachers guide.
How Women Won the Right to Vote
In 1848, a small group of visionaries started a movement to secure equal rights for women in the United States. But it took more than 70 years just to win the right for women to vote.