Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Enlightenment Ideas and the Founding Fathers

For Students 7th - 8th
A tutorial that looks at the ideas from the Enlightenment that influenced the Founding Fathers, particularly those of John Locke and Montesquieu. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
Website
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides biographies of all 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan, students will consider "The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Founding Fathers' Motives [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Read some historians' views about the Founding Fathers and their interests, perhaps economic, in writing the Constitution. Historians' views have changed over time, and in the suggested student exercises, students are asked to assess...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Four Founding Fathers

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The lesson plan provides varies information and links to help teach about the Constitutional Convention and learn about the Founding Fathers.
Activity
Thomson Reuters

Find Law: Founding Fathers

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a very brief description of three of the founding fathers of the Constitution: Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington. The site provides links to further biographies of all three men as well as...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Founding of American Democracy" by Jessica Mc Birney

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "The Founding of American Democracy" by Jessica McBirney, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Website
Other

Founding Fathers

For Students 9th - 10th
Find information about the founding fathers and what they accomplished. Presents the Federalist Papers, The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and The U.S. Constitution. Also includes images, quotes, a history of the...
Website
Other

Mr. Lincoln and the Founders

For Students 9th - 10th
Authors of this site look at Lincoln and his deep-seated passion for the ideals of the Founding Fathers.
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

National Archives: Teaching Six Big Ideas in the Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The Constitution can be broken down into 6 main themes: Limited Government, Federalism, Republicanism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and Popular Sovereignty. Students will study background on the Founding Fathers and use...
Article
University of Chicago

The Founders' Constitution: Joseph Story: Commentaries on the Constitution

For Students 9th - 10th
This page is a series of writings by Joseph Story on the jurisdiction, both original and appellate, assigned to the Supreme Court by the Founding Fathers. Published in 1833.
Activity
Thomson Reuters

Find Law: Article Ii: The Creation of the Presidency

For Students 9th - 10th
A scholarly discussion of Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the executive branch of the U.S. government. Discusses the origin of the article and the debates on executive power that took place among the Founding...
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: North Carolina

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the five delegates from North Carolina to the Constitutional Convention: William Blount, William Richard Davie, Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight Sr., and Hugh Williamson.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: New Jersey

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the five delegates from New Jersey to the Constitutional Convention: David Brearly, Jonathan Dayton, William C. Houston, William Livingston, and William Patterson.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Connecticut

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the three delegates from Connecticut to the Constitutional Convention: Oliver Ellsworth, William Samuel Johnson, and Roger Sherman.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Massachusetts

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the four delegates from Massachusetts to the Constitutional Convention: Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Pennsylvania

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the eight delegates from Pennsylvania to the Constitutional Convention: George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Benjamin Franklin, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Mifflin, Gouverneur Morris, Robert Morris, and James Wilson.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Delaware

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the five delegates from Delaware to the Constitutional Convention: Richard Bassett, Gunning Bedford, Jr., Jacob Broom, John Dickinson, and George Read.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Maryland

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the five delegates from Maryland to the Constitutional Convention: Daniel Carroll, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Luther Martin, James McHenry, and John Francis Mercer.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: Georgia

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the four delegates from Georgia to the Constitutional Convention: Abraham Baldwin, William Few, William Houston, and William Leigh Pierce.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: New Hampshire

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the two delegates from New Hampshire to the Constitutional Convention: Nicholas Gilman and John Langdon.
Handout
US National Archives

Nara: Founding Fathers: South Carolina

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives biographical details on the four delegates from South Carolina to the Constitutional Convention: Pierce Butler, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and John Rutledge.
Unit Plan
Other

Left Justified: Founding Fathers

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical accounts of fifty men who played a wide variety of roles in bringing about America's break with Great Britain, and in the creation of the documents and plans that created the new nation, like the Declaration of Independence,...
Website
The Dirksen Congressional Center

Congress for Kids: Signing the Constitution

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site has a brief summary that describes the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. This group is sometimes called the "Founding Fathers."