Constitution Day celebrates the evolving principles that guide our nation from 1789 all the way to today. The resource celebrates Constitution Day with an overview of the principles and laws that guide the government. Scholars see events...

The Civil War ended slavery, but what was the status of the newly freed people? Renowned historian Eric Foner explains how the Fourteenth Amendment—written to answer this question—created a foundation for the rights of all citizens. The...

Life was precarious for free and enslaved African Americans, as demonstrated by the tragic Dred Scott decision. The Supreme Court case not only denied an enslaved man's petition for freedom, but also claimed that African Americans—free...

What do marriage equality, protection from racial discrimination, and protection from gender-based discrimination have in common? According to Harvard professor Tomiko Brown-Nagin, the Fourteenth Amendment protects all Americans in these...

How did the Supreme Court and its interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment contribute to Jim Crow laws? Find out just how much Supreme Court interpretations can affect society by using an informative resource. Learners watch a video,...

What is the difference between federalism and nationalism and how did those differences shape the US Constitution? This is the focus of lecture five in a series on understanding the US Constitution. Centralized powers, the role of the...

Part four defines oligarchy, monarchy, republic, and democracy. Each type of government is defined in terms of its linguistic and historical origins and how rights are granted in each form of government. Give your upper graders a clear...

An interactive website about Ben Franklin and the framing of the US Constitution.

A televised presentation regarding the historical premise of the separation of church and state and evaluating the reality of it by UC Riverside Professor Ivan Strenski. [59:09]