Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Creating Bill of Rights Pt. 6: The House Drags Its Feet
Members of the House of Representatives were unimpressed with the proposed Bill of Rights at first.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Creating Bill of Rights Pt. 7: The Bill of Rights Is Adopted
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was finally ratified by the states. It wasn't until the Fourteenth Amendment that citizens would be protected by the Constitution against violation of their rights by state governments.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Creating Bill of Rights Pt. 8: A "Nauseous Project"
When the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, most Americans were ambivalent. Find out why on today's podcast.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 1: Rights Did Not Extend to States
How much did the federal government impact people's lives in the 1790s? Not as much as you might think.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 2: States and Rights
Could people rely on the states to protect their rights? Not everyone, it turns out.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 3: Congress Passes Sedition Act
James Madison had warned that rulers might violate the rights of the people. This happened in 1798 when Congress passed the Sedition Act, which violated the right to freedom of expression.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 4: The Election of 1800
The Sedition Act of 1798 proved so unpopular that the Federalists lost the presidential election of 1800.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 5: Marbury v. Madison
How did the Supreme Court establish its power of judicial review? Find out on today's podcast.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 6: Applying Judicial Review
The Supreme Court established its power of judicial review in 1803, but exercised this power only rarely.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 7: Barron v. Baltimore
In 1833, the Supreme Court decided that the Bill of Rights did not protect people from violation of their rights by state governments. It took a long time for this to change.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Role of the Supreme Court
Today we examine the role of the Supreme Court in the American constitutional system.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Petition of Right Part 1
On the podcast today, we discuss the clash between Parliament and the English monarchy.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 8: After Barron v. Baltimore
In the nineteenth century, the protection of citizens' rights from state governments was not very strong.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 9: Corruption in State Governments
State governments proved to be corruptible early in American history with the advent of the railroad.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 10: Not Slaves but Not Free
Even free African Americans living in the North in the nineteenth century were not treated as full citizens.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 11: Dred Scott v. Sanford
The Supreme Court in 1857 thought it could avoid war by finding that African Americans were not citizens. The effect was precisely the opposite.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 12: The Ideal of Equality
The ideal of equality was stated in the Declaration of Independence. Abolitionists and African Americans used this as an argument against segregation.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 13: To Save the Union
The Civil War began in April of 1861. President Lincoln declared that his primary goal was to save the Union.
Center For Civic Education
60 Sec. Civics: Rights of African Americans Pt. 1: Political Parties Before War
Today we learn about the origins of the Democratic and Republican parties.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights of African Americans Pt. 2: Reconstruction
Today we discuss the political landscape of the United States during Reconstruction.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Petition of Right Part 2
Today we discuss the events that led to the Petition of Right of 1628.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights of African Americans Pt. 4: Treatment After Civil War
Today we learn how some northern states granted increasing rights to African Americans. In the South, the situation was quite different.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights of African Americans Pt. 5: Challenges to Civil Rights
On today's podcast, we learn about economic interests that worked against the expansion of civil rights for African Americans after the Civil War.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights of African Americans Pt. 6: Black Codes
What were the Black Codes? Find out on today's podcast.