Explore the history of the United States Constitution: information about the writing the Constitution, the Great Compromise, the Constitution's signers, the Bill of Rights, the Amendments to the Constitution, federal powers, checks and...

Quiz yourself on how well you know the events leading up to writing the United States Constitution.

In this lesson, examine many of the opposing viewpoints held by founding fathers as they considered various compromises that made the U.S. Constitution possible, including the three-fifths compromise made to placate slave-owning states.

Article and questions for discussion on the controveries surrounding slavery while writing the U.S. Constitution and forming a new U.S. government.

The 18th-century statesmen who met in Philadelphia were adherents of Montesquieu's concept of the balance of power in politics. This principle was supported by colonial experience and strengthened by the writings of John Locke, with...

Read about how compromises were reached at the Philadelphia convention that dealt with issues between large and small states, and slave and free states. Take the quick quiz to assess knowledge about the writing of the Constitution.

Video test preparation module for Social Studies on the U.S. Constitution teaches students about provisions and compromises made during the Constitutional Convention and how the terms reflect Enlightenment thinking.

Presents key ideas for examining how the Articles of Confederation were replaced with the Constitution and the compromises that were reached during debates.

Article outlines the issues of debate over slavery and the compromises made while writing the Constitution.

See what turmoil resulted from the acquisition of new territory after the Mexican-American War. There was great disagreement between those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to be able to carry slavery into the new lands....

An exhaustive look at the first Congress during George Washington's presidency. Find out about the precedents that were set and the interpretations that had to be made about the new Constitution. A fabulous site from George Washington...

The delegates at the Constitution established strict guidelines for writing the document. Read about the general housekeeping rules, and the way they reached compromises.

Find short biographies of twenty-three of the fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention and their ideas about government. These men were certainly not representative of the common man in the new United States, but they were...

Read the opinions of some of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in regard to the very thorny issue of how states would be represented in the national legislature. [pdf]

Look at the debate and eventual compromise, between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists that occurred around the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

Although not the most charismatic or eloquent Founder, Roger Sherman was highly esteemed by his contemporaries. At Sherman's death, Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College, wrote, "He was an extraordinary man-a venerable uncorrupted...

Here you will find the primary source text of the case and the opinions of the Supreme Court Justices in the Scott v Sandford case which ultimately ruled on the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise.

Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...

Interactive and animated maps and timelines of historical events and time periods in American history from pre-European times until post-World War II.

As part of a larger site about the extraordinary Benjamin Franklin, this section focuses on his being one of founding fathers of the new United States of America. Read about the three major documents he signed as a delegate and diplomat.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart describes events leading to secession, including John Brown's Raid, Lincoln's election, and South Carolina's break with the Union. It also includes information on the first states to...

A lesson plan for helping students remember the names of the the original thirteen American colonies.

A map of the United States and territories in 1821 after the Missouri Compromise, showing the Free States and territories, the Slave States and territories, and the transitional territories at the time. The map is color-coded to show the...

A map of the United States in 1860 showing the states and territory boundaries at the time, and is color-coded to show the slave States and distribution of slaves, the free states, and the territories, all open to slavery under the...