[Free Registration/Login Required] Read about the tremendous growing pains faced by the new republic of the United States from the presidency of George Washington up to the election of Thomas Jefferson. Find out about the domestic...

George Mason's ideas helped to shape the Founding documents of the United States, but few Americans remember him today. The words he used when writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution of 1776 inspired the...

Official website of The National Constitution Center.

This lesson explores the structure of Congress and the legislative process. There is an introduction, a research activity, an assessment, and a role play activity.

The preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It outlines the general goals of the framers: to create a just government and to ensure peace, adequate national defense, and a healthy, free nation. With its first three words, "We...

A lesson unit that looks at the efforts of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia between 1817 and 1827 to establish their own system of governance and to keep their lands from being ceded. Even though the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in their...

This resource provides information about Article VI of the United States Constitution.

In the story of the Great Law of Peace, Hiawatha and the Peacemaker convince leaders of the Five Nations to literally bury the hatchet. Centuries before the creation of the United States and its Constitution, democracy had already taken...

This activity can be used during a unit on the U.S. Constitution. Middle schoolers will analyze the Senate Journal of the First Congress and identify how the document demonstrates content contained within Article II of the Constitution...

This detailed article offers a well-documented overview of this constitutional freedom, as well as an FAQ section and additional cases and resources focused specifically on this aspect of the First Amendment. (Published Sept. 16, 2002 /...

This resource explains Clause 10 of Article I of the U.S. Constitution beginning with the origins of "Piracies, Felonies, and Offenses Against the Law of Nations." Further historical background as considered by the Constitutional...

Read the words in the U.S. Constitution, Article VI, concerning the oath of office. Link to a Supreme Court case which tested the interpretation of this article, McCullock v. Maryland, to view the decisions of the Justices.

The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1787 and still in effect to this day, was in many ways a work of creative genius. As an economic charter, it established that the entire nation -- stretching from Maine to Georgia, from the Atlantic...

George Washington wrote of the period between the Treaty of Paris and the writing of the Constitution that the states were united only by a "rope of sand."Disputes between Maryland and Virginia over navigation on the Potomac River led to...

This extensive and varied resource shares images of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. Conduct a keyword search to explore the collection.

One of the historical events that led to the creation of the limited government of the United States, the Magna Carta was written in 1215 as a promise from King John of England to his demanding barons. It put English kings under the rule...

See how colonial and state constitutions differed and how the idea of a social contract between a government and its citizens is reflected in the state constitutions. The second half of this site gives an abbreviated text of the Articles...

History for Kids provides an overview geared toward elementary age students of the history of the United States Constitution. Includes links to resources for teachers.

This National Records and Administration site provides a look at the original copy of the 19th amendment to the Constitution, which awarded women the right to vote in the United States.

The Bill of Rights was adopted to protect each United States citizen's rights. Learn about how the Bill of Rights was formed and the protections it guarantees to Americans.

Problems with the new government of the United States led to rethinking the rules of governing. Read a brief overview of what the results were.

This resource provides links to papers written about Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. Sample topics include: Validity of Prior Debts and Engagements, Supremacy of the Constitution, National Supremacy, the Power of Congress in Respect...

Lesson plan assesses historical thinking skills by providing two primary sources on Thomas Jefferson's views on the constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This unit covers the content area featuring the challenges faced by the new nation including the writing of the Constitution, government powers, the Bill of Rights and the War of 1812.