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....

The Dirksen Congressional Center provides abundant lesson plans on all aspects of the US Congress and the US Constitution. All lessons contain time frames, objectives, and links to material, and are built around Bloom's taxonomy.

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...

Biography of Oliver Ellsworth who represented Connecticut in the Continental Congress and also was a promoter of the Connecticut Compromise.

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]

This encyclopedia article from Wikipedia gives some background history to the creation of the Bill of Rights and contains a transcription of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in their original form.

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

Look at the tensions and differences of opinion that existed among early American states and citizens. Learn about the Articles of Confederation, why the first "constitution" didn't work, and how compromise led to the 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...

An in-depth essay from the Hungarian Electronic Library on the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. It explains the political affairs, the constitutions, and the main principles of the agreement.

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.

This instructional activity examines the legacy of the "philosopher statesman," James Madison. Madison combined the intellectual knowledge and creativity of the scholar with the practical savvy of the politician, a man of strong...

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.

Article reviews several conditions of American society that sowed the seeds of civil war, particularly slavery and sectional conflict.

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...

A map of the United States during the period of 1850 to 1850 showing the effects of slavery, the slave trade, and the abolition movement on territorial development. The map uses colored patterns to indicate the areas and phases of...

A map of the United States during the period of 1850 to 1850 showing the effects of slavery, the slave trade, and the abolition movement on territorial development. The map uses colored patterns to indicate the areas and phases of...