Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Limited Government

Zounds! Image an American president closing all ports and prohibiting exports. As part of an exercise designed to strengthen primary source comprehension skills, readers examine Thomas Jefferson's 1808 message to Congress urging such an...

Obedience and Thomas Hobbes: two peas in a pod. Learners hear about these two concepts and more of Hobbes' political theory in an informative video. A variety of primary resources, drawings, and visual aids help convey the information.

Should leadership be inherited? Is it the responsibility of a government to ensure the rights of its people? Thomas Paine argues in his Rights of Man that it is not only the obligation of a government, but also that revolution is...

The United States Library of Congress, the largest library in the world. But such was not always the case. The library was destroyed during the War of 1812. In a persuasive letter to Samuel H. Smith, Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his...

How did American political parties form? Scholars research the end of the Washington era and the beginning of politics in America. Video evidence and discussion questions allow insight into the emergence of the three branches of...

In order to double the size of the country and make what would become the greatest real estate deal in the history of the United States, Thomas Jefferson had to set aside his beliefs in small government and his strict constructionist...

John Green teaches you about founding father and third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is a somewhat controversial figure in American history, largely because he, like pretty much all humans, was a big bundle...

[Free Registration/Login Required] After a brief description of Thomas Jefferson's and James Madison's contributions to the early ideology and government of the new United States in their authorship of the Declaration of Independence and...

This module examines America's efforts to form a new government after the War for Independence and to draft the Constitution. Includes an interactive activity comparing Thomas Jefferson's and Alexander Hamilton's visions for America, a...

This video lesson from Khan Academy discusses the foundational democratic ideas of the US Government, primarily stated by John Locke. This lesson is intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics...