Students will explore and discuss the history and context around the Juneteenth holiday. Topics examined include the history of racial injustice in the U.S., the Civil War and the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation. Additionally, students will be encouraged to explore the modern significance of Juneteenth and its long-term impact.
At George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Remembering the Enslaved People Who Built America
A tour guide at Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, who is also a distant relation of an enslaved person at the Virginia estate, offers his perspective about American history, slavery and the founding fathers.
Getting Started with Civil Discourse
This unit provides lesson plans to help teachers cultivate respectful and constructive discussions among students in the classroom, promoting critical thinking, empathy, and effective communication skills.
Centers of Progress
This unit explores the locations that have served as hubs for human progress and innovation throughout world history. Students will delve into the stories of significant cities and regions, examining their contributions in fields such as science, technology, arts, and governance, fostering a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of societies and the impact of key cultural
Heroes of Progress
This unit focuses on the remarkable historical figures who have embodied human progress and innovation throughout world history. Students will delve into the lives and achievements of influential individuals, exploring their contributions in areas such as science, art, and social reform, cultivating a deep appreciation for the transformative power of individuals in shaping our world.
Foundations of Civics and Economics
This unit on civics fosters critical thinking skills in students as they engage with topics in government, democracy, and U.S. history, providing comprehensive lesson plans that encourage deep analysis, evaluation, and reflection on the principles and dynamics of civic life.
The Struggle for Equal Rights from the Founding to Today
In this two‐part lesson, students will be introduced to the idea of equal rights and explore the historical roots of the idea, times where it has fallen short in American history, and movements to better live up to its standard.
Article V and the 27 Amendments – Module 15 of Constitution 101
With the Constitution, the Founding generation created the greatest charter of freedom in the history of the world. However, the Founding generation did not believe that it had a monopoly on constitutional wisdom. Therefore, the founders set out a formal amendment process that allowed later generations to revise our nation’s charter and “form a more perfect Union.” They wrote this process into Article V of the Constitution. Over time, the American people have used this amendment process to transform the Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights, abolishing slavery, promising freedom and equality, and extending the right to vote to women and African Americans. All told, we have ratified 27 constitutional amendments across American history. Learning objectives: Describe the reasons that the Founding generation included a formal process for amending the Constitution;
explain how the Constitution’s amendment process works, and why the founders made it so hard to amend the Constitution; identify the key periods of constitutional change in American history and outline factors that drive successful pushes to amend the Constitution; describe all 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Voting Rights in America – Module 13 in Constitution 101
The original Constitution did not specifically protect the right to vote—leaving the issue largely to the states. For much of American history, this right has often been granted to some, but denied to others; however, through a series of amendments to the Constitution, the right to vote has expanded over time. These amendments have protected the voting rights of new groups, including by banning discrimination at the ballot box based on race (15th Amendment) and sex (19th Amendment). They also granted Congress new power to enforce these constitutional guarantees, which Congress has used to pass landmark statutes like the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While state governments continue to play a central role in elections today, these new amendments carved out a new—and important—role for the national government in this important area.
Slavery in America: From the Founding to America’s Second Founding – Module 12 of Constitution 101
Slavery was embedded into America’s fabric by the time of the framing and ratification of the Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention, the delegates refused to write the word “slavery” or enshrine a “right to property in men” in the Constitution’s text, but they did compromise on the issue of slavery, writing important protections for slaveholders into our nation’s charter. Debates over slavery continued (and increased) in the decades to come, culminating in Abraham Lincoln’s election as America’s first anti-slavery president, Southern secession, and the Civil War. Following this bloody war, the Reconstruction Republicans worked to rebuild our nation on a stronger constitutional foundation, passing our nation’s first civil rights laws and ratifying the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. These amendments ended slavery, wrote the Declaration of Independence’s promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution, and promised to end racial discrimination in voting. Many scholars refer to this key period as America’s “Second Founding.”