Should the federal government require licenses for gun owners and purchasers? This activity includes a deliberation reading and glossary, as well as accompanying handouts to give students additional information on the topic and to guide them through the deliberation process from planning to reflection. Deliberation teaches people how to discuss controversial issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. In preparation for deliberations, all participants read common, balanced background information on the issue. During the discourse, they offer arguments for each position on a contested public issue, first drawing from the text and then bringing in their own experiences.
Why Did Women Want the Right to Vote?
Students will compare and contrast four petitions in favor of woman suffrage to identify reasons why women wanted the right to vote.
Extending Suffrage to Women
In this activity, students will analyze documents pertaining to the woman suffrage movement as it intensified following passage of the 15th Amendment that guaranteed the right to vote for African American males. Documents were chosen to call attention to the struggle’s length, the movement’s techniques, and the variety of arguments for and against giving women the vote.
Evaluating the New Departure Strategy in the Fight for Women’s Suffrage
In this activity, students will evaluate the New Departure strategy of the women’s suffrage movement – the idea that the Constitution already guaranteed the right to vote for women, they just had to test it by voting – that was championed by the National Woman Suffrage Association. Students will analyze documents from Susan B. Anthony’s arrest and trial for voting in the 1872 election. They will answer questions as they work through the documents and evaluate the claim that the Fourteenth Amendment enfranchised women.
Women & the American Story: Settler Colonialism and the American Revolution, 1692-1783
This free curriculum unit from the New-York Historical Society explores the active and engaged role that 18th century women played in colonial and revolutionary America. Materials consider how women experienced and were integral to settler colonial society, as well as the ways they participated in political discourses surrounding the American Revolution.
Academy for American Democracy Educational Videos
This video playlist is part of the New-York Historical Society’s Academy for American Democracy, an educational initiative focusing on history and civics education for sixth grade students. Videos explore the ideals of democracy, civic participation, the evolution of Ancient Athenian and American democracy, and the power of the people within democracies.
Balancing Religious Freedom and Government Interests
This lesson explores the Supreme Court case Tandon v. Newsom (2021) regarding religious liberty.Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government of California along with many of its county governments placed restrictions on gatherings of people. One of their regulations had the effect of preventing more than three households gathering together at a time for any in-home prayer and Bible studies. Plaintiffs sued the state, arguing that these restrictions violated the First Amendment since many secular businesses were allowed to have more than three households of people within it at any time, and that therefore religion was being specifically discriminated against. The Supreme Court recently released a per curiam (unsigned) decision concerning the constitutionality of these regulations.
Untold Stories: Changemakers of the Civil Rights Era
iCivics presents a series of short, animated videos that examine the actions and accomplishments of civil rights activists of the 1950s and ’60s. Barbara Johns, Constance Baker Motley, and J.D. and Ethel Shelley, these figures probably haven’t made it to your textbook, and yet their contributions have helped shape our nation in insurmountable ways. Videos are assignable, end with questions for generating classroom discussion, and come with a downloadable Teacher’s Guide. Visit a video’s lesson page to view or assign it and access the guide.
Right to Privacy: New Jersey v. T.L.O. Podcast
Today we travel to the spring of 1980, where the presidential campaigns of Reagan and Carter take a back seat to an act of disobedience committed by a 14-year-old girl in Piscataway, New Jersey. The highest court in the land has to decide, how are your 4th Amendment protections different when you happen to be a student? This episode features the voices of Professor Tracey Maclin from Boston University School of Law and Professor Sarah Seo from Columbia Law School. This episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening.
Freedom Summer 1964
Freedom Summer is a digital learning tool (available on the web or as an app) for teachers and students that explores key events surrounding this time in America’s history and the impact of the civil rights movement on civil rights legislation. Players predict the outcomes of civil and congressional actions and discover how the events are intertwined. Students have the opportunity to view informative intro and outro videos and analyze 20 primary sources depicting images of civil rights events. Analysis of a variety of primary sources and supplemental information leads students to identify varying perspectives and potential outcomes. Freedom Summer is formatted for all types of computers and mobile devices, including Chromebooks, and can be found on the website or in any app store for download.