A student reader shares information about the history of slavery, the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions to the war, the Emancipation Proclamation, and reconstruction.

This site contains a good overview of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It gives background information on women's suffrage, provides the transcript of the actual document, and allows you to view an image of the document.

Learning resource using C-SPAN videos and related articles from which students learn what a balanced budget amendment is and whether it's a good idea for the country or not. Students join the debate by participating in a deliberation in...

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), proposed in 1923, has never been ratified. Activists seeking gender equality have sought its ratification since its first proposal but that dream fell short after the anti-ERA movement fought against its...

A learning module that begins with "Testimony Before the Senate Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment" by Gloria Steinem, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed...

This mini-lesson highlights the Constitution's amendments. Young scholars will learn about some of the most critical additions to our Constitution and how those additions guarantee their rights.

This resource presents lessons on the First Amendment. It contains many resources for use with children, and links to primary source documents.

This site is from the University of Chicago Library. Prohibition was a grand idea gone awry. This project looks at the implications and consequences of the 18th amendment and asks students to create their own ideal piece of federal...

A complete unit on constitutional law that uses the court case of Texas vs. Johnson, in which Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted of desecration of a venerated object after lighting an American flag on fire. The case became an argument...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read primary source documents to solve a problem surrounding a single historical question. This document-based inquiry lesson allows students to consider the 18th Amendment within the...

In this tutorial, students learn about the Amendments in the Bill of Rights, the rights they grant and the limits placed on these. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.

The 19th Amendment did not come without a prolonged fight. Students will examine rationale for opposing suffrage through the lens of class,

America's constitutional government has changed over time as a result of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, legislation, and other practices. Students will use the seven basic principles found in our government...

This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that extended First Amendment protections to students in the classroom. Students learn about the concept of symbolic speech and how students gained the right to engage in...

Outlines the major programs of the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, and the discrimination that African Americans faced, such as from the Black Codes and the Ku Klux Klan. Also discusses the amendments made to the Constitution...

Kids learn about National Freedom Day. This site discusses the history and facts about this holiday which commemorates the 13th amendment.

Kids learn about Women's Equality Day. The history and facts about this holiday that celebrates the 19th amendment.

This lesson plan will help students understand how and why a federal income tax was implemented by Congress during the Civil War and in 1913.

Was prohibition necessary to protect family values or was it an over-reach by the government? Students will debate this question while analyzing documents from this era. Documents include political cartoon, photos, letters from citizens,...

Learn the history of women's suffrage with this interactive timeline.

Article presents an overview of the history behind the birth of 'affirmative action'. Includes a discussion of the Supreme Court case of Alan Bakke v. the University of California and student exercises that test comprehension of the topic.

This lesson plan will help students understand that the legislative process of enacting federal income tax laws involves formal procedures based on the Constitution and informal procedures that blend and balance various interests.

Should Reconstruction be viewed as a revolution or not? Using primary source documents, young scholars can weigh the evidence and come up with their conclusion. This lesson plan can be used as a whole class, small group, or individual...

As new free and slave states were admitted to the Union prior to the Civil War, political divisions kept growing, despite attempts to balance the numbers of each. The South pushed for slavery to expand westward, while anti-slavery...