Great Resources for Civics and Government Teachers! Hey civics and government teachers – we found a great online resource for you to use with your students.  The Youth Leadership Initiative’s website has interactive materials ready for you to use in your classroom!  Some of the resources available include the E-Congress program, an interactive online legislative Read more…

Colonial Williamsburg Offers Free Electronic Field Trip on the Election of 1800 This September, Colonial Williamsburg will allow complimentary access to their Gift to a Nation electronic field trip series “The Will of the People.” Gearing up for the presidential election this November, “The Will of the People” examines the election of 1800.  The election Read more…

Philadelphia – The end of May saw the Convention responding to the Virginia delegation’s bold plan. The Virginians had proposed replacing the Articles of Confederation – a task far beyond what many Convention delegates thought they were authorized to do – with a powerful national government. When proponents of this plan failed to win agreement Read more…

“Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God” Inscription at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery World War I ended with an armistice, or cease of hostilities, on November 11, 1918.  This day became known as Armistice Day to honor those who fought in the World War I, Read more…

Philadelphia, September 10 – 15, 1787 As the weather finally cools a bit and the Convention enters what will be the final week of deliberations, the main topics of discussion are the amendment process and the ratification process.  On Monday, September 10, Elbridge Gerry raises a concern about the amendment process—he fears that the new Read more…

New Video for Constitution Day! Representative Government You’ve told us that students often confuse republics and democracies. Do your students understand the key differences? We created a short, engaging video for Constitution Day on the constitutional principle of representative government. Exciting visuals from current events, an engaging historical narrative, brief scholar interviews, familiar music, and Read more…

Philadelphia – When the Convention began their work in earnest in the spring of 1787, its delegates must have known that the complex issue of slavery would be a “make-or-break” matter for the new republic.  Indeed, the volatile issue would wait a full three months into the Convention before being tackled with any level of Read more…

Two months into the Convention, the delegates could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Delegates had debated the resolutions presented by the delegation of Virginia, amended them, and debated them again. Before sending the revised amendments to a Committee of Detail that would create a rough draft of the Constitution, however, Read more…

Philadelphia – As the convention pressed into the late days of July, debate turned to the revised Virginia Plan’s resolutions on the Executive Branch. The ninth resolution proposed that “a National Executive be instituted to consist of a single person, to be chosen by the National Legislature for the term of seven years…”. All delegations Read more…

Philadelphia – The Gerry Commission report gave form to the idea, which had been bubbling up in debate, of a union “partly national, partly federal”. Because this idea was gaining momentum, the Gerry Commission report might be seen as the “Nationalists’ Last Gasp.” The bloc of delegates – including James Madison, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Read more…