Free Lesson Plans
Current Events and the Constitution
There are many opportunities to analyze and discuss current events in light of our Founding documents. Current Events and the Constitution provides a framework for discussing current events in context with history. Each month, students will analyze how the Constitution applies to a specific issue and can be adapted to discuss events on the local, state, or national level.
Understanding the Nomination Process
The Founding Fathers created a republic, “a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people.” Because they were concerned that presidential elections would become occasions for “tumult and disorder,” they agreed upon a system for electing presidents indirectly. The original electoral process established in Article II included the Electoral College, and a complicated set of rules by which these electors cast their votes. The increasing role of parties had led to complicated election results in 1796 and 1800, so by 1804 Americans passed the 12th Amendment which loosened the rules to allow political parties to play a much greater role in presidential elections. Continue reading the Understanding the Nomination Process eLesson.
Older Lessons:
- Affirmative Action and the Constitution
- Supreme Court GPS Warrant Ruling
- Internet Copyright and Piracy Bills
- Property Rights and the Supreme Court
- Federal Budget and the Constitution
- The Defense of Marriage Act
- Arizona’s Immigration Law Countersuit
- Airport Scanners and the Fourth Amendment
- Is the Healthcare Act constitutional?
- The U.S. Census and Personal Liberty