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Lesson

Justice for All

Guiding question

Where did the Founders’ concepts of justice, liberty, and equality come from?

Duration
95 min
Grade
9–12
Published
Nov 5, 2020
United States Supreme Court building with large columns and a detailed pediment against a blue sky.
What were the Founders’ concepts of justice, liberty, and rights and where did those concepts came from? How have these ideas changed over time? Use these primary sources to analyze.

Founding Principles

Liberty, Natural/Inalienable Rights

Virtues

Justice

Guiding Questions

  • Where did the Founders’ concepts of justice, liberty, and equality come from?
  • What influence did British law and Enlightenment thinking have on the Founding Documents?

Objectives

  • Students will examine primary source documents to define justice, liberty, and equality.
  • Students will analyze primary source documents to discern how the Founders utilized specific concepts of justice, liberty, and equality in the nation’s Founding Documents.
  • Students will identify where the Founders drew upon Enlightenment philosophy in the Founding Documents.

Materials

Educator Resources

Student Handouts

Lesson Components

ActivityPrimary Source: Excerpts from the Magna Carta
ActivityPrimary Source: The Mayflower Compact
ActivityPrimary Source: Excerpts from The Petition of Right
ActivityPrimary Source: Excerpts from the English Bill of Rights
ActivityHandout E: Compare the Documents
ActivityPrimary Source: Excerpts from John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government
ActivityPrimary Source: Excerpts from Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws
ActivityHandout H: Compare and Contrast Locke and Montesquieu
EssayEssay: Justice for All

The American Founders believed that justice needed to be protected. They wrote the Declaration of Independence to demonstrate to the British king and Parliament that this natural right was not being protected in the colonies. When forming the United States, the Founders protected justice in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Over time, more groups of people like African Americans and women began to reap the benefits of the protections of justice.

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Lesson plan

95 minClick a phase to open it

Key Terms

equality
Declaration of Independence
justice

Standards

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