


Mapp v. Ohio | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Can the police use illegally seized evidence in a court of law? The landmark Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio addressed this issue, and the decision has had a lasting impact in the United States.

U.S. v. Lopez | BRI’s Homework Help Series
This Homework Help narrative explores the landmark case of U.S. v. Lopez and its lasting impact on federalism. Students will study the topic of federal power and street crime while forming their own opinions on the merits of the case.

Federalism | BRI’s Homework Help Series
This Homework Help narrative explores the history of the Founding of the U.S. and the reasons why federalism was created as an important part of our constitutional system. The video challenges viewers to consider this question: why we have a system with local, state, and federal laws?

Incorporation | BRI’s Homework Help Series
In this Homework Help narrative, learn about the constitutional principle of incorporation and its historic context. Has incorporating the Bill of Rights to apply to the states created greater liberty for Americans?

Plessy v. Ferguson | BRI’s Homework Help Series
How did the odious doctrine of “separate but equal” become legally permissible in the U.S.? This Homework Help narrative explores the story of the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case.

The Electoral College | Homework Help from the Bill of Rights Institute
In this Homework Help narrative, learn about the origins and functions of the Electoral College. This constitutional institution has long been the subject of intense debate and scrutiny, and this video challenges students to think about it for themselves.

Baker v. Carr | Homework Help from the Bill of Rights
In this Homework Help video, learn the story of the landmark Supreme Court case of Baker v. Carr. How did the ruling in this case contribute to the democratic principle of “one person-one vote”?

Tinker v. Des Moines | Homework Help from the Bill of Rights Institute
Why did a subtle act of protest against a foreign war reach the Supreme Court? In 1965, students John and Mary Beth Tinker wore black armbands to school to protest the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, despite the Des Moines school district prohibiting such an act. The Tinkers sued the district for violating their First Amendment rights, and the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in a 7-2 decision. While subsequent Supreme Court rulings narrowed the scope of free expression rights at school, Tinker v. Des Moines remains a landmark case that has defined First Amendment rights for students.

Gideon v. Wainwright | Homework Help from the Bill of Rights Institute
Does an individual have a right to a lawyer, regardless of the crime he or she is charged with? In 1961, Clarence Gideon was arrested and charged with breaking and entering and petty larceny in Panama City, Florida. His request for a state-provided defense attorney was denied since Florida law only required doing so for capital offense cases. After Gideon was sentenced to 5 years in prison, he argued that Florida violated the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of the right to counsel. The Supreme Court heard Gideon’s case and ruled in a 7-0 decision that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an attorney applies to states through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Roe v. Wade | Homework Help from the Bill of Rights Institute
Do women have a right to privacy when deciding whether to have an abortion? In 1969, a woman under the alias “Jane Roe” challenged a Texas law that outlawed abortions. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, where Roe argued that a woman’s right to privacy in having an abortion is protected by the Constitution. In a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled the right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. To this day, the ruling in Roe v. Wade remains one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions.

McDonald v. Chicago | Homework Help from the Bill of Rights Institute
Does the Second Amendment prevent a city from effectively outlawing handgun ownership? In 2008, Otis McDonald attempted to purchase a handgun for self-defense purposes in a Chicago suburb. However, the city of Chicago had banned handgun ownership in 1982 when it passed a law that prevented issuing handgun registrations. McDonald argued this law violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities Clause as well as the Due Process Clause. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that McDonald’s Second Amendment right to bear arms was protected at the state and local level by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Our latest Homework Help Evidence of History video tells the story of the rise and fall of Senator Joseph McCarthy, a fierce partisan and demagogue whose battles against Communism in early 1950s America utilized the new medium of television to garner public attention. Preying upon the public's fear of communism within the U.S. government, he hurled accusations against numerous political enemies often with little or no evidence, and with scant regard to the principles of due process, free speech, and liberty. The new medium of television, which helped his meteoric political rise, would ultimately play a key role in his undoing.

Introducing BRI’s Homework Help Series!
Let us take you on a journey into America's past to discuss some of the nation's most influential movements and political figures to discover how these individuals and trends shaped American history. Welcome to the Homework Help Institute of History series from Bill of Rights Institute.

The Notorious Aaron Burr | BRI’s Homework Help Series
You may know him as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton, but do you know the full story of one of American History's most notorious characters? Our latest Homework Help Institute of History video brings you the story of Aaron Burr, his rise to the position of governor of New York and vice president of the United States, and his spectacular downfall.

African Americans in the Gilded Age | BRI’s Homework Help Series
The first in our new Institute of History Series of Homework Help videos provides a general overview of the experience of African Americans during the pivotal years of the Gilded Age, from the 1860s to the early 1900s. Despite the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution after the Civil War, which abolished slavery and granted citizenship and voting rights to African American men, millions of African Americans across the nation still faced an uphill struggle for equality and civil rights. Political disenfranchisement was widespread and segregation in the form of "Jim Crow" laws affected nearly every facet of public and private life in the South. Many African Americans migrated from the South to the North and West during this period. This era also saw the rise of dozens of notable African American civil rights leaders including Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Groups like the N.A.AC.P. were also established during this period to fight for the expansion of liberty and equality for African Americans.

Entrepreneurs: A History | BRI’s Homework Help Series
"Entrepreneurs" is our latest Evidence of History Homework Help video focusing on the so-called "Robber Barons" or "Captains of Industry" of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Ford. How did these men and those like them transform the U.S. economy during the Gilded Age, and what, if any, lessons do their stories have for us today? Watch and find out!

The Origins of Partisanship | BRI’s Homework Help Series
This latest installment of our Homework Help Institute of History series addresses the origins of partisanship in the United States. In the late 18th Century, the new nation was at risk of being torn apart as factions developed between Federalists and Anti-Federalists whose differences over the nature and structure of the new government played out in pamphlets, newspaper essays, state ratifying conventions, in taverns, and on street corners. Some compromise was reached with the ratification of The Bill of Rights, but differences over policy continued to play out among factions and the Federalists and Democratic-Republican parties formed. This video is intended as a general overview of this period of U.S. History, and a springboard for a deeper exploration of the various political disputes of the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The Story of “Boss” Tweed | BRI’s Homework Help Series
This first in our new Homework Help Evidence of History series tells the story of William "Boss" Tweed. Tracing his rise to political power in post Civil War New York City, a metropolis whose population was booming from an influx of European immigrants, this video explores the question of whether Tweed was a hero, a villain, or something in between. Examine the evidence and decide for yourself.

Loyal American: Fred Korematsu | BRI’s Homework Help Series
In this Homework Help narrative, learn how Fred Korematsu decided to sacrifice himself to fight against Japanese-American internment during World War Two.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Stronghold of the Fortress | BRI’s Homework Help Series
In this Homework Help Narrative, learn about the courage and determination of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the origins of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.

Immigration to America | BRI’s Homework Help Series
The rise in immigration to the United States in the 1840's altered the economic, cultural, and political climate of the nation in the first half of the 19th century.

The Rise of Mass Politics: Jacksonian Democracy | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Have you ever looked at your teacher with a puzzled face when they explain history? I know we have. In our new Homework Help Series, we break down history into easy to understand 5-minute videos to support a better understanding of American History. In this episode, we examine the Rise of Mass Politics and Jacksonian Democracy.

National Identity In The Early 1800s | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Have you ever looked at your teacher with a puzzled face when they explain history? I know we have. In our new Homework Help Series we break down history into easy to understand 5 minute videos to support a better understanding of American History. In our eleventh episode, we tackle national identity in early America.

Early 1800s US Foreign Policy | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Have you ever looked at your teacher with a puzzled face when they explain history? I know we have. In our new Homework Help Series we break down history into easy to understand 5 minute videos to support a better understanding of American History. In our tenth episode, we tackle early American foreign policy.